Despite what this scene may look like, Collin Bender walked away uninjured after this crash. The wild wreck occurred during the mod lite feature at Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande, Arizona.
“After examining my car, I believe a bolt broke in the rear end, causing it to shift over,” Bender, of Chandler, Arizona, said. “I got up into the corner, my car hopped, broke traction, and I tried to save it. It went into a traction flip because I tried to correct the mistake.”
Collin Bender sat in an Ultra Shield full-containment seat, with Crow Safety Gear belts. He wore a Simpson Bandit helmet paired with a HANS device.
“My dad, Steve, who also races [mod lites], always preached to me the importance of good safety equipment to me and my brother Hayden, who drives a stock car,” said Bender. “He told us to spend the money so we could race without the risk of being injured. I survived a bad wreck at Central Arizona Raceway four years ago because of my safety equipment — I flipped and was hit in the cage by another car. I had a mild concussion from that one.”
Smoke poured from Bender’s car after he flipped.
“The smoke was from oil getting to the top of the engine as it was upside-down in the air — there was no fire,” Bender said. “I was not injured, so I decided to stay strapped in the seat while the track safety crew turned the car over. I popped out and gave the grandstand and my mom a wave to show I was okay. Then, [my wife] Brandi [who was also racing in the feature,] stopped her car behind mine, so I ran over to calm her down and tell her to focus on her racing. She was trying to win the track championship.”
Brandi tied for the track championship, with the tie breaker based on finishes placing her second in the final tally. Back at home, the Benders got busy working on Collin’s car, which H & E Chassis built.
“It was a good little tumble,” said Bender. “It held up well. This car has been around since Manzanita Speedway [an Arizona track which closed in 2009]. We’ve updated and modernized it. It still kicks butt. I’ve won two features this year with it. A new front clip and we’ll be back out there next race, kicking butt again.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Clarified how many years Bender ran the car (2024-09-24).
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
