28 NASCAR fans were injured when a race car flew into the stands during Saturday's race. On Feb. 23, the LA Times reported that 14 of the 28 fans were taken to a local hospital and the other 14 were treated by medical personnel on the scene. Kyle Larson's car hit the grandstand fencing in a multi-car crash. Larson was not injured in the accident.
"There obviously was some intrusion into the fence and fortunately with the way the event's equipped up, there were plenty of emergency workers ready to go and they all jumped in on it pretty quickly. Right now, it's just a function of determining what all damage is done. They're moving folks, as we've seen, to care centers and taking some folks over to Halifax Medical," said NASCAR President Mike Helton after the wreck.
The 28 NASCAR fans that were injured are expected to all be okay however the extent of their injuries was unknown. According to the report, Brad Keselowski was pushing Regan Smith as they neared the finish line. Smith tried to block him but his move triggered the multi-car crash.
Tony Stewart ended up winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, however, his victory was overshadowed by the accident. "I’m more worried about the drivers and the fans right now. We’ve always known since racing started that this is a dangerous sport," Stewart said.
The 28 NASCAR injured fans nor the crash will cause the Daytona 500 to be postponed. According to NASCAR’s senior vice president for racing operations, Steve O’Donnell, the fence will be repaired in time for Sunday's race.
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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