LAS VEGAS - Ryan Newman offered information, though not details, regarding his injuries from a crash on the last lap of this past Monday's Daytona 500, with the update coming via a statement from the NASCAR driver that was read before Sunday's Cup Series 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 wrote in the statement. "The doctors have been pleased with my progression over the last few days."
There is no timetable for Newman's return to racing, but Roush Fenway Racing said the 42-year-old Indiana native is determined to get back to the track.
"He has expressed unequivocally that this is where he wants to be and he wants to be back in a race car," said RFR president Steve Newmark, adding that once he returns, Newman wants to be the one to address his health personally.
"Ryan actually wants to be the one in front of you to answer those questions," Newmark said. "He and I talked about that, and he's kind of chomping at the bit to get back here, and I think he feels that would be most appropriate for him to be behind the mic answering a lot of those questions."
AP photo by Lynne Sladky / NASCAR driver Ryan Newman greets a fan before the Cup Series 2019 season finale on Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.RFR gave its first detailed account of the harrowing ordeal that began when Newman, while leading the last lap of the season opener that was postponed a day due to rain, 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, on-fire Ford Mustang as rescue workers tried to free him from the damaged vehicle.
He was taken straight from the superspeedway to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, and RFR officials said that night that the driver's condition was serious but his injuries were not life-threatening. Newmark said the racing team did not learn that until Newman's father passed along the information from doctors roughly two hours after the wreck occurred.
Newman walked out of the same hospital roughly 42 hours later, appearing unscathed and holding hands with his two young daughters in a photo released Wednesday afternoon by RFR. In Sunday's statement, Newman said the picture was a testament to the RFR organization "that built me a car not only fast enough to lead the final seconds of the Daytona 500, but strong enough to do its job under great distress, allowing me to survive such an accident.
"I am truly indebted to each of you, and it is unlikely I will ever be able to properly express to you how much the diligent effort with which you conduct your craftmanship has affected me and my family. I hope you took pride in the photograph of me walking out of the hospital hand in hand with my daughters on Wednesday. Thank you. I can't wait to get back in your race car."
Newmark opened the news conference by reading Newman's lengthy statement, which began with an apology from the driver for not being in Las Vegas. Ross Chastain was behind the wheel of the No. 6 car for RFR as Newman's streak of 649 consecutive Cup Series starts dating to the 2002 season opener came to an end.
"I have spoken with Jack Roush, and he has assured me that the No. 6 car will be waiting and ready for my return," Newman concluded in his statement. "I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel and battling for another race win in the Roush Fenway Ford."
Newmark said Newman intends to race for this season's Cup Series title, and he plans to ask NASCAR for an exemption to qualify for the playoffs once he's medically cleared to return.
AP photo by Mark Humphrey / Cup Series driver Ryan Newman shows off in the Burnouts on Broadway competition on Dec. 4, 2019, during NASCAR Champion's Week in Nashville.Newmark briefly touched on the emotions of the RFR organization after the crash, saying the team had to force employees to leave Florida and return to North Carolina to prepare for the Las Vegas race rather than sit outside the hospital waiting for updates.
"It probably fits right in to the definition of an emotional roller coaster - we went from what we thought was seconds away from winning the Daytona 500 with Ryan it was looking like it was going to be a storybook race for us and a great start to the season, and all of that changed in an instant," Newmark said. "We go from not caring about the race, not caring about the competition, in fact I'm not sure that we knew who had actually won the race until a few hours later because the whole focus was on Ryan's safety and well-being."
Denny Hamlin, who won the Daytona 500 for the second straight year, was among many industry regulars who stopped by the hospital, as did most of NASCAR's executive team, from chairman Jim France on down. Newmark said NASCAR vice chairman Mike Helton arrived at the hospital Monday night moments after RFR representatives did.
Newmark noted Newman's biting humor has not changed and that the biggest sigh of relief came when the team saw Newman's family mocking him for his large build and love of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
"He is as tough as they come, and it was also refreshing to be in the hospital room listening to his family make fun of him for having no neck and for just being completely thick," Newmark said. "And there is truth to the rumor that when he heard there were doughnuts down in the room where we were all congregated, that he asked his dad to confiscate some and bring them back up to his room. Not a surprising development."