Ryan Newman: NASCAR Driver Kurt Busch Reveals How He Learned About Daytona 500 Crash

When Ryan Newman crashed at the very end of the Daytona 500, there were several drivers that had an up-close look at the incident. Ryan Blaney, Corey LaJoie, and others were either involved in the incident or were watching from a nearby viewpoint. Veteran driver Kurt Busch, however, learned about Newman’s wreck in a very different manner.

Speaking with the Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday, Busch revealed that he had not been at the track when Newman’s crash took place. This caught host Rich Eisen by surprise considering that the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro had been one of the competitors during the Daytona 500. Why wasn’t he at the track at the end of the race?

“I was actually driving home. I had wrecked out 10 laps before that,” Busch said on Tuesday. “I was literally listening to the radio.”

As Busch continued to explain to Eisen, he was dealing with a very upsetting moment due to having wrecked with 10 laps remaining in the race. His goal was to win the Daytona 500, but that was made impossible due to an incident caused by another driver. The majority of NASCAR fans blamed this massive wreck on Joey Logano.

Regardless of blame, Busch was not overjoyed about losing during the Daytona 500, so he simply headed home from the track. He was in his car listening to the radio when Newman crashed, and he didn’t see the video until he returned home.

“I didn’t know the severity of it [the crash] until I got home, watched it on video,” Busch continued. “And then my phone’s blowing up. ‘How’s Ryan doing? How’s Ryan doing?’ Because he was taken away unconscious in an ambulance. Those are moments that are not good. Last time that had happened in our sport was Dale Earnhardt Sr. [He] passed away.”

Busch knows that the safety of the vehicles and modern equipment is far superior to that 20 years ago, but he still did not expect Newman to walk out of the hospital after less than two days. He and former driver Tony Stewart were making plans to go see their friend at Halifax Medical Center, but Newman was released before this could happen.

Following his departure from the hospital, Newman has been out and about as part of his recovery. He has gone fishing and visited the team at Roush Fenway Racing. He is aiming for a return to the track, but the timeline for this has not been determined. For now, he will continue to recover while Busch competes with his replacement, Ross Chastain.

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