NASCAR Driver Involved In Serious Highway Wreck While Heading To Daytona 500 To Work As Mechanic

Chris Hacker – a part-time NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series driver – underwent emergency surgery Wednesday night after he was involved in a head-on collision with a semi-truck on the highway. 

Hacker, 24, was en route to Florida for this weekend's Daytona 500. The truck reportedly crossed the median and hit Hacker's Ford Mustang head-on. 

He was transported to Prisma Health Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina, where he underwent emergency surgery after CT scans showed several injuries. 

That's the bad news. The good news?

Our guy is out of surgery and set for a smooth recovery. 

NASCAR driver Chris Hacker on the road to recovery

Legend. What a trooper. 

Now, the backstory – which should make you root for this cat even more. 

Hacker was recently reinstated by NASCAR after being suspended last year for a DWI. 

According to reports, the 24-year-old was sent to the garage last summer after Huntersville (North Carolina) police said they pulled him over for excessive speeding on I-77 North.  

Not great. Never ideal, especially for someone who drives for a living. 

However, Hacker worked his way back, participated in NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, and announced on Valentine's Day that he was six months sober and back in the sport. 

Hacker was reinstated by NASCAR late last fall and was on his way to Daytona this week not to race, but to work as a MECHANIC for the Joey Gase Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series team. 

I mean, come on. That's a dude we can all get behind. That's the NASCAR we all love, right? Guy makes some dumb decisions, gets right, and starts to work his way back to the top. 

Now, Chris Hacker was never at the top of NASCAR. Not yet, at least. His best finish came last year at Richmond, when he finished 14th in the Xfinity race. 

But whatever. Don't care. Glad he's OK and hope he finds his way down to Daytona this summer. 

Someone get this cat a wrench and let him go to work!