DAYTONA BEACH
When Jimmie Johnson looked in the rear-view mirror early Monday morning and saw Austin Dillon's car flying into the catch fence at Daytona International Speedway, he assumed the worst.
"I'm shocked that Austin Dillon's even alive, with what he went through," Johnson said. "Just a frightening moment."
But it's one that's seemingly becoming commonplace at the 2½-mile superspeedway.
Though no one was seriously injured in the horrific wreck at the finish line of the rain-delayed Coke Zero 400, it marked the third time since 2012 that an airborne vehicle hurt spectators at Daytona.
In February 2012, Joey Coulter's truck flipped into the fence on the last lap. A year later in the race for what was then called the Nationwide Series, Kyle Larson's car flew toward the stands on the frontstretch, scattering debris that injured more than two dozen fans.
Then early Monday morning in the final moments of the 161-lap Sprint Cup race, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick touched as they battled for third. Hamlin spun out and slammed into Dillon. The impact sent Dillon's No. 3 Chevy flying from the inside line all the way to the catch fence, causing debris to shoot into the seats.
"This isn't the first time that has happened here," said Joey Logano, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, "and it is just dumb that we allow it to happen more than once."
Dillon, 25, walked away from his mangled, upside-down car with only a bruised tailbone and forearm. Track president Joie Chitwood III said four spectators were treated in the infield care center, and another was treated and released from a nearby hospital.
"It scared the (expletive) out of me …" said race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose dad was killed at the track in the No. 3 car 14 years ago. "I was near tears."
Chitwood said the catch fence did its job by keeping Dillon's car out of the stands. After the 2013 wreck, the speedway also closed off the first row of seats and kept fans from walking along the fence for safety reasons. The track — in the middle of a $400 million renovation project — continues to add SAFER barriers in the aftermath of a February wreck that resulted in Kyle Busch breaking his leg.
"We're going to learn from it and see what else we can do better," Chitwood said. "I think you saw some of the improvements at work (Monday morning), so what we can learn from that tomorrow and the next days, we're going to incorporate moving forward."
In the immediate wake of the 2:41 a.m. finish, no one seemed sure what those steps might be.
Johnson said he hadn't yet deciphered how Dillon's car peeled off the ground without spinning backward. Aside from lowering the speeds, Johnson — the race's runnerup and a six-time series champion — wasn't sure how any fence could eliminate danger from a 3,000-pound car traveling 200 mph.
Dillon said wrecks like his are simply a product of superspeedway racing, where restrictor plates bunch up the field and "you're just praying and hoping you get through it at the end." Dillon said something needs to change, even if it means slower cars, to make the sport safer for drivers and fans.
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Explore all your options"It's not really acceptable, I don't think," Dillon said of the current model. "We've got to figure something out."
Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes.