Ryan Newman out of hospital following Daytona 500 wreck

NASCAR Cup Series driver and animal lover Ryan Newman is walking and released from the hospital following a terrifying wreck on the last lap of the 2020 Daytona 500.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman is walking and has been released from the Halifax Medical Center following a terrifying crash on the last lap of the 2020 Daytona 500 on Monday evening, February 17.

This joyful news was announced by Roush Fenway Racing early Wednesday afternoon on February 19.

RFR posted a picture of Newman leaving the hospital with his daughters.

Several hundred feet before the checkered flag flew, his No. 6 Ford Mustang veered into the outside wall, slamming nose-first and somersaulting into the air before being collected in mid-air by Corey LaJoie‘s No. 32, where it eventually landed roof down and in flames

It was a scene that felt far too reminiscent of the 2001 Daytona 500, where Dale Earnhardt passed away following a similar last-lap crash, as well as when Carl Edwards flew upside down at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009 or when Kyle Larson tore up a significant portion of the outside fence at Daytona in 2013.

Newman was immediately rushed to the hospital with what NASCAR described as “serious but non-life-threatening injuries.”

While not technically canine-related, this is being covered here at Dog O’Day because Newman is an animal lover, and many non-sports-related sites picked up the news due to its dramatic nature on stock car racing’s biggest stage.

As such, the role of Dog Twitter was especially important over the past several days in spreading calm and love throughout the internet, particularly as Bark-Andre Furry‘s Knights were hosting Ovie the Bulldog‘s Capitals in Ovie’s final road trip before retirement.

Newman and his wife Krissie founded Rescue Ranch together in 2012 to help animals in need. Located in Statesville, North Carolina, the 87-acre property is a nonprofit that includes an emergency veterinary hospital and a therapeutic horseback program.

Krissie and other volunteers were part of those assisting animals and pets in the wake of Hurricane Florence in 2018.

Fellow Ford driver John Hunter Nemechek was one of many in the NASCAR community to make a donation to the Rescue Ranch as a way of giving back while awaiting news of Newman’s condition.

Newman is also a graduate of Purdue, which has one of the nation’s top vet med programs.

Ryan Newman has previously driven for Team Penske, Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing since making his Cup Series debut in 2000. He has won the 2002 Rookie of the Year, captured 51 career poles, with 18 wins, 115 top fives and 262 top 10s in 657 starts, with over 4,800 laps led and a best season result of second in 2014.

For the upcoming Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 23, Ross Chastain will be behind the wheel of the RFR No. 6, becoming the seventh driver to pilot that machine in the team’s history

It is currently unknown how long it will be before Newman will race again.

For more news, analysis and opinion of NASCAR and motorsports in general, be sure to check out our FanSided Network sister site Beyond the Flag, as well as the independent racing news site Frontstretch.