NASCAR driver Austin Dillon’s mangled auto laid on its roof in the tri-oval at Daytona worldwide Speedway.
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None of the drivers suffered any serious injuries, but three fans were treated by paramedics with minor injuries.
Earnhardt, who led a race-high 97 laps, saw the wreck develop in his mirror just after winning the Coke Zero 400.
“Oh my God. That looked very bad”, Earnhardt yelled into his radio with a slew of expletives as he finished and immediately began to inquire about the driver, according to The Associated Press. He however walked away. “It got my tailbone pretty good and my arm”, Dillon said in an interview with NASCAR.
Thirteen spectators were medically evaluated, said Joie Chitwood III, president of the speedway. Eight of them declined treatment.
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. We’re going to learn from it and see what else we can do to be better.
Vehicle crashes are a frequently occurring occupational hazard in the racing industry.
The catch fence is the piece under the safety microscope.
Race victor Dale Earnhardt, Jr. talking after the race about the leaps in safety NASCAR has made in the 14 years since his dad died in a last lap crash at the same track.
The accident was similar to a 2013 crash in the Xfinity Series when Kyle Larson’s vehicle sailed into the fence, sending debris into the stands that injured 28 fans.
Earnhardt Jr., maybe with the memories of his father’s death rising again in his memory after seeing the crash, was obviously shaken up after the race.
That was the case at Daytona worldwide Speedway on July 6th, when Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet went airborne and collided with the fence that separates the racecars from the fans who pay to see them compete. They do not want glass separating them from the action. “That’s the end of it”, Newman told USA TODAY Sports of restrictor plate racing. They just don’t listen…. they had an event in 2001. In 2014, Aric Almirola won a day after the race had been postponed by rain. I don’t think it’s really going to hit me until we get further down into the final part of the season, but this place has meant a lot. “An accident like last night, boy it sure takes your breath away”, France said.
It’s time to implement a better way to finish races on restrictor plate tracks.
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.
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I’m now convinced NASCAR needs a curfew.
