“I don’t remember a part of the race”: When Ryan Newman opened up on his ‘head injuries’ after the gut-wrenching Daytona 500 crash 

Ryan Newman, 2023 SRX Series champion and NASCAR driver suffered a terrifying crash in the 2020 Daytona 500 where he suffered head injuries as well as memory loss. He opened up about the experience and recovery in an interview given four years back.

While racing in the Daytona 500, leading on the final lap of the second overtime, Denny Hamlin dropped to second place behind Ryan Blaney and started pushing him to go forward which made him wobble. After steading the car, Blaney tried to push Newman to take the win, this bump draft however went very wrong very quickly as it was made at the speed of 200 mph.

This sent Newman's car whipping hard to the right and up the track, barely missing Hamlin. He hit the safety barriers head-on, which sent the car airborne, and flipped it upside down. At this point, his driver's side was exposed to the incoming traffic on track, where Corey LaJoie, who was racing at full speed, hit Ryan Newman’s car directly on the driver’s side, which sent the car airborne again and it finally settled upside down.

Newman was extracted from the car 16 minutes after the incident and taken to the Halifax Medical Center where he was diagnosed with non-life-threatening head injuries, with no memory of about three days after the incident. In a post-crash interview on NBC’s Today Show, less than a month later, Newman talked about the whole ordeal, saying:

"There was a point where I don’t remember part of the race. Realistically, I just feel so lucky—on so many levels, I feel so lucky."

Even though the crash was so severe, Newman came out with what doctors reportedly described as a ‘bruised brain’ and no broken bones. He was out of the hospital just two days after the incident.

---

“Feel like somebody punched me”- Ryan Newman on his return to racing

Ryan Newman made a comeback in 2023 at the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, over a year after stepping away from the NASCAR Cup Series. Driving the #51 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, his performance showed how much of a toll the break had taken on his performance.

Newman finished 28th in the race and also mentioned having faced discomfort, including rib pain and cramping. Post-race, he described it as:

"My seat was not comfortable, I had rib pain after the end of the first stage. I got a cramp in my foot, my ribs feel like somebody punched me, so I’m just happy to be walking and moving right now."

Even after having such an experience racing after a long time, Newman did recall having fun on the track that day. He said:

"I had fun today, there’s no doubt about that. Not the finish that I think our team deserved, but ultimately we had some decent speed in the car."

Ryan Newman has already retired from racing full-time in 2021 but continues to race on the side.