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Jordan Ives survives fiery Super Late Model crash after brakes fail

Dale Earnhardt Jr's Sprint Cup crew chief and Jordan's uncle Greg Ives says his nephew is "alright - a little shaken up".

Jordan Ives

Jordan Ives

Press conference for the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series: Greg Ives, crew chief for Chase Elliott
Winning crew chief Greg Ives
Chase Elliott, Greg Ives and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in victory lane
NASCAR Nationwide Series champion driver Chase Elliott with owners Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt, Rick Hendrick, crew chief Greg Ives

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jordan Ives’ Speedweeks went up in flames on Saturday at New Smyrna Speedway.

Ives’ car burst into flames after he hit the outside retaining wall when his brakes failed during practice on the high-banked, half-mile paved oval.

The 16-year-old Gladstone, Mich.-native lives with his uncle Greg Ives, who is crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jordan was barely out of his Super Late Model when he called the elder Ives, who was at Daytona International Speedway preparing for the Sprint Unlimited.

You always know you’re going to have some issues whether it’s a fender here or a hub here or there – just racing incidents but to have it take away the whole car is something that was hard on them.

Greg Ives

“Obviously, it was pretty bad,” Greg Ives said on Sunday. “The car is pretty much a loss. He was alright. He called me and said he was alright – a little shaken up. They had expected to run all the races down here. You always know you’re going to have some issues whether it’s a fender here or a hub here or there – just racing incidents but to have it take away the whole car is something that was hard on them.

“They got it all loaded up. They’re going to stay for some races today and probably head home to North Carolina.”

Ives took his nephew to offer guidance as he pursues a racing career. The elder Ives raced for eight seasons prior to joining Hendrick Motorsports.

“We’re trying to get him trained properly if his goal is to one day be a race car driver,” Ives said of his nephew. “We’re trying to focus on the details to make that happen because it’s such a hard sport to break into as a crew member – let along a driver. Just trying to help him along that way, mentor him a little bit as much as we can because I have jobs to do. The best thing is to just have him around me and learn as much as he can.”

Ives said the family-owned team did not have a backup car in Florida. The trip was his “brother Steve’s dream to come down” from Michigan and “have fun with it”. Ives joined his family for the Governor’s Cup last month at New Smyrna but wasn’t able to balance both tracks this week.

Jordan Ives posted the following update on Facebook:

"Our week is down we backed it into the wall and the car caught on fire and burned to the ground but I'm ok," Ives said. 

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