Daytona 500 holds the most significance and prestige among the races in NASCAR’s annual schedule. Held beside the breathtaking Daytona Beach in Florida, the 2.5 mile-track is the birthplace of many historic moments in the sport. But sometimes, it also has been host to shock and tragedy. Dale Earnhardt’s crash in the 2001 Daytona 500 is one of the events that forced the sport to introspect and improve itself. Another horrific experience for any driver is what ‘Rocket Man’ Ryan Newman would say when asked about this.

The 45-year-old former Daytona winner was involved in one of the worst accidents in recent history. But by the Almighty’s grace, he managed to survive it and come back as fast and skillful as ever. Currently, a part of the Tony Stewart-operated tourney, SRX Series, he speaks out about one such event that could be classified as a stupid idea to hurt oneself.

“So I sliced”, Former Daytona 500 winner opens up on grave injury with a meat slicer

Accompanied by NASCAR legends Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace, Newman goes to the fans bringing a live interaction session to them. As a part of their promotion for the Camping World SRX series, the trio goes on to discuss various topics. As the session passed, one of the life experiences that came up was ‘dumb ways to hurt yourself’. Newman was the first one to spill the beans in this case.

Recalling the bizarre incident he said, “Well, it’s not even dumb. It’s just a good accident. Yeah, because it was legitimately an accident.”

“I was at my buddy’s restaurant, this is only a few months ago. He was a little bit short staffed and I decided to help him slice pickles. So we were taking whole pickles and cutting them into little pieces like on a sandwich. I saw the meat slicer and I thought to myself, “Hell “.” 

It seems the 18-time Cup race winner couldn’t hide his enthusiasm to handle a meat slicer.

“So I sliced. All of you were thinking that got all done and one of the ends of the pickles, the pickle butt, everybody knows what the pickle butt is, right? It fell down into the slicer. After I turned the slicer off, I reached down in there and that thing was still spinning, believe it or not. And the whole tip of my finger was, poof, off.” claimed Newman.

The crowd were horrified at the thought of the accident happening as they had an expression of sympathy on their face. Newman then clarifies the current situation of the injured finger with a sense of humor. “Yeah, he grew back. It’s not my booger-picking finger.” Ken Schrader then adds a sarcastic joke at the end saying he has got a bigger slicer for that.

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The tragic accident at the 2020 Daytona 500

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February 17, 2020, will be a date that Ryan Newman will never forget. Embroiled in a matter of life and death, the part-time #15/51 for Rick Ware Racing was leading the race at the time of the tragedy. When he was hit from behind and had to turn around as he got close to the finish line, his car slammed against the outer wall and overturned. After landing, his overturned car was struck by another car driven by Tom Rinaldi, which resulted in damage to his brain.

The emergency crew needed about 15 minutes to merely remove Newman from the damaged car. After ensuring his body was out of the wreck, he was sent to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, as soon as emergency workers arrived on the site. He had to be kept in a medically induced coma but was able to heal miraculously and get discharged within 48 hours of the event.

Fans anxiously awaited updates on Newman’s condition because of the severity of the incident and its effects on his car. But to everyone’s surprise, he claimed he was not able to recall the proceedings of the accident and how it unfolded.

On being asked if the accident had the potential to scar him from driving again, he said to Fox, “People have asked me, ‘Why do you get back in a race car? Or did you talk to your daughters – do your kids not want you to race again?’ And I’m like, ‘No, they want me to do what I love and have fun.’ Spoken like a true racing enthusiast.

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