Jeff Gordon has been watching for Ryan Newman updates closely since the Ford driver was hospitalized following a serious crash during the final lap of Monday’s Daytona 500, during which his car was flipped into the air not once, but twice. The legendary racer and current Fox Sports NASCAR broadcaster took to Twitter soon after Newman was announced as stabilized to say he was “very thankful” for the news coming out from Roush Fenway, Newman’s racing company.
Very thankful to hear encouraging news coming from Daytona & @roushfenway. Continued 🙏 @RyanJNewman.
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) February 18, 2020
Things have only gotten better for Newman since then, with Roush Fenway announcing Wednesday that the 42-year-old driver had been released from the hospital, just hours after tweeting that he “continues to show great improvement” and adding, “true to his jovial nature, he has also been joking around with staff, friends and family while playing with his two daughters.”
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After his release, which was accompanied by a photo of Newman hand-in-hand with his daughters, John Henry, principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, said in a statement, “All of us at Fenway Sports Group are thankful for the wonderful news about Ryan’s progress, and his release from the hospital today. Ryan is one tough hombre and we wish him a full recovery. We look forward to seeing Ryan and his family at the track again soon.”
As for driver Ryan Blaney, whose routine bump of Newman’s car appears to have had a major role in the crash, fellow NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace revealed he was “devastated” about Newman’s injuries.
“Got to spend some time with [Blaney] yesterday,” Wallace 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.”
“We of course ‘next day quarterbacked’ it and looked at the what ifs but there are only 40 of us that truly understand the intense spur of the moments this sport throws at us,” he continued. I know Ford should be proud to have him under their banner because he was so content … on pushing his Ford teammate to win the biggest race of the year. Which makes it worse bc a simple selfless gesture went south in the blink of an eye. I encouraged him to stay off social media for a bit. His head is in a decent spot. Keep sending my little brother some love!”
Photo credit: Jason Miczek/Getty Images
