Austin Dillon has reacted to his terrifying dice with death by calling for even tighter safety in the aftermath of the Daytona 400 crash.
Dillon emerged from the crumpled wreck of his Childress Racing Chevrolet with a bruised tailbone and a sore arm after being launched into the catch fence at the finish of the Coke Zero 400.
The race finished just before 3am local time after facing rain delays with 13 spectators injured after debris from the wreck flew through the grandstand.
When asked if he thought the catch fence did its job Dillon replied: “I don’t know because I haven’t even looked at the replay yet and I don’t know when I am going to.
“But I just think the next thing is that we are going to have to make this racing even more safe.
“We are running 200mph (320km/h) and pushing each other around out there and it’s just bound to happen.
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“No matter how safe we can make the sport, when you are going that amount of speed, things happen.”
Dillon is thanking his lucky stars that the outcome was not much worse.
“I am just going to be really sore,” Dillon said.
“It got my tailbone pretty good and my arm. Should be fine, just go ice it up and get ready for Kentucky.
“But just thank the good Lord for taking care of me and for what NASCAR has done to make the sport this much safer.
“ I just hope everybody in the stands is all right.
“That is the next biggest concern. Just praying for everybody and glad the good Lord looked out for me tonight.”
Dillon described the ugly incident as like playing a video game.
“It definitely is a video game,” he said.
“With three to go, you are just going to push somebody until the end of the race.
“It’s wreckers or checkers. It’s like ‘Talladega Nights’ out there.”
Dillon recounted the lead-up to the crash before he launched into the air, struck the catch fencing and landed upside down on the track, where he was finally collected by Brad Keselowski.
“You know the #11 (Denny Hamlin) got turned by the #4 (Kevin Harvick) across the start/finish line and I thought the race was going to be over right there,” Dillon said.
“We were almost there, and I was just pushing the #24 (Jeff Gordon) and the next thing I knew was that I was looking at my roof for a long time.
“I thought it was all over when I was sliding there and the #2 (Brad Keselowski) came in and really got me.
“So it was a wicked ride but thank the good Lord above for taking care of me.”
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