The driver involved in a Thursday crash with Kyle Larson in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals was hospitalized overnight and diagnosed with thoracic compression spinal fractures of the T3, T4 and T5 vertebrae.
Christopher Townsend connected with Larson coming out of Turn 2 and both drivers went for a tumble. Larson was able to continue but Townsend was transported for further evaluation.
The team posted the following statement to social media overnight:
We believe there will be no surgery, but he is being admitted over night to watch his pain levels. Once he gets admitted, an orthopedic will come in and examine his back and give us a little more detail on the fractures, and go about the recovery. We will update again once we have more information. Thank you all for the prayers!
Christopher Townsend Motorsports
The most notable thing about the crash was that Townsend’s helmet dislodged while he was tumbling through the air. It was a topic of conversation in the Tulsa Expo Center in the hours after racing concluded for the night.
It was said amongst racers in the building that Townsend either does not not have properly sized equipment or it was not buckled right — a topic of conversation in the aftermath of the 2023 crash involving Ashton Torgerson.
Townsend addressed this in a separate post on Friday morning.
I wanted to make a post about the helmet situation. I’ve seen many questions and people being frustrated about this.
I 100 percent strapped my helmet and attached (it) to (the) HANS device. There is a mark on my neck where the helmet was cutting me while coming off. I strapped my helmet to my liking like I have done since day one. It was tight to my standards but could it have been tighter, maybe to some.
I’ve seen a bunch of comments falsely accusing me of not wearing the strap, I also saw there was people saying I didn’t have a HANS. They are both incorrect. The Chili Bowl crew took my helmet and HANS and it was clicked together.
We will now focus on recovery. Thank you for all the prayers.
Christopher Townsend on Facebook
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.