Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Rain-Delayed Race at Daytona
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Sarah Crabill/NASCAR via Getty Images(DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.) — It was a long night for NASCAR drivers on Sunday night — a very long night that was capped with a very scary crash.
After waiting out a lengthy rain delay, the Sprint Cup Series staged its Coke Zero 400 into the early morning hours at Daytona International Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race. Jimmie Johnson was second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.
The race was scheduled to begin a little after 8 p.m. ET, but because of the weather it didn’t begin until 11:42 p.m. — and was capped with an ugly crash that left Austin Dillon’s car obliterated against a safety fence in the final lap.
The driver was able to escape the wreck and wave to fans; he only suffered a bruised tailbone and forearm, ESPN reports.
Multiple cars were involved in the crash, which sent Dillon’s #3 car airborne at top speed, and smashing into the Daytona International Speedway catch fence.
Joie Chitwood, the president of the Daytona International Speedway, said at a post-race presser that 13 people in the grandstands were assessed by medical personnel after the crash. Eight declined medical attention, four were treated at the scene, and one was transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
Experts agreed it could have been much worse. “The fence worked,” Chitwood said.
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