This year’s Coke Zero 400 came to an end at 2:41 a.m. Monday after a lengthy rain delay and start time of 11:42 p.m., the latest in NASCAR history.
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Austin Dillon’s auto went airborne, into the fencing at the end of the race, sending debris into the stands.
Thirteen spectators were medically evaluated, said Joie Chitwood III, president of the speedway.
One fan was sent to a local hospital and was treated and released.
When asked if he thought the catch fence did its job Dillon replied: “I don’t know because I haven’t even looked at the replay yet and I don’t know when I am going to”.
The head of the Daytona worldwide Speedway is analyzing the crash and hoping to learn from it. Dillon walked away with a bruised forearm and tailbone.
Austin’s crash happened on the same track where Dale’s father, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, died in 2001 after a crash.
Mr. Earnhardt watched the whole crash in his rearview mirror as he crossed the finish line at the Daytona worldwide Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The incident was reminiscent of a crash in 2013 when Kyle Larson’s vehicle went flying into the grandstands, injuring 28 fans, on the day before the Daytona 500.
While the Tricky Triangle is clear of traffic, in less than a month it will be crowded with screaming NASCAR drivers, racing hundreds of miles per hour at Pocono Raceway.
“That catch fence took a hell of a shot”, Earnhardt said. “I had just got done stopping and I had crew members everywhere”.
Dillon’s vehicle flips several times as it hits the ground at high speed. “But I just hate to see it finish that way”.
“[I] tensed up and kind of just really gripped the wheel hard”.
The track is a restrictor plate track with pack racing. I think everybody could get good racing with slower speeds.
“What it didn’t keep out of the grandstand was the shrapnel and that’s the thing that I think the industry is going to be attacking with a vengeance right now”, said Wheeler.
Speaking at the post-race press conference, Earnhardt Jr. quite possibly summed up what was on every driver’s mind when he said, “It scared the shit out of me”.
Jimmie Johnson, who finished second to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Earnhardt, said Dillon’s wreck was one of the worst he’s ever seen. “You don’t want to see anybody get hurt. I didn’t care about anything other than figuring out who was OK”.
“The 4 (Harvick) was pushing me or trying to push me to the line, and he had us jacked up”, Hamlin said.
“I am just going to be really sore”, Dillon said.
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He said the heavy-duty glass isn’t needed along the entire track just, “in the very vulnerable areas of the race track where the cars are prone to throw stuff up there”.
