The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ryan Newman suffered head injury, no internal injuries in Daytona
A caution with six laps to go forces strategic decisions.
Ryan Newman said he suffered a head injury in his crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 but did not disclose details in a statement from the driver read before Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “I was fortunate to avoid any internal organ damage or broken bones. I did sustain a head injury for which I’m currently being treated,“Newman, 42, wrote. “The doctors have been pleased with my progression over the last few days.”
There’s no timetable for Newman’s return to racing, but Roush Fenway Racing said he’s determined to get back to the track. Roush Fenway gave its first detailed account of the ordeal that began when Newman, while leading the last lap of the Daytona 500, was involved in a crash that sent him hard into a wall, airborne, hit in the driver side door by another car, then trapped in an upside-down Ford on fire as rescue workers tried to free him.
LAS VEGAS — The adjustments to a major offseason overhaul at Team Penske continued Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where miscommunication between Joey Logano and his new crew chief led to a botched final pit stop.
Logano still wound up in victory lane for the second year in a row, winning a two-lap sprint to the finish that ended under caution.
A caution with six laps remaining forced teams to make strategic decisions and crew chief Paul Wolfe told Logano to come to pit road for new tires. Logano didn’t hear Wolfe and remained on track, a move that cycled him into the lead but put him in position to hold off a slew of contenders on fresh tires.
Logano knew it was critical to get his Ford separated from the pack quickly on the restart to have any shot at the win.
“Clean air was going to be key with old tires,” he said. “If I got swallowed up by a couple cars, I was just going to fall backwards really quick.”
Logano got a push from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the restart with two laps remaining, then threw a block on William Byron to maintain his position out front that Logano called “the winning move.
“I was able to get down in front of him and then be able to separate myself a little bit from the field,” he said.
Logano, the 2018 champion, just missed advancing to the championship race last season.
At the start of this year, owner Roger Penske announced he’d swapped the crews of Logano, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski, with Logano getting Wolfe, the crew chief who led Keselowski to a Cup title.
They’ve worked together at the track the last three weeks and Logano praised the new pairing.
“He’s done such a great job, and it’s been fun getting to know each other, and the whole team,” Logano said. “The pit crew was amazing today. I think we gained a spot every time at least. Proud of the effort that everyone has put in over the offseason.”
Logano had taken the white flag when a crash occurred deep in traffic to bring out the caution, freeze the field and secure the victory for the No. 22 Ford.
The 24th victory of Logano’s career broke a tie with Ricky Rudd for 35th on NASCAR’s all-time win list.
Matt DiBenedetto was in a Ford for the Wood Brothers — a Penske partner — for his second race, and he was 0.491 seconds behind to tie his career-best finish.
Stenhouse, pole-sitter for the Daytona 500 a week ago, was third in a Chevrolet in his second race for new team JTG-Daugherty Racing.
“So far so good,“Stenhouse said. “Two weeks, we’ve been fast this week, we weren’t bad this week, and we know what we need to work on.”
Austin Dillon was fourth for Richard Childress Racing and followed by Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Logano teammate Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10.
Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in 17th as the brand and Joe Gibbs Racing struggled the entire 400 miles.
Ross Chastain drove the No. 6 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing as the replacement driver for Ryan Newman, who suffered a head injury in a crash on the final lap of Monday night’s Daytona 500.
Chastain finished 29th, in part because of a late spin, but ran inside the top 10 earlier in the race. Roush Fenway has not indicated who will drive the car next week.
Bad break: Chase Elliott appeared to be the driver to beat through the first two stages, both wins for Elliott in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. But his shot to win the race ended after a tire issue following a pit stop from the lead caused Elliott to hit the wall. He had led five different times for 70 laps, with the two stage victories, before heading to pit road for repairs. Elliott finished 26th.
Blaney bounces back: An emotional week for Ryan Blaney ended with an 11th-place finish at Las Vegas and Blaney moving toward closure after Newman’s crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500. It was contact from Blaney that triggered Newman’s crash, and Blaney said Sunday morning before the race he struggled in the first few days over his role in the accident.
“I talked to his dad on Tuesday and said when he’s feeling better, I’d like to talk to Ryan,” Blaney told The Associated Press. “Ryan called me Wednesday and just talking to him, hearing him, really made things easier.”
Blaney said he’d never before been involved in such a violent crash and the potential of Newman being hurt rattled him.
“You never want to see something like that, especially coming off your own nose,” Blaney said.
Blaney thought he had a shot to win the race until he was one of the drivers to pit on the final stop, and he failed to make up the difference with his fresh tires.