--- title: "NASCAR Truck’s Entire Rear End Fell Off While Racing at COTA" description: "I've heard of driving the wheels off of race cars but this is ridiculous. OK, bad Seinfeld impressions aside, Marco Andretti quite literally drove the wheels off of his [NASCAR ]()Truck at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. With two…" date: "2024-03-24" modified: "2024-03-24" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/nascar-trucks-entire-rear-end-fell-off-while-racing-at-cota" categories: - "NASCAR" - "News" - "Racing" --- # NASCAR Truck’s Entire Rear End Fell Off While Racing at COTA ![]() *NASCAR* I've heard of driving the wheels off of race cars but this is ridiculous. OK, bad Seinfeld impressions aside, Marco Andretti quite literally drove the wheels off of his [NASCAR ]()Truck at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. With two laps remaining, Andretti's entire rear end simply fell off of his truck while driving and rolled off the track onto the grass. There was no crash, nor did Andretti's truck hit anything on the road. The rear just fell off. When the rolling rear end finally came to a stop, the TV cameras zoomed in on it and it was all there: the solid rear axle, differential, wheel hubs, coil spring, shocks, wheels, and tires. It was as if someone jacked the truck up, unbolted its entire rear, and then rolled it down the track. The visual of it quietly rolling away desperately needs the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme in the background. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_3czP5RuVrQ So what exactly happened? It's hard to tell, as there's no official statement about what caused Andretti's rear end to free itself. However, according to this detailed breakdown from *[The Autopian]()*, it seems like the welds on the truck's rear trailing arms broke, just ahead of their U-bolts. Why did they break? Again, there's no official answer but it seems likely that stresses from wheel hop under heavy braking did the trick. According to NASCAR reporter[ Bob Pockrass](), Andretti's rear end is being reviewed by NASCAR's R&D center. Thankfully, losing the rear axle didn't cause [Andretti ]()to crash, nor did it hit any other car. Once the truck's rear end came off, the race was stopped, so the truck could be towed off and the rear end could be moved. Once the race restarted, Cory Heim—who was leading before Andretti's truck disintegrated—was able to hold onto his lead for his first win of the season. More importantly, we now have this hilarious clip of a rogue rear end rolling down the track. *Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()