UPDATE 10:16 p.m. ET: NASCAR released a statement on Newman’s condition via Twitter: “Ryan Newman is being treated at Halifax Medical Center. He is in serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers and ask that you respect the privacy of Ryan and his family during this time. We appreciate your patience and cooperation and we will provide more information as it becomes available.”
Original story below:
Race car driver Ryan Newman was involved in a serious crash during the final moments of the Daytona 500 in Florida on Monday, February 17.
The Indiana native, 42, got in a severe wreck during the big race when entering the final lap of the green-white-checker finish. His car hit a wall and went airborne before flipping on the track several times.
CBS Sports reported that Newman, who won the event in 2008, was rushed to a hospital in the area following the accident.
“Ryan Newman has been helped from his car by the AMR safety team. He’s been loaded into an ambulance and taken to a local hospital,” Fox NASCAR reporter Mike Joy said following the accident, after a track safety crew was seen using extinguishers to put out a fire in Newman’s car as it lay upside down on the side of the track.
“Safety has come a long way in this sport, but sometimes we are reminded that it is a very dangerous sport,” Fox NASCAR cohost Jeff Gordon added. “Thoughts and prayers are with Ryan Newman and his family.”
The Associated Press reports that it took several minutes for the car to be rolled back onto its wheels and that it appeared that the roll cage, designed to protect the driver, had caved in.
Following the incident, his estranged wife, Krissie Newman, tweeted “Omg.” The pair, who share two daughters, announced just days earlier that they were separating after 16 years of marriage.
Spectrum News 13 reporter Nicole Griffin, reported that the driver was transported to Halifax Health following the collision on the track. “We believe Ryan Newman just arrived,” she shared via Twitter. “Rushed into trauma entrance, escorted by deputies. No word on his condition.”
Many fans took to social media to send prayers to the father of two and those well-wishers included fellow professional race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“Big prayers for Newman,” Earnhardt, 45, whose father, Dale Earnhardt Sr., passed away due to injuries sustained in a race car collision in 2001, wrote via Twitter following the sad news.
Moments after the collision took place, Denny Hamlin won the thrilling two-day race. The 2020 title marks his third Daytona 500 win and his second in a row. He is the sixth driver to win the car race three times.
“Number one, we’re praying for Ryan,” Hamlin said following his win via NBC Sports. “I worked really well with Ryan throughout the whole race. Obviously, he got turned right there.”
Corey LaJoie, the driver who hit Ryan’s car as it was flipping, took to Twitter after the incident.
“Dang I hope Newman is ok,” he tweeted. “That is worst case scenerio and I had nowhere to go but smoke.”
