TireMonkey.com driver Mario Gosselin overcame a wall collision and toxic fumes in his cockpit to finish 24th in the AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in Indianapolis on Friday.

By posting a time of 23.026 seconds at 107.253 seconds at O’Reilly Raceway Park during qualifying, Gosselin started the race in 17th position. He had maneuvered into 14th place by lap 96, but that’s when his No. 12 truck became wedged between Aric Almirola’s No. 51 truck, Donny Lia’s No. 7 truck and Narain Karthikeyan’s No. 60 truck. Sparks flying, the TireMonkey.com truck careened into the back stretch wall. The accident knocked out the panel separating the driver from the engine compartment, and the cockpit filled with poisonous fumes.

Gosselin and the DGM Racing crew kept the TireMonkey.com truck on the lead lap until suspension and handling issues forced them to lose laps in the pits while correcting the issues and fixing the damage. After 104 laps of inhaling the fumes in his cockpit, Gosselin was nauseous and cramping up afterward, but he felt better after a night of rest.

Gosselin’s next race is the Pocono Mountains 125 in Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 31.

Labels: AAA Insurance 200, Aric Almirola, Donny Lia, Indianapolis, Mario Gosselin, Narain Karthikeyan, O'Reilly Raceway Park, TireMonkey.com