Dozens hurt after Daytona crash debris hits stands

Updated 25 February 2013
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Dozens hurt after Daytona crash debris hits stands

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida: At least 33 NASCAR fans were injured when a car flew into the fence at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, hurling a tire and large pieces of debris into the stands.
The accident happened on the last lap of the second-tier Nationwide Series race on the eve of Sunday’s Sprint Cup season-opening Daytona 500, which officials said would go on as scheduled.
The crash began as the field approached the checkered flag and leader Regan Smith attempted to block Brad Keselowski to preserve the win. That triggered a chain reaction, and rookie Kyle Larson hit the cars in front of him and his car was went airborne into the fence.
The entire front end was sheared off Larson’s car, and his burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence. Chunks of debris from the car were thrown into the stands, including a tire that cleared the top of the fence and landed midway up the spectator section closest to the track.
The 20-year-old Larson stood in shock several yards away from his car as fans in the stands waived frantically for help. Smoke from the burning engine briefly clouded the area, and emergency vehicles descended on the scene.
Ambulance sirens could be heard wailing behind the grandstands at a time the race winner would typically be doing celebratory burnouts.
“It was freaky. When I looked to my right, the accident happened,” said fan Rick Harpster, who had a bird’s-eye view of the wreck. “I looked over and I saw a tire fly straight over the fence into the stands, but after that I didn’t see anything else That was the worst thing I have seen, seeing that tire fly into the stands. I knew it was going to be severe.”
Shannan Devine was sitting about 250 feet away from where the car smashed into the fence and could see plumes of smoke directly in front of her.
“I didn’t know if there was a car on top of people. I didn’t know what to think. I’m an emotional person and I immediately started to cry. It was very scary. Absolutely scary. I love the speed of the sport. But it’s so dangerous,” said Devine who was planning to attend her second Daytona 500.
She said many fans got in the way of rescue efforts by trying to take pictures and videos, even jumping over fencing in hopes of getting closer to the scene.
Shannon Speedway President Joie Chitwood said 14 fans were treated on site, while local officials said 19 fans were taken to neighboring hospitals, including two who were in critical condition but were later upgraded to stable.
“First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with our race fans,” Chitwood said. “Following the incident we responded appropriately according to our safety protocols, and had emergency medical personnel at the incident immediately.
“We’re in the process of repairing the facility and will be ready to go racing tomorrow.”
As emergency workers tended to injured fans and ambulance sirens wailed in the background, a somber Tony Stewart skipped the traditional post-race victory celebration.
Stewart, who won for the 19th time at Daytona and seventh time in the last nine season-opening Nationwide races, was in no mood to celebrate.
“The important thing is what is going on on the frontstretch right now,” said Stewart, the three-time NASCAR champion. “We’ve always known, and since racing started, this is a dangerous sport. But it’s hard. We assume that risk, but it’s hard when the fans get caught up in it.
“So as much as we want to celebrate right now and as much as this is a big deal to us, I’m more worried about the drivers and the fans that are in the stands right now because that was ... I could see it all in my mirror, and it didn’t look good from where I was at.”
The accident spread into the upper deck and emergency crews treated fans on both levels. There were five stretchers that appeared to be carrying fans out, and a helicopter flew overhead. A forklift was used to pluck Larson’s engine out of the fence.
“It’s a violent wreck. Just seeing the carnage on the racetrack, it’s truly unbelievable,” driver Justin Allgaier said.
It was a chaotic finish to a race that was stopped for nearly 20 minutes five laps from the finish by a 13-car accident that sent driver Michael Annett to a hospital, where his Richard Petty Motorsports team said he would be held overnight with bruising to his chest.
The race resumed with three laps to go, and the final accident occurred with Smith trying to hold off Keselowski through the final turn.
“I tried to throw a block. It’s Daytona, you want to go for the win here,” Smith said. “I don’t know how you can play it any different other than concede second place, and I wasn’t willing to do that today. Our job is to put them in position to win, and it was, and it didn’t work out.”
As the cars began crashing all around Smith and Keselowski, Stewart slid through for the win, but Larson plowed into Keselowski and his car was sent spearing into the fence.
“I hope all the fans are OK and all the drivers are all right,” Larson said. “I took a couple big hits there and saw my engine was gone. Just hope everybody’s all right.”
“I was getting pushed from behind, I felt like, and by the time my spotter said lift or go low, it was too late,” Larson said. “I was in the wreck and then felt like it was slowing down and I looked like I could see the ground. Had some flames come in the cockpit, but luckily I was all right and could get out of the car quick.”
Chitwood said there would be no changes to the seating before Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“We don’t anticipate moving any of our fans,” Chitwood said. “We had our safety protocols in place. Our security maintained a buffer that separates the fans from the fencing area. With the fencing being prepared tonight to our safety protocols, we expect to go racing tomorrow with no changes.”
Larson’s car appeared to hit where the cross-over gate — a section that can be opened for people to travel back and forth from the infield to the grandstands — is located in the fence. Previous accidents in which drivers hit crossover gates were severe, but the gates were in the wall and not the fence for Mike Harmon’s accident at Bristol in 2002 and Michael Waltrip’s at the same track in 1990.
Still, NASCAR senior vice president Steve O’Donnell said it would be studied.
“We look at this after every incident,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve learned in the past certain protocols put in place today are a result of prior incidents. Again, our initial evaluation is still ongoing. But it’s certainly something we’ll look at. If we can improve upon it, we’ll certainly put that in play as soon as we can.”
Keselowski watched a replay of the final accident, and said his first thoughts were with the fans. As for the accident, he agreed he tried to make a winning move and Smith tried to block.
“He felt like that’s what he had to do, and that’s his right. The chaos comes with it,” Keselowski said. “I made the move and he blocked it, and the two of us got together and started the chain events that caused that wreck. First and foremost, just want to make sure everyone in the stands is OK and we’re thinking about them.”
Keselowski said the incident could cast a pall on the Daytona 500.

“Until we know exactly the statuses of everyone involved, it’s hard to lock yourself into the 500,” Keselowski said. “Hopefully, we’ll know soon and hopefully everyone’s OK. And if that’s the case, we’ll staring focusing on Sunday.”


Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win Nations League

Updated 09 June 2025
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Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win Nations League

  • Portugal became the first two-time winner of the Nations League, launched in 2018. It was Portugal’s third major title, along with Euro 2016

MUNICH, Germany: Ruben Neves scored the decisive spot kick after Alvaro Morata missed as Portugal beat Spain 5-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw in Munich on Sunday to claim their second Nations League title.
Portugal twice went behind in regulation time but twice fought back to level the scores.
Martin Zubimendi took advantage of some sleepy Portugal defense to put Spain in front after 21 minutes.
The brilliant Nuno Mendes levelled things up five minutes later.
Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain’s goalscorer in the Euro 2024 final and the 2023 Nations League final, put La Roja back in front just before the break.
Cristiano Ronaldo, quiet as he had been before scoring the winner against Germany in the semis, equalized with 61 minutes gone, adjusting quickly after a Mendes cross was deflected into the air, muscling past Marc Cucurella and volleying the dropping ball home.
Ronaldo was subbed off before full-time with cramp. Even though Portugal had the better of extra time, the match went to penalties.
Both sides converted their first three spot kicks. Mendes buried Portugal’s fourth, before Morata stepped up and shot straight at Diogo Costa.
Neves nervelessly converted in front of the red and green of the Portugal fans. The victory was just Portugal’s second competitive win over Iberian rival Spain in their long history.
Portugal’s only other win over Spain in a competitive fixture was a 1-0 victory which booted the Spaniards out of Euro 2004, with a 19-year-old Ronaldo on the left wing.
Portugal became the first two-time winner of the Nations League, launched in 2018. It was Portugal’s third major title, along with Euro 2016.
While Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal’s fluid movement troubled the Portugese defense early in the match, La Roja’s opener was scrappy.
Yamal chipped from outside the box and the Portugal defense froze, botching a clearance which fell to Zubimendi, who leathered the ball into the net.
The goal was just rewards for Spain’s early dominance, but Portugal hit back almost immediately.
Mendes, put through by Pedro Neto, drilled a low shot across the goal and in.
Just before halftime, Spain picked Portugal’s pocket in their own half before advancing. Pedri linked with Oyarzabal, who threaded the ball past Diogo Costa.
Oyarzabal’s goal meant he has scored in three international finals — against England at Euro 2024, which Spain won, and the 2023 and 2025 Nations Leagues, which Spain lost.
Ronaldo had done little other than encourage the heavily Portuguese crowd until that point but would pick his moment to strike.
With 61 minutes gone, Mendes shed a defender and whipped in a cross. The ball took a deflection and Ronaldo outmuscled Cucurella before lashing a volley home.
The goal was Ronaldo’s fourth in 10 matches against Spain. The previous three all coming in a wild 3-3 draw at the 2018 World Cup.
Limping in the dying stages of regulation time, Ronaldo fell to the turf with three minutes left and signalled to the bench that his night was over.
Spain may have been confident when the match went to extra time, having won on penalties in 2023, but Portugal were faultless, Neves stepping up and converting to send his teammates, including a hobbled Ronaldo, streaming onto the pitch.


Alcaraz saves three match points to beat Sinner to French Open title in final for the ages

Updated 08 June 2025
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Alcaraz saves three match points to beat Sinner to French Open title in final for the ages

  • Alcaraz pulled off his first ever comeback from two sets down to stun Sinner in the longest Roland Garros final in history

PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz saved three championship points as he produced an astonishing fightback from two sets down to beat Jannik Sinner in a French Open final for the ages on Sunday.
Reigning champion Alcaraz rallied from the brink of defeat to overcome world number one Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/2) to clinch his fifth Grand Slam title after five hours and 29 minutes.
The 22-year-old Spaniard is now unbeaten in five Grand Slam finals after snapping Sinner’s 20-match winning run at the majors.
Alcaraz pulled off his first ever comeback from two sets down to stun Sinner in the longest Roland Garros final in history. It easily eclipsed the 1982 final in Paris when Mats Wilander triumphed in four sets over Guillermo Vilas in 4hr 42min.
Alcaraz becomes the third youngest man to win five Grand Slams — after Bjorn Borg and compatriot Rafael Nadal — following an incredible duel between the two stars of a new generation.
Sinner fell agonizingly short of a third successive Grand Slam crown after last year’s US Open title and back-to-back Australian Open triumphs.
He suffered his fifth straight loss to Alcaraz in what was their first meeting in a Grand Slam final — and the first championship match at a major between two men born in the 2000s.
Alcaraz leads 8-5 overall having also beaten Sinner to win in Rome, where the Italian returned to competition in May after a three-month doping ban.
Alcaraz put the pressure on Sinner by carving out three break points to start Saturday’s final, but the Italian resisted and soon had a chance of his own.
He couldn’t take advantage and found himself having to fend off two more break points at 1-1, producing clutch serves to grind out another tough hold.
Alcaraz’s persistence paid off in the fifth game when he broke to nudge 3-2 ahead, only for the Spaniard to immediately hand the lead back.
The unshakeable Sinner threatened to break again at 4-3, with a brief lapse from Alcaraz eventually enabling Sinner to snatch the first set.
Sinner hit the accelerator to start the second set, surging 3-0 in front. After facing seven break points in the opener, he tightened up considerably on serve.
But Alcaraz brought up his first break point of the second set with Sinner serving for a two-set lead, duly pouncing on the opportunity to check his rival’s momentum.
With the swagger back in his step at a crucial juncture, Alcaraz sought to bring the crowd into the contest but Sinner remained unflustered in the tie-break.
The first five points went with serve before Sinner whipped a forehand down the line and Alcaraz then steered an attempted drop-shot wide.
A tame return into the net presented Sinner with four set points. Alcaraz saved two before Sinner unleashed a blistering cross-court forehand to move to within a set of the trophy.
It all looked to be going his way when he broke Alcaraz to begin the third set, but the Spaniard refused to surrender his title quietly and rattled off four games on the bounce to lead 4-1.
Alcaraz lost serve at 5-3 but promptly broke to love to force a fourth set, lapping up the roars of the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd.
That ended Sinner’s run of 31 consecutive sets won at Grand Slams.
Alcaraz saved a break point in the third game amid a series of holds as Sinner doubled down. The Italian appeared to be closing in on victory when he broke at 3-3 as the finish line neared.
But Alcaraz had other ideas as he staved off three championship points at 3-5 and then broke Sinner when he tried to seal the title on his serve.
Successive aces spurred a reinvigorated Alcaraz on in the tie-break and into a decisive fifth set.
A despairing Sinner lost his serve right away and his gloom deepened as Alcaraz saved two break points to pull 3-1 ahead, but incredibly there was another twist.
Alcaraz this time faltered with the title within his grasp as Sinner broke at 3-5 to spark a three-game burst that left the Spaniard needing to hold serve to prolong the final.
He kept his nerve to set up a 10-point tie-break, which Alcaraz ran away with as the outrageous shotmaking continued until the very end when he took his first championship point with a sizzling forehand down the line.


England complete series win over West Indies with a game to spare after chasing down a target of 197

Updated 08 June 2025
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England complete series win over West Indies with a game to spare after chasing down a target of 197

  • Former captain Jos Buttler led the way with 47 and current skipper Harry Brook made 34

BRISTOL: England completed a series win over the West Indies with a game to spare after chasing down a target of 197 in the second T20 international in Bristol on Sunday.

Former captain Jos Buttler led the way with 47 and current skipper Harry Brook made 34 as the hosts reached 112-2 inside 13 overs.

But the duo were dismissed in consecutive overs, with England still needing 85 more runs to win. But that was the cue for two of the newer team members to lay down a marker.

Jacob Bethell’s rapid 26 off 10 balls, including three sixes, and Tom Banton’s 30 not out helped complete a four-wicket win with nine balls remaining as England went 2-0 up ahead of Tuesday’s series finale in Southampton.

West Indies were struggling at 121-4 off 16 overs before adding 75 runs in the final four overs of their innings.

Luke Wood gave England the ideal start when his swinging yorker had Evin Lewis lbw with the first ball of the match, but West Indies captain Shai Hope (49) and Johnson Charles (47) repaired some of the early damage in a stand of 90.

Rovman Powell added late impetus with 34 off 15 balls and former captain Jason Holder struck 29 off nine.

Adil Rashid bowled the penultimate over as England again only selected two seamers, but the veteran leg-spinner conceded 31 runs and finished with figures of 1-59 — his most-expensive T20 return.

Separately, Beau Webster is hoping to make an already memorable 2025 extra special by featuring for Australia in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s.

Webster only won the first of his three Test caps in January and was in the side when Australia played their most recent red-ball international, against Sri Lanka in February.

The 31-year-old all-rounder would relish the opportunity to play for the World Test champions on the hallowed turf at Lord’s.

“It’s pretty special. I’ve been here a couple of times to watch a few games throughout the years, but to be out in the middle, yeah, extra special,” he told reporters at Lord’s on Sunday.

“If I get the nod, I’m looking forward to Wednesday.”


Free entry for fans as Saudi Arabia face crucial World Cup qualifier against Australia

Updated 08 June 2025
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Free entry for fans as Saudi Arabia face crucial World Cup qualifier against Australia

  • The final match of the third round of Asia’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers will be staged in Jeddah, with more than 60,000 supporters expected at the stadium

RIYADH: Fans will be granted free entry to Al-Inma Stadium on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia take on Australia in a must-win World Cup qualifier, the Saudi Football Federation announced on Sunday.

The final match of the third round of Asia’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers will be staged in Jeddah, with more than 60,000 supporters expected at the stadium.

The federation’s decision to open the gates free of charge was confirmed via the national team’s fan council on social media platform X, citing “appreciation of the support from the nation’s fans.”

The Green Falcons face a daunting task, as only a win by five goals or more will secure direct qualification to the 2026 tournament.

Failure to meet that target will see Saudi Arabia move into the fourth qualifying round.

That stage features six teams split into two groups, with each group winner earning a direct World Cup berth.

The runners-up will meet in a two-legged playoff to determine Asia’s representative in the intercontinental playoff.


Pakistan to face off Myanmar in AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Tuesday

Updated 08 June 2025
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Pakistan to face off Myanmar in AFC Asian Cup qualifier on Tuesday

  • The Pakistan team arrived in Yangon via private airline flight on Sunday
  • Pakistan are placed in Group E alongside Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Syria

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will face off Myanmar on Tuesday to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup tournament, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said on Sunday.

The Pakistan team arrived in Yangon via private airline flight on Sunday, according to the PFF. They will train in Yangon on Monday.

“The match between Pakistan and Myanmar will be held at Thuwana Stadium,” it said. “It will start at 3:30 PM according to Pakistani time.”

Pakistan have been training under the supervision of head coach Stephen Constantine in hopes of bouncing back from a 2-0 defeat to Syria in the campaign opener back in March.

Pakistan are placed in Group E alongside Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Syria.