The racing industry received a shock on Monday when Ryan Newman, who had been leading in the final lap of the Daytona 500, crashed his vehicle moments before crossing the finish line. The crash left fans everywhere concerned over Newman’s well-being (NASCAR and Roush Fenway detailed that Newman was “awake and speaking” on Tuesday.) So, when the official Daytona International Speedway Twitter account honored Denny Hamlin‘s Daytona 500 win with a confetti-filled celebration in the wake of the terrifying crash, some fans took major issue with it and said as much on Twitter.
Shortly after it was announced that Hamlin had won the race, the Daytona International Speedway tweeted a video featuring his celebration, which involved a confetti-filled excitement from the winner and the rest of his team.
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“So disrespectful. Celebrate your win later. Prayers for Newman #6,” one fan wrote in response to the video.
Very poor taste!!! To celebrate with a man still on the track!!!!
— Jeff (@Coolhand938) February 18, 2020
“Daytona and NASCAR should have never let this celebration happen like this as a fan I find it completely sickening show some class and respect learn something from this,” another fan wrote.
“Stop it!! So insensitive!! Prayers for Ryan,” yet another fan tweeted.
Following the race, Hamlin did note that he was unaware of the severity of the crash until he made his way into the victory lane, per FOX 35’s Adam Shadoff.
“Obviously I saw him cross the race track,” Hamlin said, noting what he knew of the incident as he was walking over to the victory lane. “I didn’t see the contact that the other car had when he was in the air. That’s kind of a worse case scenario you can possibly have.”
“We’re praying for the best,” he added.
Joe Gibbs also issued a statement in which he apologized for the Hamlin team’s celebration.
“So, I say to everybody out there, some people may have saw us and said, ‘those guys are celebrating when there’s a serious issue going on.’ So I apologize to everybody, but we really didn’t know,” Gibbs stated. “We got in the winner’s circle, and then that’s when people told us. I wanted to explain that to everyone. It makes it so hard. Such a close-knit community, you know everybody.”
The racing community did receive some positive news about Newman’s condition on Tuesday afternoon, as Roush Fenway stated that the driver was under the care of doctors at the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, and that he was “awake and speaking.” As of right now, the extent of Newman’s injuries is unclear, but both NASCAR and Roush Fenway assured fans that they will release updates about him when they are able to.
Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
