A six-car crash snarled Interstate 95 traffic on Wednesday morning in Harnett County.
Police tried to pull over a stolen car, but the driver sped away onto I-95 toward Johnston County.
The Highway Patrol said it believes a chain-reaction crash caused a pickup to slam into the back of a fuel tanker truck.
All lanes near the 79-mile markers were shut down for several hours.
It started when a state trooper attempted to stop a group of motorcyclists traveling southbound on I-95 in Harnett County.
The driver was taken to a hospital to be checked out. He'll face charges in Edgecombe County once released.