The latest news about driver Ryan Newman following his fiery crash at the Daytona 500 has many NASCAR fans seeking answers. Newman’s admission that he sustained a head injury and has no timetable for a return to the racetrack left fans wondering what happens next.
ESPN’s Ryan McGee has covered auto sports for a very long time and offered a solution to those looking for more information about NASCAR, head injuries, and what it takes to get medical clearance.
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In a post on Twitter ahead of Sunday’s race in Las Vegas, McGee shows himself walking to his bookshelf and pulling Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s memoir out.
Friendly tip. If you’re mulling over Ryan Newman’s statement today, that he suffered a head injury and is awaiting medical clearance, and you’re thinking, “Man, I wish I knew more about NASCAR and head injuries…” might I recommend some research material? pic.twitter.com/CW62rOI79K
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) February 23, 2020
Earnhardt’s book made waves upon its release in 2018 based on the revelation that he had suffered around 20 to 25 concussions during his career and kept it under wraps to avoid losing his job according to Jalopnik.
“Every time. Every time. You know, any time you have a head injury. Your brain is your computer, you know, and people don’t have the faith in it healing like a broken bone. There’s instances in the past where guys have had head injuries and visually, you can see it’s affected them permanently,” Earnhardt told Graham Bensinger at the time. “So, if you go to somebody and go, ‘Man, you know I rung my bell and I’m real messed up and I’m gonna take a break and I’m gonna come back 100 percent,’ you know that person’s always gonna have that in the back of their mind. And when you don’t run a good race, are they gonna go, ‘Hmm, I wonder if he’s just not the same anymore?’ You know, I’ve heard that talk about other drivers. Even guys that don’t have any history of concussions, I’ve heard people say, ‘You know he did have a lot of hard wrecks.’”
Earnhardt Jr. also admitted that he was scared to even admit a concussion to wife Amy in 2014.
It is an illuminating admission and book, falling in with other major sports and entertainment that have changed their outlook on concussions. While the possibility of concussions has been known in auto racing, the severity is only now taking hold.
On top of all that, the death of Dale Earnhardt during the Daytona 500 still weighs heavy over the sport and the life-saving changes it instituted.
Dale Jr. has already spoken out about NASCAR’s role in the accident involving Newman, placing blame on the new spoilers added to cars in 2019. It would seem the former star has more insight into the current situation than anybody.
