Almost one week removed from the horrific crash that sent Ryan Newman to Halifax Medical Center, NASCAR addressed the safety procedures and gave a timeline of the events that took place at Daytona International Speedway.
Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell, along with John Bobo, NASCAR Vice President of Racing Operations, and Dr. John Patalak, Senior Director of Safety Engineering, addressed the media at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday morning.
“Working in unison and performing their respective jobs, the first responders performed their jobs as they were trained,” O’Donnell said. “The training systems, the safety systems, all worked as were designed. But again, we’re never satisfied with what took place, and we’ll learn as much as possible and implement those changes, if there are any, as soon as we can.”
O’Donnell also laid out some times of the AMR Response team as they attended to Newman.
O'Donnell lays out some time stamps of the response team.
0:35: paramedic inside car
4:05: decision made to roll car over
6:56: car was moved upright, extraction team began cutting it
11:10: roof of car removed
15:40: extrication complete; transported Newman to hospital— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) February 22, 2020
NASCAR officials are working with Roush Fenway Racing, as well as outside experts, to accelerate their findings and make sure they’re accurate. They took the No. 6 and No. 32 cars of Newman and Corey LaJoie, respectively, to the R&D center in North Carolina on Tuesday.
Due to NASCAR still reviewing the accident and HIPAA laws, they could not disclose medical information in respect for Newman’s privacy.
Steve O'Donnell says there wasn't a celebratory atmosphere at NASCAR even though the safety equipment ultimately saved Newman's life. O'Donnell: "This is our job. This is what we do, and you’ve got the 40 drivers in the garage area who expect us to do this every day."
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 22, 2020
Bobo said Newman would need to be cleared by his team of doctors before racing again, and that there’s currently no timetable for his return behind the wheel.
RYAN NEWMAN RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL FOLLOWING DAYTONA CRASH
O’Donnell mentioned NASCAR will examine lift-off speeds at Daytona and Talladega before the circuits next visit to those two venues, but overtime procedures will remain unchanged.
More information on Newman’s recovery will be provided as soon as it becomes available.
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I would think a lot of tests, head and body scans were done before an educated public statement could be made. Also getting the spouses permission.
There are always going to be Monday morning quarterbacks finding fault when it comes to a tragic event.