NASCAR’s Ryan Preece out of the hospital after violent crash at Daytona

NASCAR driver Ryan Preece was cleared to return home on Sunday after he was involved in a violent crash at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona that saw his vehicle flip 10 times in the air.

Stewart-Haas Racing said Preece was headed back to North Carolina. The team said Preece was “awake, alert and mobile” and “had been communicating with family and friends.”

Two hours after the race was over, Preece had posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ryan Preece barrel rolls along the backstretch during the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Don Howard)

“If you want to be a race car driver, you better be tough…. I’m coming back,” he wrote.

Preece, in the No. 41 vehicle, and Chase Briscoe, in the No. 14 car, got tangled up on the backstretch and Preece went airborne. Emergency medical personnel came out to attend to Preece. The driver was able to get out of the car and he was placed onto a stretcher on his way to the infield care center. 

It was the second scary crash of the night.

At the end of the second stage, Christopher Bell appeared to give Ty Gibbs just a little nudge as the pack headed toward the front stretch. Gibbs got loose and lost control and took out Ryan Blaney in the process.

RYAN PREECE FLIPS 10 TIMES IN VIOLENT NASCAR CRASH DURING COKE ZERO SUGAR 400

Blaney smashed into the wall head-on and several other vehicles were caught up in the mess. In-car camera on the NBC broadcast showed just how hard the hit was.

Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola and Ryan Preece during the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023.  (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman and A.J. Allmendinger were involved in one pocket of the wreck. Several cars caught up with each other as they tried to avoid what was in front of them. Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson and Riley Herbst were also involved.

In total, 16 cars were involved in the wreck. A red flag came out as the cleanup crew took care of the track. The race was on Lap 96 of 160 when the red flag was issued.

Ryan Preece flips through the grass on the backstretch after spinning out in the closing laps of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday. (Nigel Cook/News-Journal/USA Today Network)

Blaney said he was “OK” and was cleared out of the infield care center.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.