Last-lap NASCAR crash causes minor injuries to 13 fans, driver

That caused a chain reaction behind them, with Dillon jumping across two other cars, then flying into the fence.Dillons vehicle was totaled and sustained further damage when it was hit by Brad Keselowskis Ford after settling on the track. All the drivers involved walked away, and that was the best news of the weekend. As crew members from various teams rushed towards Dillon’s vehicle to see if he was OK, his team was radioing him and asking him if he was OK.

“I’m shocked that Austin Dillon’s even alive, with what he went through”, Johnson said. “Just a frightening moment”. “I saw it in the mirror and, man, I expected the worse when I came back around”.

Dillon did suffer a couple of bruises and complained of some soreness. He was treated and released from the track’s medical center.

Dillon said wrecks like his are simply a product of superspeedway racing, where restrictor plates bunch up the field and “you’re just praying and hoping you get through it at the end”.

“I’m always concerned when there’s a wreck”.

It comes as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets set to host NASCAR in just a couple weeks for the Brickyard 400.

In reality, the worst crashes I’ve seen have rarely resulted in injuries.

“I’m really proud of the fact that the fence worked and the additional safety enhancements of the “Daytona Rising” project did its job”, track President Joie Chitwood said.

“At this point, their condition is stable”. Four were treated on-site. “I’m glad we build safe cars at RCR [Richard Childress Racing] and NASCAR“. We’re going to learn from it and see what else we can do to be better.

Dillon’s auto landed on the tracks upside down and was struck by another.

“It was very vicious”, Dillon said. I think our speeds are too high. “I feel like we can create good racing because up until that wreck we had some really good racing Monday morning, but I think the wreck kind of tarnished a great race“. “That’s the next thing”.

“The 11 (car of Denny Hamlin) got turned by the 4 (car of Kevin Harvick) across the start/finish line and I thought the race was going to be over right there”.

Earnhardt later called the crash “terrifying to watch”.

“But I just think the next thing is that we are going to have to make this racing even more safe”.

In a race that was won by NASCAR veteran, Dale Earnhardt Jr, only three cars on track managed to avoid the high-speed pile-up. Saturday’s qualifying was canceled due to severe weather in the area.

The last caution occurred on with six laps to go.

It will no doubt rev up the conversation, as it did in 2001, when Dale Earnhardt died on the last lap of the Daytona 500.