Former American Ethanol Late Model Tour champion Brandon Thirlby of Traverse City, Mich., suffered two broken wrists in a Saturday racing accident at Merritt Speedway in Lake City, Mich., the team reported.

"Brandon is in a good amount of pain but in good spirits," his wife Leah posted on the team's Facebook page after he was involved in a collision among slower cars at the checkered flag of Saturday's Allstar Performance Challenge Series event won by Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio. Thirlby's car was airborne and nearly rolled in the scramble.

While the 32-year-old Thirlby finished fifth in the feature, his team hurriedly left the track for the hospital where X-rays revealed breaks in bones near his thumbs in both wrists in the wreck that left his race car "not repairable," according to his wife Leah in a post in the team's Facebook page.

"I've never hit another car that hard before," Thirlby told DirtonDirt.com. "And the only other time a hit was harder was my Eldora (Speedway) crash."

Thirlby, whose team posted a picture of him smiling and holding up his wrists covered with temporary casts, plans to see an orthopedic doctor this week. He has a backup car but his racing future is uncertain until he finds out if he'll need surgery or casts on both wrists simultaneously while recovering, his wife told DirtonDirt.com.

The team was grateful to Thirlby's brother Collin and others who helped load the team's equipment after the race, as well as the friends who sent messages checking on Thirlby's condition.

"I’ve had a couple hundred messages from people and we’re very thankful everyone is so caring during this time," Leah said. "He will get all healed up and be back as soon as he can to winning/racing again!"

Editor's note: Updates with quotes and more details.