UPDATE, 11:25 p.m. ET: Denny Hamlin has responded to the incident, claiming he has “absolutely NO IDEA of the severity of the crash until I got to victory lane.”
First a foremost I want to give well wishes and prayers to @RyanJNewman. I had absolutely NO IDEA of the severity of the crash until I got to victory lane. There’s very little communication after the finish and i had already unhooked my radio. It’s not anyone’s fault. 🙏Rocket
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 18, 2020
ORIGINAL STORY: Denny Hamlin won the 2020 Daytona 500 on Monday night, but his spotter is apologizing for what the driver did after the race.
Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Newman was leading during the final lap of the race when his car flipped, sending it flying through the air before skidding to a stop. Newman was trapped in his car briefly before being extracted and rushed to a local hospital.
Hamlin was seen doing burnouts following his victory, which rubbed some people the wrong way. So his spotter, Chris Lambert, took to Twitter to apologize.
“For those hammering @dennyhamlin for his donuts, put the blame on me if u must blame anyone,” Lambert tweeted. “I told him to slow down on backstretch & give the emergency staff time to roll, that we had a bad wreck. I saw DH get in line for lug nut check & assumed he was going straight to VL.
“I then made a beeline down to Jason Jarrett to check on the status of Ryan (Newman),” Lambert wrote. “I did not communicate any more info to DH after that, because I was only concerned with finding out info on Ryan. That is 100% on me, and I’M EXTREMLY SORRY.”
1-For those hammering @dennyhamlin for his donuts,put the blame on me if u must blame anyone.I told him to slow down on backstretch & give the emergency staff time to roll,that we had a bad wreck.I saw DH get in line for lug nut check & assumed he was going straight to VL.
— Chris Lambert (@3widemiddle) February 18, 2020
2- I then made a beeline down to Jason Jarrett to check on the status of Ryan. I did not communicate any more info to DH after that, because I was only concerned with finding out info on Ryan. That is 100% on me, and I’M EXTREMLY SORRY.
— Chris Lambert (@3widemiddle) February 18, 2020
Newman’s current condition is unknown.
