“Grab That Rest of My Thumb”- 68-Year-Old NASCAR Veteran Unearths Dumb Accident That Could Have Tragically Ended His Career

The Ken Schrader flip at the 1995 Talladega race is still etched in people’s minds. The deadly flip and crash with Jeff Green could have easily taken his life. While NASCAR race car drivers are constantly at risk of being subject to dangerous races and crashes, there are also some off-track accidents they experience. While they seem like nothing compared to what can happen to them on track, they are accidents nonetheless. And some of the accidents might even seem downright dumb compared to the risks they take and the crashes they actually face.

In a conversation with fans, veteran NASCAR driver Ken Schrader opens up about the one time he got into a dumb accident that was more serious than it seems. In fact, in hindsight, had things gone awry, the accident would have been severe enough to do away with his racing career for good. and fans were all ears for it.

When Ken Schrader almost lost his thumb

On being asked about the dumbest accident the NASCAR driver had ever been in, Schrader recalls an incident that certainly shocked the audience present during the interview. 

“I was just checking the fan belt when the engine wasn’t running. And then they started the engine… and uh so I grabbed the shop towel because it didn’t burn at all because a fan belt and a pulley it just kind of melted it off. I grabbed a Pullman crew chief. I said, ‘grab that rest of my thumb put it in one of those Gatorade cups and meet me over….” started Schrader.

Just his beginning to talk about the incident is enough to understand simply how serious the injury had been. His tone now might seem nonchalant about it, but it is clear that the injury was serious. 

The ending makes it even more gruesome. “…so I tell him to see what’s wrong. I took a shot at the finger and blood spurts…….we gotta go in the medical center. He puts my hand under the faucet, I want to kill him. (He says) ‘Here lay down’. I pushed him out away and said, ‘No, I’m gonna go back to the 52 Truck. I’ll be there, my thumb will be there. You find the guy who drives the ambulance we’ll all go to the hospital together fix it up,” Ken Schrader concluded.

A driver without a thumb is nothing. In fact, even the loss of any finger can jeopardize your racing career. One wrong decision and Shrader’s illustrious career would’ve been down the drain. But he was not the only driver who almost lost a finger due to an accident.

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Ryan Newman’s ‘dumb’ accident that almost cost his career too

In the same interview itself, Ryan Newman recalls an accident that made fans gasp and laugh at the same time. He talks about the time he decided to help out in his friend’s restaurant. He was supposed to slice pickles, and for some reason, he wanted to use the meat slicer for that. In order to retrieve a small piece of pickle, he ended up slicing off a corner of his index finger. While he promises that his finger ‘grew back,’ it was clear that a small pickle piece could have effortlessly ruined his life. 

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Both Newman and Schrader have been in crashes during their careers that could have easily ended them. However, it seems like danger doesn’t leave them even after they are away from the race track. Small accidents like these could have easily made sure that both drivers never gripped a steering wheel properly again.

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