Tom Talks: NASCAR driver Ryan Newman’s walk away from danger

The most gratifying picture I’ve seen in months, and even years, is one of the most simple. There’s Ryan Newman holding the hands of his daughters as he walks out of Halifax Medical Center.

He looks like a regular guy in a T-shirt and jeans, a father and daughters walking into the Florida sunshine. But there was nothing regular about this.

First, kudos to: Newman; the people who cared for Newman; the people who built his Ford Mustang; and the people who work to make NASCAR safer.

Everybody remembers where he or she was Monday when they saw the last-lap collision at Daytona International Speedway. In many places, there were gasps, screams, “Oh, no’s” and then silence. On the last lap of the rain-delayed Daytona 500, Newman got a push from behind, but the push wasn’t accurate.

Newman’s Mustang took off like something the Wright brothers built. There were sparks and flames and a second collision and finally a question, the question we all had to ask. How does anybody walk away from this?

I thought immediately bout Dale Earnhardt, and his last lap crash at the same race in 2001, which was the year before Newman, 42, made his Cup series debut.

I remember walking to Halifax Medical Center from the track, being directed by security through the wrong door, and suddenly ending up in back with Earnhardt’s friends and family. Tones were hushed, little more than whispers, the result evident. Earnhardt was dead.

We got out of there, another columnist and I, and walked back to the track, listening to fans driving away from the track on International Speedway Boulevard honk their horns and crank up their music. Don’t they know that the sport’s biggest star had passed? Later, over drinks, the media divide into small groups and talk each other down. The evening was surreal in every way.

After Earnhardt’s death, safety became imperative, and NASCAR had the momentum to demand it. NASCAR hasn’t suffered a fatality since in its three national series. Many of us were numbed into believing that the sport, a testament to chance taking and daring, had become safe. And, as racing goes, it is. But when you drive as fast and as close as NASCAR drivers do, accidents are inevitable.

Newman’s crash was startlingly scary, which makes Newman’s exit from Halifax Medical Center startlingly wonderful. Less than two full days (two days!) after the wreck Newman walked out of the hospital, a daughter on each side of him,

Wish I’d been there. Not to look for a quote, but to applaud; simply to applaud and smile.

Fury-Wilder: A fight worth watching

The Gypsy King is a heck of a nickname, and Tyson Fury, the man who owns the nickname, is a heck of a fighter. Fury is 6-foot-9, weighs about 260 pounds and moves better than any heavyweight I’ve seen in decades. He comes from Manchester, England.

His opponent in Las Vegas on Saturday is Deontay Wilder. Some contend Wilder, who is 6-7 and 212 pounds, has more one-punch power than any heavyweight ever. George Foreman threw looping punches packed with power, at least in the early rounds, and rare was the fight that lasted longer. Mike Tyson could hit a little. But if we’re talking one-punch power, I’ll go with Big George. Yet Wilder, out of Tuscaloosa, Ala., isn’t far behind.

Wilder-Fury II is the rare boxing match that, as pay per view will attest, appeals to people who don’t follow boxing. Both men are undefeated; Wilder is 42-0-1 with an incredible 41 knockouts. Fury is 29-0-1 with 20 knockouts.

They fought to a draw 14 months ago. Fury dominated most rounds, the Gypsy King moving, Wilder unable to land a big punch. And then he did. He knocked Fury down in the ninth round, and in the 12^th round, he caught Fury with a right and then a left hook, and Fury went down hard. And he got up. Fury looked to be out. But he rose to beat the count and keep fighting.

One judge awarded the decision to Wilder and one to Fury, and one called it even. Despite the knockdowns, I thought Fury won.

I invariably prefer boxers to sluggers, but acknowledge that one-punch power changes the dynamic. When Wilder fights, you can’t run to the kitchen for a quick refill because Wilder could end the fight while you’re gone.

The heavyweight boxing title once was the most prestigious award in sports. Even Rob Manfred, the Major League Baseball commissioner, wouldn’t have called it a “piece of metal.”

No longer sports’ most prestigious award, the gaudy and bejeweled championship still counts. When boxing sends good fighters at each other, boxers with divergent styles, in the biggest division in the sport, and both are undefeated, it has something.

Boxing will have something Saturday night.

Hornets, Panthers in a race to respectability

If you want to know what the Carolina Panthers will look like next season, watch the Charlotte Hornets this season.

The Hornets jettisoned their star and most of their veterans and became worse so they can become better. They collect losses, and because they do they’ll be in position to receive a high pick in the June 25 draft.

How high will be interesting. The Hornets easily can collect one of the top five picks. The last time they drafted in the top five was 2013, when with the fourth pick they took center Cody Zeller. The last time they drafted in the top 10 was 2015, when with the ninth pick they took Frank Kaminsky.

So, beware the Big Ten, and I’m a Big Ten guy.

The Hornets were 18-36 going into Thursday’s game at Spectrum Center against the Chicago Bulls. They had won one-of-13 games until winning two straight before the All-Star break. They beat bad teams -- the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons, bottom-feeders all. But the victories still count, and they beat Minnesota and Detroit on the road.

Despite the rebuild, I’ve enjoyed these Hornets. They’re unselfish, and they become less young every game. Second-year second-round draft choice Devonte Graham has evolved, and rookie P.J. Washington has achieved instant success. And there in the middle some nights is Bismack Biyombo, a good guy and a hard worker who gives what he has.

Watching this season feels like an investment. You knew them when.

Yet the opportunity the draft offers counts only if Charlotte takes advantage of it. Otherwise, the team’s rebuilding decades will endure.

To the Hornets’ credit, their record this season is a testament to, for the Hornets, a new strategy. They have a plan.

Meanwhile, over at Bank of America Stadium, the plan is similar. The last two seasons owner David Tepper played with parts already assembled. This season, he discarded much of what he inherited and is adding his own.

The new coaches about which so many rave will be interesting to watch. But you can’t win without talent, and all the Panthers have are pieces, a good player here and another way over there.

Carolina’s goal is to develop not a good team but a good program. The Panthers would love to be the first to win in successive seasons. But those seasons will not begin for a few years.

The Panthers and Hornets are racing to respectability. Be interesting to see if they get there, and who gets there first.