Nationwide Opening Day Marred By Horrific Last Lap Wreck

Kyle Larson's No. 32 as it hits the catchfence (Google Images)

 



The season opener for the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series was 119 laps of side-by-side action. A few spins early by Scott Lagasse, Jr and Regan Smith were the only incidents that slowed the tandem racing that was so prevalent in the Sprint Cup Series last season. The DRIVE4COPD 300 also saw 34 lead changes among 20 different cars, a record for the Nascar's second-tier series at the famed superspeedway. It was a balmy 83-degrees outside and fans were getting ready for what was shaping up to be a breathtaking finish.

But a multi-car wreck with just four laps to go meant that the field would be bunched back together for the final run to the finish. The wreck collected championship contenders Austin Dillon, Michael Annett and Elliott Sadler, as well as Joe Nemechek, Matt Kenseth, Johanna Long and a few other drivers. It was triggered when Annett tried to slide in behind Dillon, bouncing his No. 3 off Sadler's Camry and sending them both into the outside wall while Sadler drove on. Dillon took at least two more vicious hits before making it back to pit road.

But this wreck merely set the stage for what was to come. What was supposed to be an exciting finish to a fantastic race would soon go very wrong very fast.

Larson's demolished car (32) slides past Regan Smith's
to the infield (Google Images)

As the field made its way off the final turn on the last lap, Regan Smith blocked a move by Brad Keselowski in an attempt to win the biggest race of the season. Instead, the JR Motorsports driver got clipped by Keselowski's Mustang and both hit the outside wall and collected, for all intents and purposes, the rest of the field and cleared a path for Tony Stewart to win his 19th race at Daytona. This was also his seventh win in his last nine starts in this race. But as Stewart took the win, somthing very frightening had taken place behind him.

This wreck also sent the car of rookie Kyle Larson into the catch fence. When his No. 32 machine landed, everything in front of the firewall was sheared from the car. The engine lay flaming just inside the grandstand side of the fence along with a wheel. The other tire off Larson's Camaro had gone over the fence and about 20 rows into the stands, hub, spindle and all.

In total, 28 fans were given medical treatment, 14 at the track's medical facility and 14 were taken to hospitals. Twelve of those were brought up the road to Halifax Medical Center. A Halifax spokesman said that of those 12, only seven needed treatment for injuries sustained from the crash and the other five were for issues like heat exhaustion. The latest news has two of these seven fans in critical condition and unfortunately one of them is a child. The other has head trauma that hospital officials say could be life-threatening. Area police said that six people were sent to Halifax Urgent Care in Port Orange and another was transported to Florida Memorial Hospital, all for minor injuries.



Larson's engine and tire lay on the wrong side
of the catchfence (Google Images)

There will be a press conference at the track's media center tomorrow at 9 a.m. EST to update fans on the condition of those injured.
NASCAR racing is an exciting sport. Unfortunately, it is also a dangerous one. Sometimes we forget this and when we are reminded, it can be sobering to say the least. The drivers all know that they assume the risks involved when they sign up to race on a weekly basis. The fans merely show up to spend a weekend with family and friends and enjoy an exciting race. The thought of something like what happened today actually occurring is the furthest thing from their minds. But we have seen wrecks of this nature before and, while extremely rare, they are a possibility.

Larson's machine was traveling close to 200 m.p.h. and while the grandstands looked like a bomb had gone off, the fence did serve to keep the engine and, ultimately the car, from landing in the seats. This is ultimately a reminder that racing is safer, and more can and will be done to make it safer still, but it will never be entirely safe, no matter how much we want it to be.

Repairs to the fence will continue through the night and the track should be ready to go for the 55th running of the Daytona 500 Sunday morning. Please keep the fans that were injured, as well as their families, in your thoughts and prayers.

If you haven't seen the wreck yet, the video is below: