But the crash at the NASCAR race in Daytona Sunday night had NASCAR fans stunned after driver Austin Dillon went flying into the protective fence then tumbling down the track. As the smoke cleared, and the cars all came to a stop, things looked grim for Dillon, as the #3 was on its roof, shredded to pieces. The estimated 13 people in the stands that were treated only suffered minor injuries. “When the auto flips over, you know it’s about to be a rough ride”.
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Earnhardt, who led a race-high 97 laps, saw the wreck develop in his mirror just after winning the Coke Zero 400. The vehicle disintegrated. Good thing Dillon walked away from this one. “I didn’t think he was going to be alive”, said fan Chuck Aderholtz. Eight more declined treatment.
The head of the Daytona global Speedway is analyzing the crash and hoping to learn from it.
Fan Rich Schellhase watched the entire crash unfold and was terrified. The No. 3 Chevrolet was catapulted over from the inside lane of traffic hard into the catch fence.
A wild Daytona race saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. win, while Austin Dillon flew into the catchfence at the start/finish line.
While NASCAR officials were lauding about the safety of the cars and how good a job the retaining wall was at keeping most of the debris from seriously injuring the fans who stayed for the weather-delayed race, the real issue had to do with something that is unsafe.
NASCAR have been adding safety measures to races for decades. The plates are used at the intake of an engine to reduce its power.
In 778 Cup races and four championships during his 24-year career, Gordon won 92 times.
Dillon raises his arms to race fans to signify he was okay after the crash. They’re forced to push and shove and get all they can because they only have one lap to get to the front. “That’s the end of it”, Ryan Newman told USA Today Sports. “Cars getting airborne, unsafe drivers, same old stuff”. They just don’t listen…. they had an event in 2001.
In the immediate wake of the 2:41 a.m. finish, no one seemed sure what those next steps might be. Following the crash he said, “We’ve got to figure out something”.
“We are all over that to understand what happened”, said Brian France, CEO of NASCAR, to Sirius Satellite Radio. Chitwood said there was not enough time to plan and enforce a ban.
The track is a restrictor plate track with pack racing.
The sport is immensely popular in the South, but the Confederate flag is under nationwide scrutiny after a white man murdered nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in mid-June.
“I am … going to be really sore”.
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This report includes material from the Associated Press.
