Crewman suspended during Atlanta 500 for running across the infield grass

  

  
A crew member for Marcus Ambrose chases after a loose tire during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. He was quickly suspended for the rest of the day for endangering his own life. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   ATLANTA
   What has already been a strange season turned even weirder Sunday when a bizarre caution had to be thrown midway through the Atlanta Kobalt Tools 500 for a crewman running across the infield grass at Atlanta Motor Speedway while chasing a loose tire during green flag racing.
   The crewman, who ran to within 75 feet of the racing surface, as cars roared by at 185 mph, was immediately suspended for the rest of the day by NASCAR officials.

   At that point in the all but six men – Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin -- had just made routine gas stops under green. So the caution scrambled the field and the scoring order.
   The crewman suspended was Jimmy Watts, gas man for Marcos Ambrose.