NBC Sports analysts Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett couldn’t help but cringe after seeing the scary wrecks involving Ryan Preece and Ryan Blaney during Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
For Burton in particular, his attention went from being on the winner of the race to Preece’s health and well-being after he spun out and barrel-rolled through the infield on the backstretch with five laps remaining. Preece was placed on a stretcher before he was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the care center. He was later transported to the Halifax Health Medical Center before being discharged Sunday morning.
“DJ and I have both been in those situations and you know what’s going inside that race car,” Burton said Monday. “The first thing you think about is ‘Hey, is he OK?’ And you know, there’s been a lot of work put into making these cars safer, but this right here — it’s just so violent and it hits so hard that you know there’s a possibility that he could be injured and it’s just scary. Your brain just goes to that. I hope he’s OK. You kinda forget about the race there for a moment. And the same with Blaney.”
Blaney was leading the race on the final lap of Stage 2 when Ty Gibbs got loose, sending Blaney head-on into the SAFER barrier wall and creating “The Big One” behind them. Fortunately, Blaney climbed out of the car, though visibly shaken after the wreck.
“I appreciate everyone’s support, I’m doing alright,” Blaney wrote on Twitter after the race. “Getting hooked in the right rear in both Daytona races this year in the same exact spot because of someone’s terrible push is frustrating. Hope [Ryan Preece] is able to get back on his feet soon.”
Dale Jarrett chimes in on scary wrecks at Daytona
Jarrett said his mind immediately went to both Preece and Blaney’s safety.
“When you see things like both of these drivers went through, first you just cringe. And as Jeff said, you hope that they’re OK,” Jarrett said. “It’s the style of racing — it’s close. You know, Ryan Blaney was doing nothing except taking the lead and looking like he was going on to win Stage 2 there. All of a sudden, head-on into the wall. Those are just the worst kind when you’re not expecting anything like that to happen. When we showed the in-car of Blaney’s crash, it was just so violent. You saw how hard that was.”
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