"That's one of those worst-case scenario” - Denny Hamlin credits HANS safety device in NASCAR after Ryan Preece’s frightening Daytona crash

NASCAR Cup Series owner-operator Denny Hamlin credited the sport's HANS safety device after Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Preece went for a wild tumble last weekend in Daytona. It was clear for the world to see how far safety in NASCAR and the motorsports world in general has come.

With the inherent side effects of going fast coming in the form of crashes, the racing world has always been a place that encapsulates the onlooker's eye as much as it scares them when things go wrong.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway gave race fans and drivers another reminder of how things can change in a split second. The #41 Ford Mustang of Ryan Preece was seen barrel-rolling in the air, with the 32-year-old walking out of the incident as if nothing happened.

All this comes down to innovation in the field of safety in the sport, a premier example of which is the HANS device. The Head and Neck Restraint System is a brace worn by drivers on their shoulders that attaches to their helmets and prevents the head from moving violently during severe impacts.

One of the most common forms of injury for racing drivers, the basilar skull fracture, which took away the great Dale Earnhardt, is prevented by the HANS device.

Denny Hamlin spoke on the industry's innovation in the current day and age on his podcast, Actions Detrimental, and elaborated on the same:

"Certainly the safety innovations that we've come up with, the HANS being the number one thing That's one of those worst-case scenario-type things where you're driving in a corner and you get sent the other way. That, it's a bad one."

Denny Hamlin himself has been involved in some crashes in the Next Gen NASCAR, with one of the biggest wrecks of his career being the one he had at Charlotte in May.

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Denny Hamlin's take on whether changes are due at Daytona International Speedway in light of Ryan Preece's crash

The driver of the #41 Ford Mustang, Ryan Preece, went on a wild ride last weekend when he was seen flipping after losing control of his car during the Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Preece's car was seen going airborne just as he hit the grass in the infield sideways, which resulted in the SHR driver tumbling 10 times before coming to a rest.

Denny Hamlin suggested a probable improvement to prevent such incidents going forward on his podcast and said:

"It's not going to change it from getting air. It was going airborne way before the grass. The grass made it bite and then that's when it caused it to twirl in the air."

Watch Denny Hamlin take on the 2023 playoffs this weekend at Darlington Raceway.