Just two days after his horrifying his horrifying Daytona 500 crash, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman has left the hospital on his own two feet. The specifics of his condition are still not known, but his ability to head out with his two children by his side bodes incredibly well.
Updates have come rapidly today via his Roush Fenway Racing’s Twitter account:
Honestly, this is some pretty incredible news. The accident footage was, frankly, terrifying, and longtime motorsport fans were right to wonder if Newman would be able to recover. But the fact that Newman is actively communicating and is able to check out of the hospital? That’s pretty amazing.
Newman himself has been incredibly critical of superspeedway racing over the past 15 years. Here’s a direct quote from the man himself after a bad wreck at Talladega in 2013:
My issue has and always has been, because I seem to be the reciprocate of whatever airborne disease that we have in NASCAR, is that either somebody lands on me or I land on somebody. We’ve proven it’s not safe for the fans. ... It’s frustrating, and I think I voiced my frustration very fairly. I could have said a lot more and took a penalty, but I chose not to. I think I took a pretty high road.
Newman has been one of the driving forces for safety in NASCAR. We should all be thankful that we’ll continue to have his influence changing the scope of NASCAR’s technology for years to come.