How did he walk away from this? NASCAR driver heads home after terrifying crash
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NASCAR driver Ryan Preece, whose car rolled about a dozen times during a terrifying crash at Daytona International Speedway, was on his way home 12 hours later after being discharged from a hospital.
Stewart-Haas Racing said Preece had returned to North Carolina after getting clearance from doctors at Halifax Health Medical Centre on Sunday. The team earlier said Preece was “awake, alert and mobile” and “had been communicating with family and friends”.
The 32-year-old climbed out of his mangled No.41 Ford on Saturday night (Sunday AEST) with help before emergency workers put him on a gurney and into an ambulance. He initially went to the track’s infield care centre before being transported to Halifax Health for overnight observation.
Preece tweeted about two hours after the race, posting: “If you want to be a race car driver, you better be tough. … I’m coming back.”
Preece and SHR teammate Chase Briscoe made contact coming out of Turn 4, and Preece’s car turned hard left and then went into an uncontrollable barrel roll as soon as it slid from the asphalt to the infield grass. The car came to a halt on all four tires, with some minor damage to the roll cage.
Preece being able to climb out with help was a testament to NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which is considered the safest iteration in its 75-year history.
Ryan Preece’s car rolls at Daytona.Credit: AP
The car was roundly criticised following its debut in 2022 because rear-impact collisions wreaked havoc on drivers. Kurt Busch of 23XI Racing suffered a life-changing concussion during a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway last year, and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman missed five races because of a concussion.
Multiple other drivers complained about the violence felt and potential head traumas suffered during, what they considered, routine hits.
NASCAR spent much of last year and the off-season testing and tweaking its car to try to limit the G-forces delivered to drivers. The changes were welcomed, resulting in considerably fewer missed races and no reported concussions in 2023.
Preece’s accident sparked memories of Ryan Newman’s harrowing wreck in the 2020 Daytona 500. Newman walked out of the hospital days later, another testament to NASCAR safety improvements since Dale Earnhardt’s death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
AP
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