Stewart Friesen walking on his own again after modified crash
Stewart Friesen’s team confirmed he is walking on his own again for the first time since a devastating modified crash left him injured in July.
The team posted a video Friday showing Friesen’s crutches in the foreground as the four-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner walked down the hallway toward the crutches and then turning away from it, all on his own and excited.
This comes just over four months after Friesen shattered his pelvis as well as his right leg tibia and fibula in a big block modified crash. It happened July 28 in night one of “King of the North” at Autodrome Drummond.
While racing into turn three, Friesen’s car went wide, hit the outside wall, caught air and flipped multiple times. After hitting the top of the wall and catching fire, his car was hit by another car before finally coming to a rest.
Super DIRTcar Series, the sanctioning body Friesen was racing with, stated he was “alert and communicating with officials and EMT.” All other drivers were okay.
Around 27 minutes later, Super DIRTcar stated safety officials helped Friesen out of his car. Friesen was then transported for further evaluation.
Stewart Friesen’s team confirmed he was “alert and talking” and is at a local hospital after the crash.
After nine days in the hospital, Friesen returned home — glad to not only be back but to be alive after a harrowing crash that threw any thought of implications on that year’s playoffs out the window and put the focus squarely on life.
Friesen had locked himself into the NCTS playoffs with a win at Michigan International Speedway in June. However, the injuries ruled him out of the rest of the season, handing the steering wheel of the No. 52 Toyota Tundra TRD PRO to Kaden Honeycutt, who made the Championship 4.
It’s unclear if Friesen will be back in 2026 but, being the owner of his own team, the ride is there for him to take if he is ready to return.
In exactly 200 NCTS starts, Friesen has four wins, 51 top-five finishes, 91 top-10s and four pole positions spanning nine full-time seasons. He has qualified for the playoffs in in five of those seasons and raced in four of those (2025 being the exception) with a Championship 4 berth coming back in 2019 when he won two races on the season and scored a career-high 12 top-10 finishes and 256 laps led.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com