Roush transporter involved in accident
02/03/07 Joe Milliken remained in the intensive care unit Thomason Hospital in El Paso Texas Thursday a day after he was involved in accident involving a Roush Racing transporter. Milliken was the co-driver and a passenger in the transporter driven by Justin Grebe that caused a multi-vehicle accident that shut interstate 10 outside El Paso Texas Wednesday. Photo by KFOX TV News
The accident occurred at a US Border Patrol checkpoint. All vehicles are required to stop but according to witnesses the transporter failed to do so.
"I looked in my rear view mirror and saw this RV directly behind me, and as I turned around I felt the impact," Mike Mize, a truck driver involved in the accident told the local El Paso FOX affiliate. The impact Mize felt was the semi hitting the back of the RV, and then the RV hitting his truck.
"And a split second later a Roush racing team truck whizzed past me, doing 50 mph, and slammed into the truck that was in front of me and his tractor exploded. I mean it just exploded," said Mize.
Mize ran from his cab and went to aid the occupants of the transporter.
"I asked him, didn't you know this was a place to slow down, and he said, he said, he wasn't paying attention, and when he looked up, it was too late," said Mize.
The collision shut down eastbound traffic on I-10 for nearly five hours.
02/01/07 A driver of a tractor-trailer with the NASCAR logo was critically injured in a traffic collision at the Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca today, a Texas Department of Public Safety Official said. Joe Millikan, the driver of the NASCAR tractor trailer, was taken by ambulance to Thomason Hospital. Three other people, including Milliken's driving partner, suffered nonlife-threatening injuries. They also were taken to Thomason. Their names were not available, DPS dispatcher Julian Najera said. The cause of the crash has not been determined. Officials were also unable to say what vehicle the other victims were traveling in. El Paso Times
01/31/07 A NASCAR hauler was involved in a multi-vehicle wreck 85 miles east of El Paso [TX] mid-morning Wednesday, according to Border Patrol officials. The accident occurred just after 9:00am/mt [11:00am/et] at mile marker 102 on Interstate 10, near the Border Patrol check point in Sierra Blanca. A witness who identified himself as truck driver Jesse Bear, tells ABC-7 the tractor-trailer–reportedly carrying the #6 Roush Racing AAA Ford Fusion [David Ragan is the driver] –struck a motor home in the rear. Bear adds there were "a few other vehicles in the wreck, but everything was crushed together." According to Border Patrol agents at the checkpoint, the hauler struck a motor home, which then struck another 18 wheeler, that then struck a 2nd tractor trailer. Emergency radio transmissions indicated that at least one person was rushed to Thomason Hospital with serious injuries. Emergency officials add there were 3 other persons transported to local hospitals. Emergency crews with Culberson County, Hudspeth County, and Ft. Hancock all responded to the scene of the accident. kvia.com
01/31/07 Roush Racing can confirm that the No.6 Nextel Cup transporter was involved in a multi-vehicle accident with injuries in Sierra Blanca, TX in route from Las Vegas, NV to Concord, N.C. We will provide additional details as they become available.