On October 6, 2025, Julia Piquet, wife of NASCAR driver Daniel Suárez, experienced a life-altering event when she and her family were involved in a severe car accident on Highway 73 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. The incident occurred when their Chevrolet Blazer was struck from behind by another vehicle, causing it to veer into oncoming traffic and collide with another car.

Despite the severity of the crash, all 3 occupants, Julia, her mother Sylvia Tamsma, and Suárez’s mother Rosaline Garza, were fortunate to sustain only non-life-threatening injuries. The driver responsible for the crash faced charges for failure to reduce speed, along with registration and inspection violations. But Piquet is far from forgetting the incident, as she experiences ‘sleepless’ nights since the day of the accident.

Julia Piquet opens up about accident trauma

In the aftermath, Piquet shared her emotional journey, beginning with the haunting image of her rearview mirror reflecting the approaching vehicle, and then about the profound emotional toll, saying, “One thing they don’t tell you about car accidents is the emotional toll it can take on a person; the feelings of guilt from the person driving the car, the random flashbacks to the moment of impact, the loneliness of having to deal with your thoughts around such a traumatic event.” 

The guilt Piquet felt as the driver is a particularly common manifestation of survivor’s guilt, irrespective of the fault, as she went on to describe, “There’s also the feeling of realizing how vulnerable you really are. How much is out of your control. How much can be taken away from you in a moment.” Suárez‘s wife also shared pictures from the hospital, with descriptions of blood-soaked clothes and X-ray pictures of fractured bones, while giving an update on the wellness of her mother and mother-in-law.

She first recounted the moment of collision, saying, “We were driving back from Homegoods and Target. My mom was in the passenger seat and my sister was in the back. I was slowing down to a stop at 50 mph with my blinkers on, waiting to make a left turn, when a minivan struck us from behind. I didn’t even have time to react.” This initial rear-end collision sent their car into the path of an oncoming vehicle, resulting in a sideswipe and another serious impact.

Amidst the chaos, Piquet described how, “Eventually everything got quiet and our car was filled with a light fog and awful smell.” Her immediate focus shifted from the impact to the well-being of her passengers, particularly her mother, whose head was trapped. She detailed her frantic efforts, saying, “I noticed my mom’s head was caught between the side airbag and the passenger door, as she was pleading to open the door for air. I climbed over her, lifted the side airbag and reclined her seat to free her head, resting it back on her seat back. She just lay there in shock and pain.”

“Daniel’s mom, sat directly behind my mom, said she couldn’t open her door. After a few attempts at opening my own door, I finally managed to swing it open with a good kick and ran to the other side of the car. My legs were aching but I was so full of adrenaline that I could’ve run a marathon if I had to,” she continued. The physical injuries sustained in the crash were a stark reminder of the violence of the impact, through the structural integrity of the vehicle mitigated what could have been a catastrophic outcome.

Piquet revealed the extent of some of the injuries, saying, “I looked down at my right shoulder and saw my sweatshirt covered in blood. I didn’t feel any pain. Later, I found out a hair clip had caused two lacerations on my head. I used Rosy’s phone to call Daniel. Rosy’s right shoulder was hurting. Her collarbone was broken in three pieces.” But beyond the physical injuries, Piquet’s account delved deeply into the heavy emotional and psychological burden that followed a near-fatal accident, a trauma often underestimated by those who haven’t experienced it.

As Piquet began to process the trauma in the week following the event, the continuous loop of
What-if scenarios became a significant part of her struggle to cope. She admitted the mental toll of this rumination, “Though I am grateful that we are all ok, and do recognize just how lucky we were, my mind has been playing tricks on me; unwillingly reliving the moment when I looked up at my rear view mirror, reminding me ‘what could have been’ had I not decided to leave my dog at home, or if I had been driving my old Porsche instead, or if it was a truck instead of a Tesla that struck us the second time…”

This shared survival story, penned initially as a “therapeutic but very emotional exercise” to unload the replayed scenes in her mind, stands as a testament to the resilience found in the aftermath of severe trauma. Daniel Suárez had previously also shared an update on the accident.

Daniel Suárez’s emotional update following family accident

Fresh off the Charlotte Roval race, Daniel Suárez shared the terrifying ordeal his family endured in North Carolina. “What is left of Julia’s Chevy Blazer. This car saved the lives of my wife, mother, and mother-in-law. Yesterday was a very scary day. Today, I’m just so grateful that they are alive,” he wrote on X, providing a sobering perspective on the crash. Julia Piquet, his wife and the daughter of three-time Formula 1 world champion Nelson Piquet, was at the wheel at the time of the crash.

In the wreck, Suárez revealed the injuries sustained by his family. “Luckily, (wife) Julia is good besides a few bruises and a couple of cuts on her head. She’s fine. Her mom has a lot of bruises as well, and a couple of little impacts as well. She’s fine. My mom, from the back seat, got the worse end of it with bruises and cuts on her face and collarbone broken in a few pieces but she already had surgery a couple of days ago and she’s already recovering at home,” he explained, reassuring fans about their condition.

Despite the trauma, Suárez expressed gratitude for his family’s survival and the support they’ve received. “First of all, I want to thank God for keeping them safe. It was a very scary situation. I was in the middle of my competition meeting when I received the call,” he said. With recovery underway, the NASCAR driver can now refocus on his career and finish his tenure with Trackhouse Racing strong.