DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Long before Ryan Newman’s Daytona 500 crash, drivers were injured or killed setting into motion the safety improvements that protected the race car driver and fans at this year’s race.
Kyle Busch broke his leg and foot when he crashed into a bare concrete wall at the Daytona International Speedway in 2015 in the Xfinity Series race one day before the Daytona 500.
Immediately after, then-track president Joie Chitwood promised it would never happen again and vowed to install SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers on “every inch” of the Speedway.
“Helmet manufacturers, suit manufacturers, HANS [Head And Neck Support] devices, there’s just been so much development that has come a long way.”[RELATED: Ryan Newman awake, speaking with family after fiery crash at Daytona 500 | Ryan Newman in serious condition after fiery Daytona 500 crash | Ryan Newman not only driver to end Daytona 500 with upside-down wreck]In 2013, Kyle Larson crashed and slid along the wall during the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona.
Less than 24 hours after a fiery crash in the final moments of the Daytona 500, Ryan Newman is awake and speaking with loved ones and doctors at Halifax Medical Center.