Three days removed from one of the wildest crashes in recent NASCAR history, Ryan Newman spoke about the incident.
Sunday in the closing laps at Talladega, Newman’s No. 39 Chevy hit the back of his teammate Tony Stewart’s Chevy. Newman’s car shot across the track turn spun around backwards and pirouetted up and over with the back of the car landing on the hood of Kevin Harvick’s machine behind him. Newman’s car then slid on its roof back across the track into the turn 3 wall and began to flip down the embankment coming to rest on its roof in the grass.
Safety crews were on the scene almost immediately and everything stopped as crews began to access the situation. After several anxious moments, the safety crew gingerly righted the car then cut the roof off allowing Newman to step out.
“I was pretty sore after the crash. I actually chipped a couple of teeth, but other than that I’m okay,” Newman said Wednesday. “I’m still sore, but I feel better every day. I’ve really kind of just taken it easy this week. I’ve done all the normal things that I would do – go to the race shop for debrief, spend time on my farm and at home doing the things I do every week when I have time off.”
Newman also gave credit to the safety equipment in the car.
“Unfortunately, we were the victims of a bad wreck at Talladega,” Newman said. “On the bright side of things, everything worked the way it was supposed to and I was able to walk away from a bad crash just being sore.
“There are a lot of people I have to say thanks to for that. I want to thank ButlerBuilt (seats), Simpson Race Products and all the guys at the shop and Hendrick Chassis for what they do to make the cars safer. I obviously tested everything last week
I also want to thank all the NASCAR fans and the people who work in the sport for their outpouring of concern. I’ve gotten more calls, texts, emails and notes than I could have imagined. I know people have reached out to Krissie and people at Stewart-Haas Racing, and it has just really been amazing. So, I want to say thanks to everybody for that.”
Comments
Newman is tough as they come and Im glad he had the gonads to tell it the way it is.
I hope the NASCAR bosses dont hear he chipped some teeth, next thing they will be doing is demanding drivers use mouth pieces like boxers have to use. Hmmm maybe we could get them same bosses to use them. Like 24/7
they wear them in every other "sport". But golfers just wear them to whiten their teeth.
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