Daytona 500 crash tracker: Ryan Newman heads to hospital. His car flipped, caught fire

At the Daytona 500, drivers almost have as much of a chance to crash out and watch the race from the garage as they do the cross the finish line.

The first wreck of the afternoon came in Lap 59 with William Byron.

You can follow our running live updates thread from NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev, who’s at Daytona International Speedway, at this link. This page will keep you up to date with the all of the wrecks, crashes and dust-ups. Refresh this page for the latest updates (the most recent will be up top).

Mid-race reading

• NASCAR enters Daytona 500 as a sport without a face. Can Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott be it?

• Daytona 500 starting positions
• Daytona 500 prediction: Why we like this driver to win

• Daytona 500 for dummies: A NASCAR newcomer’s guide to the Great American Race

• Samantha Busch opens up about IVF, motherhood and Kyle’s desire to win Daytona 500

Daytona 500 crashes

7:55, final stretch: Ryan Newman has been taken to the hospital after a violent crash. He was the race leader, but got spun out by Ryan Blaney and flipped on the final push.

7:40, overtime: About 6 seconds into overtime, another caution happened. Clint Boyer, Justin Haley and Michael McDowell playing bumper cars.

7:19 p.m., Lap 197: Another red flag. This race just can’t catch a break. Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain all involved in this. Ryan Preece bumped Chastain into the apron, and he lost control, coming back into the field. Christopher Bell took some damage.

7:10 p.m., Lap 193: Another caution as the the Nos. 66 (Timmy Hill) and 27 (Reed Sorensen) cars collide. Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 88, also appears out.

6:43 p.m., Lap 184: This is the big one. Joey Logano bumped Aric Almirola into Brad Keselowski toward the front of the pack, which set off a chain reaction. Most of the field crashed behind them, including Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.

6:33 p.m., Lap 173: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has trouble in turn 4, spun out by Erik Jones. That threw up his car’s hood, but he makes it to pit road. No caution.

6 p.m., Stage 2 caution: Not quite a crash, Chase Elliott left pit road with his fuel can still attached, which Martin Truex Jr. ran over on pit road. Penalty for Elliott.

5:50 p.m.: Update ... McLeod is out of the race, as is Joey Gase

5:15 p.m., Lap 90: Rookie Quin Houff got clipped by Aric Almirola. BJ McLeod was also involved, bumping into the wall before spinning into the infield, but he’ll continue to race. Houff’s day is done. The wreck created the fourth caution of the race.

4:40 p.m., Lap 59: William Byron’s day is over. He was clipped by the No. 47 car of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which spun him into the infield and into the barrier. Byron climbed from the car on his own power, but his day is over.

Daytona 500 results

This story was originally published February 17, 2020 at 4:45 PM.

Matt L. Stephens

The Charlotte Observer

Matt L. Stephens is the Senior Sports Editor for The Charlotte Observer and oversees sports coverage for the Raleigh News & Observer, The State in Columbia, S.C., and McClatchy’s other properties across the Southeast. Before coming to Charlotte in July 2019, Matt was an award-winning editor, columnist and investigative reporter at The Denver Post and Fort Collins Coloradoan.