First a foremost I want to give well wishes and prayers to @RyanJNewman. I had absolutely NO IDEA of the severity of the crash until I got to victory lane. There’s very little communication after the finish and i had already unhooked my radio. It’s not anyone’s fault. 🙏Rocket
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 18, 2020
Denny Hamlin is the winner after a thrilling and grueling Daytona 500 that took two days, and overtime; and saw multiple caution flags in the final 16 laps and OT. It's the third time Hamlin has won the Daytona 500, and he is the first driver to win back-to-back years at the Great American Race since Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995. Hamlin also becomes the sixth driver to win the Daytona 500 three times, joining Richard Petty (7), Cale Yarborough (4), and Bobby Allison, Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett (3)
The celebration in victory lane was muted after Hamlin's win because of a crash on the final lap of the green-white-checker finish that saw Ryan Newman's No. 6 car go airborne and flip on the track several times after jockeying for position with Hamlin and Ryan Blaney as they came to the finish line.
Before going off the air, the Fox television broadcast said that Newman was being taken by ambulance to a Daytona area hospital. Newman was looking for his second Daytona 500 win, after capturing the title in 2008.
In post race comments on the track, Hamlin says he didn't realize the extent of the crash until he got into victory lane. "I didn't see the contact the other car has with [Newman] when he was in the air," Hamiln said. "The worst-case scenario you can possibly have any time you have a wreck is to have somebody's nose kinda where your head is at."
Corey LaJoie's No. 32 car collided with Hamlin's car while it was in the air
Nearly two hours after the race ended, NASCAR executive vice president Steve O'Donnell read a statement from Roush-Fenway Racing saying the Newman' injuries are non-life threatening and he remains in in serious condition at a Daytona area hospital.
