Nascar is one of the most demanding forms of motorsport and the last race at Talladega Superspeedway showed exactly what some drivers can face while racing.

Yes, we know the discipline is widely mocked for being “easy”, but things are not what they seem from the stands, as races can (and will) rapidly turn into disasters if only one of the drivers running in the cluster formation loses concentration or makes an error.

In the wreck fest at Talladega – which actually ended with a huge crash right before the checkered flag – Dale Earnhardt Jr. surprisingly managed to keep his calm, and the car under control, after his steering wheel came off. Fortunately, he wasn’t driving during a caution period and managed to steer away the car, by grabbing the column, away from the wall.

“Luckily it was under caution. I just grabbed the shaft and steered the car that way. Might of ripped the skin off my hand, but I wasn’t going to let it hit the wall. That was just a freak deal”, said Earnhardt, according to Fox Sports.

The incident occurred after a pit-stop, when Dale failed to reconnect the steering wheel properly. The racing driver ended up finishing the race in 40th place after being involved in two accidents, but his save will surely remain the sport’s hall of fame.

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