DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney “tweaked” his right wrist during a 23-car crash in the Daytona 500 on Monday night.
Blaney got his hand and wrist caught in a spinning steering wheel while his car bounced between others at Daytona International Speedway. It was the latest hard crash for Blaney — he said his car registered a 55g hit in a qualifying-race wreck Thursday — but he was thankful he escaped Daytona with just some soreness.
He was checked out in the infield car center following his wrist injury and said nothing was broken.
“It bent it pretty weird," he said. "I had my initial wreck and then my wheel grabbed something. I usually let go of the wheel, but I didn’t think I needed to and just tweaked it a little bit. It’s all good.”
Alex Bowman sparked the crash that involved nearly two dozen cars and knocked six former NASCAR champions out of contention. Bowman was bump-drafting Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron on the backstretch with nine laps to go when Byron lost control, turned into Brad Keselowski and pretty much wrecked the field.
Blaney was caught up in the mess and finished 30th.
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