Fire at Leavine Racing Family’s race shop Friday morning damaged four cars - primarily backup cars - but no one was injured, the team confirmed.
The team stated Friday night that structural damage may force the team to move their racing operations but that should not impact the team’s schedule. The team’s next race is next weekend in the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Fire crews from Harrisburg, N.C., and Concord, N.C., were called to the race shop at 7 a.m., Ken Bradey, deputy chief of the Harrisburg Fire Department, told NASCAR Talk. Crews arrived at 7:04 a.m. and saw smoke coming out of windows. Bradey said that seven units were dispatched, bringing about 35 firefighters to the scene. He said the fire was brought under control in about 20 minutes.
Brady said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The team, with driver Michael McDowell, is at Kansas Speedway for this weekend’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400.
McDowell said Friday afternoon the team was still gathering information about the incident while preparing to compete.
“I just tried to rally the guys around and say, ‘OK, we’ll worry about this when we get home Sunday,’ '' McDowell said. “We can’t fix it ,we can’t change it, we’ve got to do our job today.’'
