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The car of NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) sits at the end of pit road after an accident during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Blaney's Daytona crash eerily similar to Dale Earnhardt's 22 years ago

By Kyle Dalton | Last updated 8/28/23

Ryan Blaney never saw it coming. Holding the lead on the final lap of Stage 2 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, the No. 12 got a tap on the right rear from Ty Gibbs, which immediately sent the Team Penske car shooting up the track for a violent impact into the SAFER Barrier on the outside wall.

Those watching in the stands and on television at home all saw the same thing, and for many, it immediately evoked memories of that horrible day 22 years earlier.

February 18, 2001, will be remembered as one of the most shocking moments in all of sports when Dale Earnhardt made a final lap around the 2.5-mile superspeedway during the Daytona 500 and had a front-row seat to a duel between his son, Dale Jr., and his driver, Michael Waltrip. Tragically, The Intimidator never saw the ending.

Instead, his No. 3 car made contact with Sterling Marlin and wobbled to the left, before making a hard right turn up the banked track, hitting Ken Schrader, and then violently slamming into the outside wall. Earnhardt died instantly.

That moment forever changed the sport. NASCAR has since introduced numerous new safety improvements through the years, including modifications to the driver equipment (HANS device), the tracks (SAFER Barrier) and the cars. There haven't been any deaths since Earnhardt.

@Blaney suffered a hard hit on Saturday night at @DAYTONA and it was a flashback to that horrible day 22 years ago that tragically took the life of Dale Earnhardt. pic.twitter.com/4hBrQnYEQ1
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) August 28, 2023

Blaney's impact, which happened coming out of Turn 4 instead of going into it like Earnhardt, was equally violent. The proof of that comes in the slow-motion replay, which shows the SAFER Barrier doing its job and bending in the area of impact, absorbing much of the energy.

While the Next Gen car has had its share of issues since its introduction in 2022, NASCAR, to its credit, has worked to implement changes based on data and feedback from the drivers. One of those areas this year was reducing stiffness in the front of the car in response to the massive crash earlier this season at Talladega when Ryan Preece t-boned Kyle Larson in the race's final laps, which resulted in a massive intrusion into the passenger side of the Hendrick Motorsports car.

Interestingly, Blaney brought up both old and new safety advancements following his mandatory visit to the infield care center.

Ryan Blaney was happy for the new front clip design and the SAFER Barrier after getting collected in an accident while leading at Daytona. pic.twitter.com/dSSGKTZP9r
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 27, 2023

"It was a big hit. I'm happy it had a SAFER Barrier on it," he told reporters. "Yeah, that was large. Big testament of the new front clips. That would have hurt a lot more if we didn't have the new front clip on it. So that's a positive about that. Still pretty hard."

Drivers understand every time they strap inside a car and put on their helmet, it could be the last time. While that danger will always be present, what happened at Daytona this weekend confirmed that the chances of it ending tragically as it has in the past are now, thankfully, much less likely.

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