A small plane carrying Dale Earnhardt Jr., his wife and their 1-year-old daughter ran off the runway and caught fire at the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee on Thursday, Elizabethton fire chief Barry Carrier told reporters.
There were no injuries beyond cuts and abrasions, Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford said. Earnhardt was transported to Johnson City Medical Center. He told ESPN’s Marty Smith in a text message that he and his family are OK.
BREAKING: Elizabethton Fire Chief says Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife were on a plane that crashed this afternoon according to our CBS affiliate. https://t.co/LTcjE0d7i7
— Alexandra Koehn (@NC5_AKoehn) August 15, 2019
The plane was also carrying Amy Earnhardt, daughter Isla Rose and the family dog. Earnhardt Jr.’s sister, Kelley, said in a tweet that the plane’s two pilots were the others aboard the plane. She added that everyone was safe and taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
Earnhardt no longer drives in NASCAR’s Cup Series, but he’s scheduled to drive in the Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway on Aug. 31.