Former NASCAR driver Michael Annett has died. He was 39.
JR Motorsports announced Annett’s death in a social media post Friday evening. Annett drove for the team in the Xfinity Series for five seasons from 2017-21.
Annett made over 100 starts in NASCAR’s Cup Series and over 300 starts in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series. Annett’s lone Xfinity Series win came in 2019, when he won the season-opening race at Daytona. He went on to have five more top-five finishes and finished ninth in the points standings that season.
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His best season in the Xfinity Series came in 2012 when he drove for Richard Petty Motorsports. Annett had six top-five finishes and 17 top-10 finishes and finished fifth in the points standings.
At JR Motorsports, he never finished outside the top 15 in the points standings.
Annett competed in 106 Cup Series races over the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons. He drove for underfunded teams Tommy Baldwin Racing and HScott Racing during his time at NASCAR’s top level and had just six top-20 finishes in his Cup Series career. His best finish came in 2015 when he was 13th at the Daytona 500.
Annett retired after the 2021 season after he dealt with a stress fracture in his right leg for much of the season. He missed seven races that year. He also missed races during the 2013 season after he suffered a fractured and dislocated sternum in a crash at Daytona when his car slammed head-on into the wall.
