DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Hundreds of fans with cameras and cell phones have been drawn almost ghoulishly to a spot on the front stretch at Daytona International Speedway where on Saturday Kyle Larson’s car flew into the 22-foot-high catch fence.
The crash injured at least 28 fans, according to Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III.
Six of them were admitted to Halifax Health Medical Center for trauma treatment. USA Today reported this morning that two patients who were admitted in critical condition have been upgraded this morning, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The number of injured has varied in reports, with The Associated Press reporting Saturday night there were 33 injured.
“What I can say is we physically transported 14 customers from our property to a medical facility,” Chitwood said in a news briefing this morning. “We also saw 14 individuals at our first aid or on-track care centers. Those individuals were released.
“There could be other patients who self-admit. As it relates to numbers today, I don’t have that detail, that if another fan drove themselves to a medical facility, that they self-admitted themselves based on that,” Chitwood continued.
Chitwood said that a team from Daytona was at Halifax Saturday night working with the injured and their family on logistics, including transporting some of the spectators to Orlando.
“Throughout the night, we were making sure those released were getting proper car from us as it relates to getting connected back to everyone,” Chitwood said.
He said some of the spectators who were released from the hospital Saturday plan to be at today’s race and “we’re going to make sure they’ve got good accommodations to enjoy the event.”
Chitwood was asked about moving fans from seats so close to the track, though there is wide walkway between the fence and the seats.
“We have over 100,000 seats on the frontstretch. I think we’ve got very good safety protocols,” he said. “We had a structural engineering firm come in to look at our fencing. Based on their recommendations, we installed a new fence.
“I think we’ve done a great job being prepared for our racing events. Incidents do happen and I think those are the exceptions. If you look at our 55 years in the business, we have a pretty good safety track record. I think we’re prepared today. We met with NASCAR this morning to review everything we did last night, to actually inspect what we repaired,” Chitwood continued.
“I feel like we’re going to do a great job for our fans today. NASCAR is going to give them a great race. We’re going to give them a great experience.”