Ryan Newman is being treated at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., after getting into a wreck during the final lap of the 2020 Daytona 500 Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. Photo by Edwin Locke/UPI |
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Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Ryan Newman's banged-up No. 6 Ford arrived Tuesday at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, where it will be analyzed to improve car safety standards for all drivers after his Daytona 500 crash.
NASCAR said Monday night it would take the cars of Newman and fellow driver Corey LaJoie to the Concord, N.C., facility after both were involved in the final-lap collision Monday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Sources told Fox 46 News and WCCB Charlotte the cars arrived Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, Newman was involved in one of NASCAR's most serious accidents since a 2001 crash took Dale Earnhardt's life on the same track exactly 19 years ago. Newman's gruesome-looking collision had a similar feel to Earnhardt's crash, which occurred in nearly the same section of the track.
Doctors said Monday that Newman's injuries weren't life threatening. He is being treated at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. No NASCAR driver has died as a result of a crash since Earnhardt.
Newman, 42, was leading Monday's race when he was bumped into the wall by Ryan Blaney near the finish line. Newman's No. 6 Ford flipped several times and scraped the asphalt, throwing sparks through the air. LaJoie, who was blinded by smoke, then slammed into Newman's car at full speed, sending the Ford over the finish line while on its roof.
Emergency crews rushed to Newman's car, and he was taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Newman was alert and speaking with family and doctors a day after the crash, according to a statement released by Roush Fenway Racing on Tuesday.
Safety changes
Earnhardt's death prompted NASCAR to make the major safety changes. Drivers now have a HANS (head and neck support) device, which holds their head in place during impact and reduces the likelihood of head or neck injuries, like the skull fracture that killed Earnhardt.
Drivers also started to wear stronger harness seat belts, and their seats were modified with additional braces on each side of the head to prevent rapid, side to side movement. Drivers' seats were moved more toward the center of the car because the center is designed to better maintain its structure should a crash occur.
Softer walls also were installed along the sides of race tracks to better absorb force when they are hit by a car.
Every Cup Series car also has a crash data recorder installed each weekend. The recorder -- situated by the driver's left knee -- measures acceleration force during a crash.
Experts at the Research and Development Center information will analyze recorder information and use it to make cars safer. The center opened two years after Earnhardt's death.
Denny Hamlin won Monday's race. The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube is the next race on the Cup Series schedule. That starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
