What is something that has left a lump in YOUR throat? This is an easy question for me to answer after watching Ryan Newman flip upside down in the air at 200 mph and then getting a grill of another car coming through his driver side window.
I was following along with the Daytona 500 on Twitter Monday afternoon as they were able to run the race a day later after Sunday was filled with rain delays. I kept sneaking into the news room at the radio station to watch a minute here and there before running back into The Wolf studio because my song was about over. Brief moments of watching the cars whiz by at speeds near 200 miles per hour…but T.V. just doesn’t do it justice when it comes to the speed the cars are going.
I’ve sat in the stands in Bristol, TN and Darlington, SC, Chicagoland Speedway…even at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the cars go flying by in a blur causing your neck to snap from left to right as you watch your favorite driver. The speed is a rush, the sound is a rush, the smell of the fuel and rubber leaving the tires is a rush…and the crashes…the crashes are a rush. Except the one on Monday night with Ryan Newman that left many feeling we lost another driver to a horrific crash at Daytona.
I can’t repeat what I said when I watched it happen, let’s just say I would have had consumed an entire bar of soap had my mother heard those words coming from my mouth. The speeds are crazy ridiculous as they fly by you, and when you realize at speedways like Daytona the cars are LITERALLY hooked to each other at times just makes the speeds stupid crazy…and dangerous. I stood there watching the sparks kick up along the pavement of the track as the roof of Ryan Newmans car became instantly thin from the grinding of track below him. Then…fire, and fuel pouring out like in a Hollywood movie, and the worst part…no movement in the car. Slow motion replays just made my anxiety worsen with each play and angle…but is he okay I kept thinking to myself…just tell us he is okay. The media was told to leave the area, that by the way isn’t a good sign of what’s going on inside that car, black panels are put up so the crowd can’t see…this is bad, beyond bad really.
Thoughts of Dale Earnhardt came to mind…we can’t lose another driver, please God, don’t let this happen. The lump in my throat grew in size, I’m pacing back and forth now, running my hands over my face and in my hair as I scoured social media for any type of news since they left the broadcast. Finally it came, hours later…news that he was in serious condition and his injuries weren’t life threatening. More words said that can’t be repeated, but this time they were said in joy instead of shock.
Ryan Newman will have a long road of recovery, but it’s a road that he can travel at his own speed…and we will all be watching him as he works his way back up to the front of the pack.
Check out a few past blogs
