Making strides! NASCAR driver Ryan Newman showed “great improvement” before leaving the hospital after his dangerous car wreck on Monday, February 17.
The Indiana native, 42, was brought to Halifax Medical Center after his car went airborne during the Daytona 500 race in Florida. Two days after the incident, Newman’s team, Roush Fenway Racing, updated fans via Twitter that Newman had been released from the hospital. Before confirming the happy news, the team shared a photo of the injured driver standing beside his young daughters, Brooklyn and Ashlyn.
“Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement after Monday night’s last-lap accident at Daytona International Speedway,” the team wrote before Newman left the medical facility. “The veteran driver is fully alert and walking around Halifax Medical Center. True to his jovial nature, he has also been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his two daughters.”
One day prior, it was confirmed that Newman was “awake and speaking with family and doctors” at the hospital. At the time, his family expressed their “appreciation for the concern and heartfelt messages” from fans across the country.
After watching Newman’s car barrel into a wall and flip across the track several times on Monday night, sports reporters and fellow drivers relayed their well wishes to the longtime NASCAR star.
“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 said at the time. “Thoughts and prayers are with Ryan Newman and his family.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to Twitter that day to send his support, writing, “Big prayers for Newman.”
The celebrated racing driver and his wife, Krissie Newman, tied the knot in January 2004 and later cofounded an animal welfare nonprofit called Rescue Ranch. On Thursday, February 13, the couple announced their separation.
“After 16 years of marriage, Krissie and I have decided to amicably separate,” the athlete tweeted. “We will continue to jointly raise our girls, while remaining friends and continuing to work together supporting Rescue Ranch. Thank you for the years of support and friendship. We ask that our daughters’ privacy be respected at this time.”
Krissie, 42, shared the same statement on her Twitter account on Thursday morning.
