Ryan Newman, driver of the #6 Koch Industries Ford, crashes and flips during the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida, February 17, 2020. /VCG
Veteran U.S. stock car driver Ryan Newman is awake and speaking with doctors and family members on Tuesday, a day after a horrifying crash at the Daytona 500 auto race.
Roush Fenway Racing updated the condition of the 42-year-old American, whose Ford Mustang had been leading on the final lap but spun out of control, struck the wall and went flying into the air before flipping onto its roof and bursting into flames.
Several ambulances raced to the scene of the wreck by the 2008 Daytona 500 winner, who was extracted from the car and taken to a nearby hospital in serious condition with injuries that Roush Racing officials said were not life-threatening.
Ryan Newman, driver of the #31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet, waves to the crowd during introductions prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race in Bristol, Tennessee, August 18, 2018. /VCG
"Ryan Newman remains under the care of doctors at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida," Roush Fenway Racing said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin followed up his victory in 2019 with his third career win at Daytona, becoming the first racer to win the opening leg of the NASCAR season since Sterling Marlin in 1995.
The race was run a day after U.S. President Donald Trump had given the command for drivers to "start your engines" but then postponed due to heavy rain.
Hamlin beat Ryan Blaney to the line buy 0.014 seconds, the second smallest margin of victory at what is known as "The Great American Race."
(With input from AFP and Reuters)