A terrifying crash happened moments after Dale Earnhardt Jr’s finish at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona worldwide Speedway Sunday.
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Austin Dillon’s vehicle went airborne, into the fencing at the end of the race, sending debris into the stands.
According to Daytona worldwide Speedway President Joie Chitwood II, 13 fans were medically examined. Of them, eight refused treatment, four were treated on site and one was transported in stable condition with an unspecified injury.
“I am just going to be really sore”, Dillon said. “I am not sure what else we can really do about it. They are freak incidents that happen”.
NASCAR driver Austin Dillon’s mangled vehicle laid on its roof in the tri-oval at Daytona global Speedway. It ended with Dillon’s horrific crash, which grabbed more headlines than race victor Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It’s the second time in two years fans sitting in the grandstands in Daytona were injured by flying debris from race cars.
But why then would NASCAR have these drivers, in a sport that relies on pinpoint accuracy at high speeds, race well into the night when they’re exhausted?
“This is our newest one we put up recently and its main job is to keep the auto on this track and not to get through”, said Igdalsky. “I had just got done stopping and I had crew members everywhere”.
Dillon talked about it afterward – it is all about the speed. It comforted me pretty quick.
“This track is extremely special to me”, Gordon said Saturday after qualifying was canceled.
“The catch fence is created to catch parts, catch pieces, and in some cases, catch cars”.
It’s time to implement a better way to finish races on restrictor plate tracks. “It makes for more excitement but you’re always concerned when a guy crashes that bad”, said Russel Cordray as he was buying tickets for the Brickyard.
After walking away from the wreck Dillon said he would be fine and that he just needed to “ice up” before next week’s race in Kentucky.
On a night not short for drama, Earnhardt won his second restrictor-plate race of the season to solidify his status as one of NASCAR’s best – just like his late daddy – at that game.
“We’ve come so far”, said Dillon. “It scared the hell out of me”, Earnhardt said.
“You see a wreck like that, you shouldn’t be talking to a person as early as you’re talking to me today”, Dillon told NBC on Tuesday. “And then I just wanted to get out of there and let the fans know that I was OK, let my parents and grandparents know that I was all right”.
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“We were unfortunate (for the crash) but fortunate in the fact that the Good Lord was looking at me and keeping me safe”, Dillon said. No set time. I just had to be inside the house before it was completely dark.
