Watch: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Teen Niece Catapults Off Racetrack in Terrifying Crash
Karsyn Elledge, the niece of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr., was involved in a terrifying crash during a USAC sprint car race Tuesday night.
Her car flipped multiple times and catapulted over the wall, rolling over several more times outside of the track at the Red Dirt Raceway in Oklahoma.
Thankfully, Elledge, 18, walked away from the crash under her own power.
North Carolina’s @KarsynElledge3 bikes big and clears the turn 3 wall! She exited the car under her own power. The feature is coming up! Watch it LIVE on @FloRacing pic.twitter.com/pFN5XzbGMW
— USAC Racing (@USACNation) July 10, 2019
No one was more relieved than her mom, Kelley Earnhardt, who is Dale Jr.’s sister. She was watching it live.
Try watching this from your couch as the mom. ?? https://t.co/VOOa3LWZjQ
— Kelley Earnhardt (@EarnhardtKelley) July 10, 2019
Kelley Earnhardt later tweeted that her daughter was shaken up but OK.
“@KarsynElledge3 is ok, shaken up as you can imagine. Thanks for everyone checking on her and being concerned!” she said.
.@KarsynElledge3 is ok, shaken up as you can imagine. Thanks for everyone checking on her and being concerned!
— Kelley Earnhardt (@EarnhardtKelley) July 10, 2019
Elledge confirmed that with an update of her own a few hours later.
“Tonight I am so very thankful that all my safety equipment did it’s job & that my team built a safe car,” she said in a tweet early Wednesday morning. “Thank you to everyone who’s reached out, I am sore, but most hurt is my pride. I give it my all every night & I hate that I let everyone down.
“This sport is so humbling & I hope that we can put all this behind us & continue moving forward. Thank you to everyone who’s continued to support me.”
— Karsyn Elledge (@KarsynElledge3) July 10, 2019
She walked away from another scary crash March 9 in Illinois, Speed Sport reported.
Elledge competes in the USAC Racing Midget car division. She is ranked 19th in the points standings.
The granddaughter of the late, great Dale Earnhardt Sr., Elledge is in her first year competing in the midget car series, USA Today reported.
She finished her freshman year at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she was a cheerleader before shifting her focus to racing, as a feature on her done by NASCAR earlier this year explained.
Here’s my story on Karsyn Elledge (@KarsynElledge3). She covers both ends of the spectrum as a college cheerleader AND a dirt-track racer. You’ve certainly heard of a few of her family members, but Karsyn is out to make a name for herself. @cbnationals pic.twitter.com/BtkyHSC4tj
— TJ Eckert (@TJEckertKTUL) January 16, 2019
In that NASCAR piece, Elledge made clear her goal is to join the family business and be a racer.
“I thought adults had everything figured out, and now I am an adult and I have no idea what I’m doing,” she said. “I mean, I know I want to be a race car driver. But my Plan B, I have to have that figured out, and I have no clue.”
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