Following a horrific crash involving Ryan Newman during the first lap of overtime at the Daytona 500, all eyes in the racing world were locked in on the status of Newman. Viewers were left seeing Newman needing to be taken away in an ambulance after his car flipped and caught on fire.
An update was finally sent out a few hours after the race concluded by NASCAR. The statement said that he is “in serious condition” but his injuries are “not life threatening.”
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Roush Yates further added a statement of their own on top of NASCAR’s, asking their followers to keep Newman in their thoughts and prayers.
“Thank you for your thoughts and prayers,” the tweet read. “We ask that you continue to pray for @RyanJNewman’s recovery and that you respect the privacy of the Newman family during this time.”
Fans quickly took to Twitter to react to the news that Newman had been stabilized and facing non-life threatening injuries.
Thank you for the update and continued prayers going up for @RyanJNewman and his family. Our racing family is truly like no other. ๐โค๏ธ
โ Christi Woods (@ChristiWoods1) February 18, 2020
“Thank god,” one user responded on Twitter. “Racing aside I’m just glad he gets to live for his kids. To hell with ever driving a race car again.”
Another user wrote, “Prayers for strength for him, his family and all the racing crew for Ryan Newman!”
๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป Thank you God!!! Please let him make a full recovery. Prayers to all his family and for the doctors guidance.
โ LB (@lab1705) February 18, 2020
Shortly after the tragic scene unfolded, many racers both past and present reacted to the horrific crash. Among those were Dale Earnhardt Jr., who sent his prayers to Newman on social media, and Jeff Gordon, who got emotional discussing the crash on the broadcast.
Newman was in the lead in overtime when he lost control of his car. Denny Hamlin went on to win his second straight Daytona 500.
Afterwards, Hamlin spoke about the scene, noting that he didn’t know at the time what had happened.
“That’s kind of a worse case scenario you could possibly have,” Hamlin said on the podium. “We’re hoping for the best and Ryan is a heck of a tough guy so we’re hoping he comes out of this good.”