KANSAS CITY – Part-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team Leavine Family Racing (LFR) suffered a setback with a significant fire at their Concord, North Carolina-based shop Friday morning.
“We can confirm there was a fire at our Concord, North Carolina shop,” the team said in a statement issued Friday morning. “Luckily no one was injured. We are working with the fire department and local officials to determine what happened. We’ve heard from the fire department there was significant damage to the back of the race shop. As you can imagine, we are still working to assess the full situation.”
The local police department informed the team that the inferno which erupted at 7:00 a.m. local damaged an 8,000-square foot section of the shop. Local affiliate WSOC reported the fire was under control by 8:30 a.m. local time. The fire marshal also told WSOC that four race cars were destroyed in the blaze.
The team traveled to Kansas City, Kansas for the fifth annual SpongeBob SquarePants 400, where driver Michael McDowell is running a special paint scheme with Larry the Lobster from the popular Nickelodeon children’s program.
McDowell is hoping to make their sixth race of the season after missing last Sunday’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. LFR owned by Bob Leavine 63 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts to their credit with a best finish of eighth last July at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
With 44 cars entered for the fifth-annual SpongeBob SquarePants 400, McDowell must qualify inside the top-36 to secure him a starting spot for Saturday night’s race.
A team spokesperson told CATCHFENCE.com that they will offer an update on the situation as it becomes available.
UPDATE: Leavine Family Racing issued an update Friday evening at Kansas Speedway noting that after receiving more information from a restoration company that inspected the fire damage at the shop today, LFR was informed that structural damage may cause them to move their racing operations. The team is currently exploring all options.
The statement added that they do not anticipate this to impact the team’s competition schedule. Their next scheduled event is the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on May 15.
LFR confirmed that four race cars were damaged in the fire, however, they were primarily backup cars. A complete investigation is taking place to access the overall damage and cause of the fire.
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