Ryan Newman: 'I Feel Like a Complete, Walking Miracle' After Daytona 500 Crash

Ryan Newman is opening up for the first time about his horrific crash in February's Daytona 500.

During a conference call with reporters Thursday, Newman said he doesn't remember much from the race and can't recall recovering in the hospital.

"I feel like a complete, walking miracle," Newman said, per ESPN.

With only two laps remaining in the Daytona 500, Newman's car flipped over after Ryan Blaney's car collided with it and sent him into the wall. Then, Corey LaJoie's car ran into the driver's side of Newman's Ford. Newman had to be pulled out of his car by crews near the finish line, and he was taken directly to the Halifax Medical Center. 

The fiery crash made headlines along with Newman's departure from the hospital just two days later when Roush Fenway tweeted a photo of the driver holding hands with his two daughters as he left the hospital. In fact, leaving with his children is his only memory of his hospitalization.

"Each layer of it, there were multiple miracles—big miracles, little miracles—in my opinion, that aligned for me to be able to walk out days later with my hands around my daughters and to be thankful," he said, via The Tampa Bay Times.

Newman still hasn't watched the entire race but has seen replays of the crash. He's not sure where LaJoie’s car hit inside his cockpit, but he said his helmet was "crushed," his head and neck restraint (HANS) device was hit and his seat was moved inside his car from the impact of LaJoie's Ford.

After he was taken to the hospital, doctors placed Newman into a medically induced coma and inserted a PICC line in his shoulder. He said he received conflicting diagnoses about having a concussion, so he opts to call his injury a "brain bruise."

Newman will return to racing on Sunday when the NASCAR Cup Series comes to Darlington Raceway. It marks NASCAR's first event since racing shut down in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Newman said he isn't worried about returning to the track after his crash and an eight-week break.

"We are all going to work really hard to make the best of it," he said. "I'm hoping to do every lap and then one more after that. I think they call it the victory lap."