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 A multi-car wreck at the end of the race in Daytona Beach, Fla.,
sent Dillon's car into a flip before it came to rest upside down
with its engine and other parts scattered in the infield grass.
Dillon finished seventh before his car damaged the catch fence in
the midst of his roller-coaster ride.
NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway officials said the review
of the horrifying crash is already underway to see if anything more
can be done to keep the cars on the ground.
NASCAR chairman Brian France said Monday afternoon on SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio that the "work has already begun" at NASCAR's Research
and Development Center in North Carolina.
"An accident like last night, boy it sure takes your breath away,"
France said. "And it should. But that's auto racing. And we're
working on better solutions all the time to make racing safer and
better. ... We have an entire group of people that woke up this
morning trying to figure out how we make this better (and) make sure
the cars don't elevate."
The catch fence was torn down in the section where Dillon hit.
"Fans can never be at risk. The idea of a race car going into the
grandstands ... made me sick to my stomach (Sunday night)," former
NASCAR driver Ricky Craven, who competed on four racing circuits,
said on ESPN radio.
"The hard part -- how do you preserve the (fan) experience? So the
250-degree water does affect them or the 300-degree oil. Worse yet,
the fragments of race car. I was happy, relieved to see Austin
Dillon climb from the car. I was at the car when we lost the lives
of several drivers in my career. Worse than that would be losing the
lives of fans in the stands. ... This is a shot across the bow."
Daytona International Speedway officials will work with NASCAR to
review the crash and safety at restrictor-plate tracks.
"We'll work closely with NASCAR (with our review)," track president
Joie Chitwood said Monday morning. "We did this after the last
incident. We're going to learn from it and see what else we can do
to be better.
"I think you saw some of the improvements at work today, so what we
can learn from that tomorrow and the next days, we're going to
incorporate moving forward."
NASCAR spokesman Brett Jewkes said, "It's a dangerous sport. It
always has been. It always will be. There are always concerns and
that is why you always see us working as hard as we can on safety.
... We are pleased with the performance of the race cars protecting
the drivers."
Dillon's torn car ended up on its roof and then was smashed into by
Brad Keselowski's car.
"I'm shocked that Austin Dillon is even alive from what he went
through," said Jimmie Johnson, who finished second to Dale Earnhardt
Jr. "It was just a frightening moment. I saw it in the mirror and,
man, I expected the worst when I came back around."
Rain delayed the start of the race by more than three hours. The
green flag was scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday, but because
of the rain and track-drying efforts that followed, drivers didn't
fire their engines until 11:27 p.m. The crash happened at 2:41 a.m.
Monday.
One fan was sent to a local hospital in stable condition, then
treated and released. Twelve other people were assessed after the
accident. Four fans were treated and released by track medics and
eight declined treatment.
Dillon said these kinds of accidents can't be tolerated by NASCAR
and the sanctioning body should look at reducing speeds.
"It's not really acceptable, I don't think," Dillon said. "We've got
to figure out something. I think our speeds are too high, I really
do. I think everybody can get good racing with lower speeds, and we
can work on that and then figure out a way to keep cars on the
ground.
"That's the next thing. We're fighting hard to make the racing good.
I hope fans enjoy all that. We don't. That's your job. You go out
there and you hold it wide-open to the end, checkers or wreckers,
and hope you make it through."
Dillon said he sustained a bruised tailbone and forearm.
"I am just going to be really sore," Dillon said. "It got my
tailbone pretty good and my arm. Should be fine, just go ice it up
and get ready for Kentucky. But just thank the good Lord for taking
care of me and for what NASCAR has done to make the sport this much
safer. I just hope everybody in the stands is all right. That is the
next biggest concern."
Dillon said he was just holding on to the wheel.
"It was very vicious," Dillon said. "It's a swishing around in there
and the belts are loosening each hit, so the hits are getting more
and more violent. By the fourth one, you know you've separated
enough where your fourth one is going to hurt more than others. But
like I said, I held on to the steering wheel as hard as I could."
Restrictor-plate racing often creates pack racing with cars
three-wide and little room for error.
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"I don't know how you keep a 3,500-pound car at 200 miles an hour
staying in the race track like that," Johnson said. "The fence held
up. It did function well, but the debris going off into the stands
is something I don't know how you can control. Keep the cars on the
ground, slow us down would be the only way to do it, I would say.
And even then, there's no guarantees."
The wreck started after Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick made contact
as they crossed the finish line behind Earnhardt.
Earnhardt was almost speechless as he crossed the finish line.
"Oh my God. That looked awful," Earnhardt yelled into his radio.
Earnhardt later called the crash "terrifying to watch."
"You hate to see that kind of wreck at the end," Earnhardt said.
"You are just on the verge of tears. I saw everything in the mirror
pretty clearly ... I just was very scared for whoever that car was.
I didn't care about anything except figuring out who was OK. The
racing doesn't matter anymore."
Hamlin, who finished third, said the wreck started when Harvick, who
was fourth, gave him a push and lifted his rear wheels off the
ground.
"Just snagged him and turned him as he was in the middle of the
track," Harvick said. "I hate that all happened, but just at the end
of the race, it becomes pretty aggressive."
After the race, track officials and NASCAR said they will evaluate
the performance of the catch fence. NASCAR also has taken Dillon's
car for a post-accident evaluation.
"The catch fence kept (Dillon's) car inside the racetrack," Hamlin
said. "I am not sure what else we can really do about it. They are
freak incidents that make that happen.
"You want to make the sport as safe as possible, but we're going to
make those mistakes and we're going to make mistakes like that on
Lap 1 sometime down the road at a superspeedway. Trying to eliminate
at the end of the race where it's deciding a winner probably should
get played out.
"It's just part of the speed and the cars and the package that we
have. I'm happy with the package personally. I believe we have
something that races really well, we're running a decent speed -- do
we want it to go in the air? No, but it's just going to happen
sometimes."
After the race, fans credited the catch fence and NASCAR safety
improvements to the cars that allowed Dillon to walk away.
Pam Manning of Bell, Fla., and her family told the Daytona Beach
News-Journal that they saw pieces of debris fly into the stands, but
not as many as they would have expected.
"Most of it (the debris) stayed down on the other side of the
fence," Manning said. "I've seen other accidents similar where a lot
more debris came through. I think the fence did a fantastic job.
With that kind of a force and weight hitting it I would have
expected a lot more debris to come through."
Jeff Gordon, who finished sixth, raced for the final time at Daytona
in the Sprint Cup Series.
"Right from the start it was a crazy race," Gordon said. "It's like
a videogame out there except for it's real life. I love Daytona and
this place has been amazing for me. ... After going through that,
I'm glad I only have one more restrictor-plate race left."
Dale Earnhardt Sr. died on Feb. 18, 2001, from injuries suffered in
a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. The 49-year-old legend's car
was tapped from behind, turned around and sent head-on into a wall,
only moments before teammate Michael Waltrip and son Dale Earnhardt
Jr. finished the race in first and second places.
Ryan Newman, who was eighth in the Coke Zero 400, blasted NASCAR for
its restrictor-plate racing.
"NASCAR got what they wanted. That's the end of it," Newman told USA
TODAY Sports. "Cars getting airborne, unsafe drivers, same old
stuff. They just don't listen. ... they had an event in 2001.
They've had several events since then. They just don't pay attention
to safety. Simple as that."
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