posted many updates and retweets of the news on the Jayski twitter page ; Some news and updates: A horrific multicar crash moments before the end of the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway caused Kyle Larsons car to become airborne into the frontstretch catch fencing, shearing off the front half of the car and leaving large pieces of the vehicle inside the fencing. Sergeant John Creamer of the Daytona Beach Police said 17 fans were injured with two suffering ‘major injuries.” Eleven were sent to Halifax Medical Center, with one adult in surgery with head trauma and listed in critical condition. The other major injury is to a 14-year-old. Six fans were transported to Florida Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, and are expected to be treated and released. At least one tire from Larsons car flew into the seating area at Daytona. Police officers and NASCAR safety officials quickly ran to the location where part of the car went through the fencing, destroying one section of the catch fence.(see much more at ESPN.com ) AND A violent 12-car crash at the end of the DRIVE4COPD 300 sent a tire and other debris flying over the grandstand fence at Daytona International Speedway, injuring at least 15 bystanders, some critically, among the crowds watching the race from the grandstands. A Halifax Health Medical Center official confirmed just before 6 p.m. that 11 spectators are being treated in the hospitals emergency room and two of them are critically injured. Four others are on trauma alert and five are being treated as non-trauma cases, the official said. Lindsay Rew, spokeswoman for Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, confirmed that one patient was being treated there and three more were on the way. NASCAR just announced that they would conduct a press conference at 7 p.m. Dozens of safety workers went into the stands and carried several people out on stretchers to a line of at least eight ambulances waiting below and behind the stands. Safety workers appeared to carry patients from at least two sections of the grandstands on the upper deck and from a section of the lower deck. At 5:30 p.m., NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said ‘we are continuing to assess the situation, taking care of those involved.” ( Daytona Beach News Journal ) Statement at 7:00pm/et: Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood and NASCAR SVP Racing Operations Steve ODonnell are scheduled to address media at approx 7:00pm/et in the media center at DIS. AND SPEED remains live from Daytona International Speedway and surrounding facililities following a major last-lap crash at the conclusions of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Debris from the incident made it into the grandstands and several fans are reported injured. SPEED will cut into regularly scheduled program to provide live coverage of any press conference from NASCAR and/or track officials throughout the evening. UPDATE: Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood and NASCAR SVP Racing Operations Steve ODonnell held a press conference at 7:00pm/et: the STATEMENT: Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III provided the following statement Saturday evening: ‘First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with our race fans. Following incident, we responded appropriately according to safety protocols and had emergency medical personnel at incident immediately. We transported 14 people off property and 14 were treated at our on-track care center. We are in the process of repairing the facility & will be ready to go racing tomorrow.”(Compiled from Daytona International Speedways Twitter ) Latest UPDATE: Two fans are in critical condition, including one child, after a horrific crash on the final lap of the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Twenty-eight people suffered some sort of injury. Fourteen were treated at the track, and 14 others were taken to hospitals. Halifax Health spokesman Byron Cogdell said 12 people were brought in, seven for treatment from the crash and five for heat exhaustion and other issues. Two of the seven were in critical condition, including one child. The other has life-threatening injuries because of head trauma. Daytona Beach Police public information officer Jimmie Flynt said another six people were transported to Halifax Urgent Care in Port Orange for minor injuries, and one additional person was transported to Florida Memorial for minor injuries.( USA Today ) AND from SPEEDs Twitter : ‘Reports say 2 fans in critical condition have now been stabilized w/ no life-threatening injuries”. Updates about the race on my Nationwide Series site UPDATE 9am Two fans previously listed in critical condition, including one child, have been upgraded Sunday morning after a horrific crash on the final lap of the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Twenty-eight people suffered some sort of injury. Fourteen were treated at the track, and the others were taken to hospitals. Halifax Health spokesman Byron Cogdell said 12 people were brought in there, seven for treatment from the crash and five for heat exhaustion and other issues. Two of the seven had been in critical condition, including one with life-threatening injuries because of head trauma. But Codgell said Sunday morning that the patients were no longer listed in critical condition. Daytona Beach Police public information officer Jimmie Flynt said another six people were transported to Halifax Urgent Care in Port Orange for minor injuries, and one additional person was transported to Florida Memorial for minor injuries.( USA Today ) Catch Fence update: Daytona International Speedway has repaired the front stretch catch fence that was severely damaged in Saturdays horrific Nationwide Series crash and is prepared to run Sundays Daytona 500. ‘We met with NASCAR’ Daytona Speedway president Joie Chitwood said on Sunday. ‘We reviewed all the repairs we made last evening. We worked late into the evening and are prepared to go racing today.” Repairs to the fence were completed around 2:00am/et. A track-access gate that was destroyed was not replaced. Chitwood said there were no concerns for the safety of fans in the 500. He said the 22-foot high catch fence was installed in 2010 after recommendations by engineers following the 2009 crash at Talladega Superspeedway in which Carl Edwards car sailed into the fence and injured fans. Chitwood said the track worked well into the night helping those injured, from transporting those released to their hotels to making sure they had accommodations for the 500. Chitwood said the track is willing to relocate any fans sitting on the front stretch that are uncomfortable with their seats.( ESPN )
