DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona 500 will go off as planned.
Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood said the track will “be ready to go racing" in time for today’s Daytona 500. The green flag will drop a day after a horrific accident injured fans and drivers, and damaged several safety features.
At least 33 spectators were injured Saturday when large chunks of debris, including a tire, sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race.
Chitwood said 14 fans were treated on site, and 14 others were taken to hospitals. Chitwood didn’t give any updates on their conditions. Local officials said 19 fans were taken to neighboring hospitals, including two who were in critical condition but were later upgraded to stable.
Chitwood said he doesn’t anticipate moving any fans from those affected seats for today’s race. He said the fence that separates the track from the seats will be repaired. The grandstands where fans were injured are about 200 feet from the start-finish line.
This will be the third time in four years the track has needed major repairs on Daytona 500 weekend. The 2010 race was interrupted for more than two hours because of a pothole on the track. Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a jet dryer in last year’s race that caused a raging inferno that stopped the event for two hours.
“We’re very confident that we’ll be ready for tomorrow’s event with the 55th running of the Daytona 500," Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing operations, said. “As with any of these incidents, we’ll conduct a thorough review and work closely with the tracks as we do with all our events, learn what we can and see what we can apply in the future."
Chitwood said there wasn’t enough time to replace the crossover gate, which allows fans to walk from the grandstands to the infield.
He stressed proper safety protocols were met.
“Our security maintained a buffer that separates the fans from the fencing area," he said. “With the fencing being prepared tonight to our safety protocols, we expect to go racing tomorrow with no changes."
Tony Stewart won the race as the wreck wreaked havoc on and off the track. Regan Smith was leading coming to the checkered flag when he was turned sideways into the wall. Cars began wrecking all over the track, and rookie Kyle Larson’s car went sailing into the fence that separates the track from the grandstands. Stewart slid through the wreckage to the win.
— The Associated Press
