Bubba Wallace Reveals Ryan Blaney Is 'Devastated' Following Ryan Newman Daytona 500 Crash

Bubba Wallace is giving a heartbreaking look into fellow NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney's mindset after [...]

Bubba Wallace is giving a heartbreaking look into fellow NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney's mindset after his role in the crash during Monday's Daytona 500 final lap that sent Ryan Newman to the hospital. After Blaney's routine push in on Newman's car ended in the Ford driver hitting the barrier and flipping through the air, Wallace said Blaney is "devastated" about the move gone wrong.

"Got to spend some time with [Blaney] yesterday," he wrote on Twitter Tuesday. "He's holding up, of course devastated and bummed about the situation. Had to sit there and explain to him, could've happened to him or any of us in the field. It's RACING. Just unfortunate to be on either end of it."

Wallace added that they "next day quarterbacked" the end of the race to see what could have happened, but knew there was no way to explain the "intense spur of the moments" that happen in racing, and that Blaney's "simple selfless gesture went south in the blink of an eye."

While Blaney's head is in a "decent" place, Wallace encouraged his friend to stay off social media for a while, asking fans to send him love while he recovers mentally.

Blaney previously told USA Today after the race, "I thought I was pretty square, but I just got him to the right. I hope he's all right. That looked really bad, and it's not something I wanted to do. It definitely wasn't intentional."

Visibly shaken, Blaney continued, "Even though it's unintentional, you don't want to hurt anybody. I'm just waiting to see if he's OK."

Luckily for everyone, Newman was released from the hospital Wednesday, and appears to be on the road to recovery.

"Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement after Monday night's last-lap accident at Daytona International Speedway," the Roush Fenway account tweeted on Wednesday morning, prior to his release. "The veteran driver is fully alert and walking around Halifax Medical Center. True to his jovial nature, he has also been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his daughters."

Photo credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

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