Purdue's Ryan Newman: 'I Feel Like a Complete Walking Miracle'

Ryan Newman survived a horrific wreck during the Daytona 500 in February, and he's excited to get back to racing this weekend when the NASCAR season resumes on Sunday.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ryan Newman knows he was in a bad wreck during the Daytona 500 in February. He just doesn't remember any of the details, or what happened in the immediate aftermath of one of NASCAR's scariest-ever crashes.

“That’s the part, for me, that makes me feel how special it really was – the miracle part of it,” Newman said Thursday in a Zoom teleconference. “Because I don’t remember anything about being in the hospital. I couldn’t tell you who came to visit me. I couldn’t tell you who was in the room. 

"But I do remember putting my arms around my daughter’s chests and walking out and holding their hands as I did that. And that tells me that God was involved, that tells me that I was blessed in more ways than one. … I feel like a complete walking miracle.”

Newman's wreck too place on Feb. 17, and the immediate fears were that he wouldn't survive the crash. Two days later, he walked out of the hospital, with girls in tow.

Newman didn't have any internal organ damage or broken bones, just a head injury that he calls a “brain bruise.” Other than that, he was fine.

“The reality is you need to give time for a bruise to heal, and what I needed was time for my brain to heal,” Newman said. “I’ve really felt completely normal since, I guess in the last eight weeks. No problem, no question. 

That doesn’t mean that I was, and that’s why when it comes time to having a bruise heal, especially one you can’t see, you have to be extra careful.”

And he was – and still is.

Before NASCAR’s COVID-19 competition pause back in March, Newman actually did a private test at Darlington Raceway. The run ended up being about 30 laps total at speed. It was Newman’s first time behind the wheel of a race car on track since Daytona International Speedway.

“I was so excited and ready to go and just kind of prove myself that I actually had to slow myself down and make sure that I didn’t go out there and fence it on the first lap by trying too hard,” Newman said. “So I never felt like I had to be apprehensive towards it, other than the fact that I wanted to make sure that I didn’t mess up my own test. I was there to prove that I was valid in the seat again.”

NASCAR medically cleared Newman three weeks ago, so he's looking forward to the return of the series on Sunday at Darlington, S.C. 

The 42-year-old can't wait to get back behind the wheel.

“I’m hoping to do every lap,” Newman said, “and then one more after that.”