Driver Ryan Newman has been released from the hospital on Wednesday, two days after a spectacular crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500 saw him carted off the track with injuries. 

"The veteran driver is fully alert and walking," his Roush Fenway Racing team said in a statement on social media on Wednesday. "Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement."

The race team tweeted a photo of the 42-year-old Newman from behind exiting the facility, holding hands with each of his daughters as he walked to the parking lot. 

Newman's 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.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)