In the late stages of last Sunday’s 50-lap Carolina Crate Modified Series race at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway, race leader Amber Lynn crashed hard on the backstretch resulting in her being airlifted to a nearby medical facility. Fortunately, Lynn is okay after one of the biggest crashes of her career.

Lynn was locked in a battle with Josh Lowder for the race lead and win when the two made contact coming out of turn two. Lynn had been running the high line for the last few laps with Lowder to her inside. Their cars met coming off the turn as their lines merged and the resulting contact sent both of them into the inside wall on the backstretch, though Lynn’s hit was much harder.

Lynn slammed the inside wall with the nose of her Modified, and then ricocheted back across the race track to make more hard contact with the outside wall. Her orange and blue No. 2 modified eventually came to rest in the outer lane, nose pointed towards the bottom of the track.

According to FloRacing’s Matthew Dillner who was at South Boston Speedway on Sunday, medical crews cut the roof off Lynn’s car to extricate her. She was eventually put on a stretcher and taken via ambulance to a helicopter, which took her to a nearby hospital.

FloRacing caught up with Lynn via text message on Tuesday afternoon, and she explained what she remembered from the incident and the aftermath.

“I just remember getting a little loose and having Lowder come up into my left rear tire then heading straight for the wall,” Lynn said. “I remember the initial contact and thinking I bit off my tongue because the steering column came up and busted my chin. Then the back and neck pain started before I hit the outside wall.”

The nose of Amber Lynn's car following her crash at South Boston Speedway. (FloRacing/Matthew Dillner photo)

Lynn, who has the most wins for a female driver in Bowman Gray Stadium history, said the medical crew on site thought she might have a brain bleed due to the appearance of her left pupil while she was in the ambulance.

“I’m deathly afraid of heights,” Lynn explained when asked about being airlifted. “I was ready to jump out of the ambulance but my mother was in there with me and basically forced me to go, so I made the ride with her. She didn’t enjoy the ride much either.”

Even though she still is in some pain, Lynn is already back at work trying to get back to her normal life away from the race track.

“I am back at work with pain. My lower back is still hurting, and it’s hard to sit for long periods of time,” she said. “I can’t bend or twist, so I haven’t been much help at home or in the shop. My chin is pretty sore where I have a little gash in it, and my neck is sore from the whiplash. But overall I’m thankful for a little pain because it could’ve been so much worse.”

Even with the pain, Lynn said the reason this crash might have ended her season early is because of all the damage to the car, and not so much her own body. 

“We will rebuild and be back stronger than ever. We may not be back this year since we have two wrecked cars in the shop now, but we always come back wanting more.

“It was just good, hard racing that took a turn, which sometimes happens. Nothing to hang our heads over.”