Ryan Blaney gives an update on his recovery from the violent Daytona crash, says he is ‘still a bit sore’
Ryan Blaney has been part of two of the most violent crashes of the 2023 Cup season.
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Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)
For Ryan’s in the NASCAR Cup garage in the Daytona International Speedway race last Saturday was a nightmare. Ryan Blaney of Team Penske Racing and Ryan Preece of Stewart Hass Racing were involved in violent clashes but, fortunately, could exit their cars with no injuries other than mild physical discomfort.
The SHR Ford Mustang was nudged from the rear by Erik Jones, and he was sent to the infield grass. Preece’s car went airborne, and it rolled ten times mid-air. Blaney was sent to the wall from behind by Ty Gibbs, and in the incident, he crashed into the outside barrier. Many in the racing community drew parallels between the No:12 crash and Dale Sr’s tragic accident in the 2001 Daytona 500.
Ahead of the first playoff race of the season at Darlington, Blaney has addressed his recovery and said that his body still feels sore but confirmed that it’s nothing serious and he is looking forward to the next race.
He told the RACER, “I’m a little sore still, but (it’s) gotten a lot better over the last two days,” Blaney said at NASCAR Cup Series playoff media day. “I was happy to have Sunday off, that’s for sure. That was nice. But I’m starting to feel better and looking forward to this weekend.”
Blaney also claimed that he felt way better after the crash at Daytona compared to his crash onto the concrete wall in Nashville in June. He said, “I felt better after this (crash). I think some of the circumstances involved in it helped. My body felt more sore after this one than my head, so that was good.”
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Ryan Blaney is happy with the new NASCAR safety updates
The 2023 Coco-Cola 600 race winner was vocal about the unsafe barriers after his violent crash in Nashville. He left the track with physical discomfort and destroyed the car after the incident. Following his demands, NASCAR introduced tweaks to the car, such as the new front clips. \
The Ford driver said that it helped him to feel much better after the crash, and the barriers being soft also helped. He said, “I think the front clip updates definitely helped me. Obviously, hitting a SAFER barrier wall was a positive. But I think the front clip updates were huge.”
He pointed out that if not for the front clips, the outcome of the incident would have been much worse. Blaney said, “I feel like if those weren’t in and we wrecked at Daytona; it would have been a lot worse for sure. It’s good to see that it helped out a little bit. (It) crushed more — as best it could.”
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Justin P Joy
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