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ACRA Star Claims Spine Chilling Wreck That “Made It Hard to Breathe” After Unknown Mechanical Issue Robbed Dover Hopes

Published 04/27/2024, 1:34 AM EDT

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At Lap 75 of Friday’s ARCA Menards East Series General Tire 150 at Dover Motor Speedway, Christian Rose had a rough go in his #32 AM Racing Ford car, slamming into the outside wall in Turn 4. It seemed like some sort of mechanical glitch sent him careening into the wall unexpectedly. 

During his post-race interview, Christian Rose shared that he wasn’t sure whether it was a tire blowout or something else that broke, but whatever it was, it hit him hard. He even mentioned having trouble breathing after the wreck, underscoring just how severe the crash was.

The Ford of  Christian Rose went up in flames 

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The wreck happened with just 75 more to go, not just for Christian Rose but also for Amber Balcaen, who unintentionally got caught up in the mess. It looked like Rose’s right front tire blew, leading to multiple hard contacts with the wall, which set his car aflame from behind and severely damaged the right side. Meanwhile, Amber Balcaen, who was desperately trying to dodge Rose, couldn’t avoid a slight touch with his car, which sent her smashing into the inner wall and caused her car to spin out wildly, wrecking the inside wall.

Despite the scary scene, Christian Rose was okay, and he even showed up for the post-race interview. When asked about what happened according to him back there, Rose first assured his fans and family that I’m okay! And then the AM Racing driver went on to explain, “We did a lot of stuff right there that I mean kind of burned up a little bit but all good. Because we had a decent car I thought the best we were after the break and it just went straight on me. I don’t know if we cut a tire down or something broke. But I mean for only running 10 to 15 laps I can’t imagine we had Tire down. So there’s nothing you do is just hang on.”

Rose also admitted that the fierce wreck actually took the wind out of him. He said, Yeah knocked the wind out of me, and then breathing all that stuff in with it made it hard to breathe. But got out of the car. Everybody in the car did an incredible job. Got the NASCAR and uh AM racing to build too fast race cars to keep these tracks safe.”

The No. 32 Ford Fusion driver has been gunning for a successful second full season in stock car racing after a standout year in 2023, where he finished third in the final point standings, just behind Andres Perez de Lara and champion Jesse Love. And well, this Dover race could have been another top-10 finish for him, but the wreck derailed those plans. 

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In fact, during a candid discussion after the race, Rose himself mentioned he felt he could have potentially finished between sixth and seventh. He believed he was in a good position to maintain his track spot ahead of the 15. Unfortunately, the wreck changed everything, and he ended up finishing at P20. But Christian Rose wasn’t the only one whose race ended with that wreck. Amber Balcaen, also caught in the chaos, had it even rougher—she had to be carried off on a stretcher.

Amber Balcaen was in a tough spot after the crash at Dover Motor Speedway

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During the fourth ARCA race of the season, Amber Balcaen had to be helped out of her #22 Toyota Camry after trying to dodge Christian Rose, who had crashed into the outside wall. She ended up hitting the inside wall hard and was later stretchered away by the safety crew, although she was sitting up.

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Thankfully, she was later released from the care center and reported feeling “fine,” but she hasn’t yet been cleared to race next week. Her left foot was wrapped, and she’s awaiting further evaluation of the injury. Before today’s mishap, Balcaen was fourth in the points standings and had two top-10 finishes in her three previous starts. She was on track for another strong finish before the midway race wreck.

After her medical check-up, Balcaen shared her perspective on the incident, saying, Yeah uh I came off of two and you know you’re full throttle up or off of four there. And had seen Christian um go up and smoke in flames and saw him. It’s just I didn’t have enough time to cut I tried to cut down him. It was either drive right in the back into him or try to cut down and miss him. But um a lot happens really fast at this race track and I’m really bummed because my icon direct 22 was really coming in.”

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Written by:

Neha Dwivedi

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Neha Dwivedi is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As a journalist, she religiously believes in the power of research, which allows her readers to dive deep into her stories and experience the detailed nuances of the sport like never before. Being proficient with Core Sport and Live Event Coverage, she has written multiple copies on the top entities of Stock Car Racing, like Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Tony Stewart.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta