Ryan Newman ‘alert and walking’ after Daytona 500 crash

DAYTONA BEACH -- Ryan Newman is alert and walking around Halifax Medical Center, according to a statement released by Roush Fenway Racing on Wednesday.

"Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement after Monday night's last lap accident at Daytona International Speedway," the team said.

"The veteran driver is fully alert and walking around. True to his jovial nature, he's also been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his two daughters."

https://t.co/NnjnIOyE96 pic.twitter.com/GCQTm2nb1F

-- Krissie Newman (@NewmanKrissie) February 19, 2020

Newman's wife, Krissie, posted a picture to Twitter shortly after the announcement of Newman standing with his daughters in the medical center.

Newman races the No. 6 Ford and was one of three stock cars jockeying for position to win the Daytona 500, which started Sunday, logged 20 laps then finished Monday because of rain.

He was working with fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney, wheeling the No. 12 Team Penske entry, as they battled Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Blaney was pushing Newman through the tri-oval, but the strategy went awry. Blaney's front bumper hooked Newman's rear bumper and turned the No. 6 machine into the outside retaining wall.

Since the stock cars were running near the 20-mph mark, the contact with the wall was violent, causing Newman's car to come off the ground and rolled on its roof.

A split second later, Corey LaJoie, driving the No. 32 Ford, slammed into the driver's side of Newman's car, which slid to a stop near the exit from the track onto pit road.

Meanwhile, Blaney and Hamlin battled side by side to the finish line with Hamlin emerging victorious. His margin of victory was 0.014 seconds, second closest in Daytona 500 history.

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