The image of Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Ford hurtling toward the checkered flag on its hood will forever live in NASCAR lore. So will the scene a few minutes later, when an ambulance flippedon its sirens and made a beeline for Halifax Health Medical Center.
On Tuesday afternoon, Newman’s team, Roush Fenway Racing, said in a statement that the driver, who was listed in serious condition Monday night, was awake and speaking to family and doctors in the hospital.
For two hours on Monday, the NASCAR world waited. Denny Hamlin had just firmly cemented himself as one of the all-time Daytona greats, winning his second straight 500 and third overall, but it all took a backseat to what was going on just down the road.
“I think we take for granted sometimes how safe these cars are,” Hamlin said. “We’re praying for Ryan. We worked really well with him through this whole race.”Hamlin admitted he didn’t know how serious the situation was until he watched the replay just in victory lane. Neither did team owner Joe Gibbs, who celebrated with everybody else in the No. 11 team’s pit stall while Hamlin made his victory lap.
“We really didn’t know,” Gibbs said. “When we go in the winner’s circle, that’s when everybody told us what was going on. It makes it so hard. This is such a close-knit community.”
Before news spread, there was plenty of reason to celebrate.
Hamlin had just pulled off a dramatic last-second pass of Ryan Blaney to win the second-closest Daytona 500 in history (0.014 seconds). He’s now just the sixth driver to win the event at least three times, and the third to win consecutive 500′s, joining Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Sterling Marlin.
“I just feel like I’m a student of the game,” he said. “I never stop learning and trying to figure out where I need to put myself at the right time. It doesn’t always work.”
It nearly didn’t this time.
Blaney pushed Hamlin to the front with two laps to go, but his No. 11 Toyota got too big of a lead coming to the white flag, leaving enough of a gap for Newman to make a run. Down the backstretch of the final lap, Newman pounced, using a push from Blaney to rocket past Hamlin going into Turn 3.
“I knew that I got out there a little too far,” Hamlin admitted.
Instead of blocking the two, Hamlin decided to give them the bottom lane, knowing he would have “options” if he took the top. Going into the final turn Hamlin tucked back behind Blaney, and the two were able to link up enough to make one final run at Newman down the frontstretch.
An emotional Blaney said the contact wasn’t intentional.
“I was committed to pushing him to the win,” he said. “I don’t know. We just got the bumpers hooked up wrong and I turned him. ”
“My car was on fire,” LaJoie said.
So was Newman’s, whose Ford finally came to a halt at the end of pit road in flames.
Source: usatoday