Ty Dillon shows why NASCAR throws debris cautions by running over something at Michigan

This is what happens when you run over something going around 200 mph, and it’s not pretty.

Debris cautions are some of the favorite windmills at which NASCAR conspiracy theorists like to tilt. There are times when you aren’t even sure what’s on the track when that yellow flag flies. On the other hand, there’s what just happened to Ty Dillon this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Mired in something of a forgettable season, Dillon was minding his own business in his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet. Then he hit something on the track.

What was it? The NBC announcers speculated that it might have been a piece of tungsten or part of someone’s battery, though they also noted that if it was the latter, someone would probably be stopped on the track somewhere.

Whatever it was, it tore right through Dillon’s splitter and parts of the car behind it, making a mess in the process. The damage was so severe that it sent the 13 into the outside wall, after which it settled near the bottom of the track, partly in flames.

Take a look:

Afterward, Dillon told the TV crew that he thought it was “either a battery or a chunk of lead” and that it destroyed the oil cooler, leaving him unable to control his car. It just goes to show you that as far as NASCAR has come in making the vehicles safer for the drivers — and that should be the number one priority, always — the cars are still very sensitive to damage in all kinds of ways.

Like, say, hitting anything laying on the track doing the kinds of speeds we see at Michigan. In any case, the next time NASCAR officials order a yellow flag for debris on the track, just remember that there’s a good reason for it. Probably.