Current:Home > MarketsNASCAR driver Ryan Preece set for return at Darlington after Daytona crash--DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews Insights
NASCAR driver Ryan Preece set for return at Darlington after Daytona crash
View Date:2025-01-19 23:26:07
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Ryan Preece had a message to deliver, no matter how bad his eyes looked after his frightening crash at Daytona last week.
"It's OK to not race," the Stewart Haas Racing driver said at Darlington on Saturday. "But it's OK to race, and I think that's what needs to be said."
Preece took questions publicly for the first time since his horrifying accident, where he went airborne and flipped over at least 10 times before coming to rest.
Preece got out of the car on his own power. He spent the night at the hospital and before midnight, was suggesting to anyone who would listen that he felt good and was ready to go home.
NASCAR:Preece released from hospital after scary, multi-flip crash at Daytona
Preece, who was cleared to drive in the Southern 500 at Darlington on Sunday night, is not sore from the crash. His eyes are just bloodshot and bruised.
"If I had headaches or blurry vision or anything like that that I felt I was endangering myself or anybody else here, I wouldn't be racing," Preece said behind his No. 41 hauler. "I have a family that I have to worry about as well. This is my job, this is what I want to do and I feel completely fine."
That's remarkable given what Preece, 32, endured a week ago.
He was in a line near Daytona's outside wall when he was bumped by Erik Jones and turned down into teammate Chase Briscoe. Preece soon lifted off the ground and began to flip over the grassy area on the backstretch.
Preece thought he might've checked up a bit before his wild ride.
"I've seen other interviews from drivers in the past that as you get sideways and as you go in the air, it's gets real quiet," he said. "After experiencing that, that's 100 percent true. Beyond that, everything's happening so fast, you're just flipping through the air. Until that ride stops, all you're thinking about is just trying to contain yourself.
"You tense up and you hope you're going to be OK," he continued. "Which obviously I am."
NASCAR has said the car's safety improvements helped keep Preece from more serious hard. The organization will continue to investigate causes, including the possibility of paving over some grass areas to keep cars grounded.
Playoff points leader William Byron said Preece's accident was something drivers hadn't seen much in recent years. Byron, like all drivers, was glad Preece came away in good condition and good spirits, indicators that safety issues in the second year of the Next Gen car are improving.
"We've made progress, but some elements of that crash that definitely could've been better," Byron said.
Preece thanked safety personnel at Daytona and at Halifax Health Medical Center for their quick response and care he received.
The experience hasn't changed Preece's opinion of what it takes to succeed.
"This is what we're supposed to be, we're supposed to be tough," Preece said. "And it's OK to be tough, it's OK to do those things. I feel good."
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Just Eat Takeaway sells Grubhub for $650 million, just 3 years after buying the app for $7.3 billion
- A ‘Rights of Nature’ Fact-Finding Panel to Investigate Mexico’s Tren Maya Railroad for Possible Environmental Violations
- Landowners Fear Injection of Fracking Waste Threatens Aquifers in West Texas
- How artificial intelligence is helping ALS patients preserve their voices
- My Chemical Romance will perform 'The Black Parade' in full during 2025 tour: See dates
- Minnesota Is Poised to Pass an Ambitious 100 Percent Clean Energy Bill. Now About Those Incinerators…
- 2023 ESPYS Winners: See the Complete List
- You Need to See Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen’s Baby Girl Gia Make Her TV Debut
- Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
- 3 dead in Serbia after a 2nd deadly storm rips through the Balkans this week
Ranking
- The Masked Singer's Ice King Might Be a Jonas Brother
- Q&A: Cancer Alley Is Real, And Louisiana Officials Helped Create It, Researchers Find
- Rural Communities Like East Palestine, Ohio, Are at Outsized Risk of Train Derailments and the Ensuing Fallout
- Women fined $1,500 each for taking selfies with dingoes after vicious attacks on jogger and girl in Australia
- Joey Graziadei Details Why Kelsey Anderson Took a Break From Social Media
- Margot Robbie Just Put a Red-Hot Twist on Her Barbie Style
- Nina Dobrev Recalls Wild Experience Growing Up in the Public Eye Amid Vampire Diaries Fame
- You Need to See Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen’s Baby Girl Gia Make Her TV Debut
Recommendation
-
Man charged with murder in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier
-
Prigozhin's rebellion undermined Putin's standing among Russian elite, officials say
-
Lisa Marie Presley’s Cause of Death Revealed
-
Nikki and Brie Garcia Share the Story Behind Their Name Change
-
Fantasy football Week 11: Trade value chart and rest of season rankings
-
Will Smith, Glenn Close and other celebs support for Jamie Foxx after he speaks out on medical condition
-
Matt Damon Shares How Wife Luciana Helped Him Through Depression
-
Director Marcos Colón Takes an Intimate Look at Three Indigenous Leaders’ Fight to Preserve Their Ancestral Connection to Nature in the Amazon