Animated Denny Hamlin Reacts to Tony Stewart’s “Crash Test Dummy’s” Second Escape From Next-Gen Death Trap

Daytona. The iconic track has always occupied a coveted spot in the hearts of the NASCAR world for being the birthplace of stock car racing and also being the world center of racing. However, this iconic track has bore witness to one of the most tragic and harrowing crashes of NASCAR, which to date sent shudders among the NASCAR community. 

The Saturday race and the final race of the regular season was no exception, as the nightmares seemed to continue. The barrel roll of Ryan Preece’s car, which went airborne, sent shivers down the spine of the drivers as they watched despondently, their fellow compatriot mired in the near-fatal incident. On account of this, Denny Hamlin rose to the bait and threw insights on the incident in the latest episode of Actions Detrimental.

Dale Earnhardt Jr relives his trauma on the track of Daytona

It was in the closing laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. from the NBC booth once again bore testament to another heart-rending incident unfolding in front of his eyes. It was on the same track that the veteran driver lost his father and the legend of NASCAR Dale Earnhardt, back in 2001. The Intimidator had made contact with Ken Schrader and Sterling Marlin, which sent the legend to crash with the retaining wall and suffer from a basilar skull fracture that eventually claimed his life. 

On Saturday, Junior watched another terrifying incident of Ryan Preece, that flipped his car in the air a dozen times like a toy, before it hit the ground hard. The driver belonged to his dear friend Tony Stewart’s team, Stewart-Haas Racing. The world had come to a standstill as an eerie silence fell over Daytona. Preece’s car, which was racing at nearly 180mph, made contact with his teammate Chase Briscoe, before sliding on the infield car, which resulted in the barrel roll. 

Nevertheless, the NASCAR community could breathe again once the Ford driver was able to exit the mangled car on his own accord, before being carried away on a stretcher for emergency medical emergency.

Denny Hamlin gives insight into the Ryan Preece incident

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Owing to this, Denny Hamlin, in the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, responded to the horrific incident. Speaking to his co-host Jared Allen, Hamlin expressed, “At the end of the race we saw, the Preece incident, that was the most incredible barrel roll that I have ever seen. I found like I had to watch the replay again, I am sitting in the back of the pack, not doing sh*t, it’s under yellow, and I am cruising around. They start to play the replay on the big screens.”

“So they start to play, when I am driving I am looking him turn and start to flip. Like ‘Oh wow, he got some good air. Oh no’. As soon as the hard car hit the grass, I don’t think that I have seen that many rotations in the air. I mean, not since a US gymnast have I seen, that many barrel rolls, before making contact, Holy Cow! We got news that Ryan is at a hospital, way to Charlotte now, seems like he is fine.”

“We got a tweet from him last night, so I think he is gonna be okay, but Holy Sh*t. That thing was violent, that was the most violent thing I have ever seen, usually we have seen in the old days the cars would barrel roll, it would be slower, the car would dissipate more, his car kinda really stayed together except for the roof hatch and the window net, yikes,” Hamlin asserted.

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The JGR driver throws light on Preece’s poor luck, calling him a “Crash Test Dummy”

Furthermore, this was not the first time that the SHR driver was involved in such a high-impact crash that had the potential to be life-threatening. The previous incident occurred in the Talladega race in the ongoing season of the Cup Series. The other driver who was involved in the Talladega incident was HMS speedster Kyle Larson.

The incident transpired when Ross Chastain but made contact with the race leader Noah Gragson. This gave rise to a domino effect, as Noah Gragson hit Larson and spun him on the track. The HMS driver became the sitting duck and powerless in the incoming traffic. As a result, Preece, who was trying to navigate his way and gauge the incident, T-boned Larson on the passenger side. Both cars sustained heavy damages before being sent to the R&D center of NASCAR.

Drawing parallels, Hamlin also stated, “Was he the one with Kyle Larson’s big destroy Talladega number, with the door bars, was he the one that power drove Larson? So Preece is essentially our crash test dummy for Next-Gen. That was two good looks this year, that was an incredible visual wreck, it’s hard for myself to put in that position to feel what he felt and I was looking to see like, he was lucky to not, when he hit the ground each time, grabbed upstarted and started twisting, when it comes back down, you don’t want to lie flat on anything, and he was lucky.”

With that being said, it is to be seen how the authority deals with the situation and tackles the growing concerns with the safety of the Next-Gen cars. Will NASCAR introduce new changes in the car’s safety or continue with the already introduced features?

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