Driver in 24-hour race sidelined after unusual collision

There are a million things that drivers have to worry about going wrong when driving a high-performance racing car in a 24-hour race.

For driver Andy Lally, having a possum rip through your car at 5 a.m., was probably not one of them.

Lally, a 39-year-old self-proclaimed vegan who was named the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year, said on Twitter he reported hitting debris in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and thought nothing of it until several hours later.

He then tweeted the gruesome discovery of his pit crew.

The crew posthumously nicknamed the dead possum "Ballast," which of course inspired a hashtag, a novelty Twitter account, and reams of jokes.

Lally said his crew later fixed the car and he planned on finishing the race.