H
HardScrabble
Guest
Like most racers........Ryan takes the tumble in stride.
Five days ago I took what I hope will be the wildest ride of my racing career because believe me, barrel rolling down the front stretch at Daytona isn't exactly what I would consider fun.
Now I'm willing to bet I've seen every angle of video and photography taken and I don't think I can watch another clip of the ALLTEL Dodge shredding apart with me inside it. I can only imagine what it was like for my family, team and everyone in the grandstands who saw it.
The adjectives used to describe it are dramatic, horrific and violent. I agree that's how it may have looked, but let me point out that there wasn't a single second during the whole ordeal I felt I was in kind of serious danger. A reporter from one of the local stations asked me during the week if I had a superstitions or pre-race antics. I told her the only thing I do before each race is stretch really good. I've always felt that if you stretch good your body is relaxed and in order to stay focused and aware for 500 miles, you need to be relaxed.
I feel I relaxed and aware of everything going on around me. And what I mean by that is when I was heading for the wall I began preparing for it and when the car started back across the track I could feel that it was starting to take air in. There isn¹t a whole lot of time, but I began bracing myself mentally and physically for what next. When the car started flipping I did my best to stay calm and keep as relaxed as one can in that situation. I think I took more hits from the sod than I did from anything else. I had so much dirt and grass on my lap when the car finally stopped, that I couldn't get it off of me. My first reaction was to radio to the guys. I just said, "Guys, if I'm still connected I'm okay." I knew I was fine, but my pride took a pretty hard beating.
I got out of the car, gave a thumbs up to the crowd and took a ride to the Infield Care Center. That was the hardest part. Chrissie and my parents knew I was alive and breathing, but they still didn't know if I had broken bones or cuts. Seeing them and how upset they were makes the little things that much smaller. I think it's harder on those watching a wreck like mine, rather than actually playing the lead role in it.
I've taken plenty of tumbles since I started racing, but none were like what happened at Daytona. It sure was crazy how a car can come apart like that, but I'm glad it was a Penske Racing car that I was strapped into. I've never once doubted I am given the best cars a driver can have. There may not be anything left to the ALLTEL Dodge, but the single most import part of the it the ****pit is. It was completely in tact. Even my new Gatorade Drinking System didn't get a scratch on it. If it hadn't been covered in oil, I'd be using it this weekend at Rockingham.
In addition to the great cars, I have a team that I trust and it that showed last Sunday. Each week, someone on the team straps us the drivers in. I have the same person doing that chore every race and I owe him one. I've had a few words with the guys putting my seats in. I'd want something one way and they'd tell me "no" for one reason or another. Well, the "no's" paid off.
I'm a racecar driver. I know the danger involved in what I do and how things can change in split second. I not going to say I don't every think about those things, but they do not consume my life neither will what happened at Daytona. I would like to believe we've had our bad luck for the year. It¹s behind us and we¹re just as focused, if not more, to do all we can to win the championship.
Five days ago I took what I hope will be the wildest ride of my racing career because believe me, barrel rolling down the front stretch at Daytona isn't exactly what I would consider fun.
Now I'm willing to bet I've seen every angle of video and photography taken and I don't think I can watch another clip of the ALLTEL Dodge shredding apart with me inside it. I can only imagine what it was like for my family, team and everyone in the grandstands who saw it.
The adjectives used to describe it are dramatic, horrific and violent. I agree that's how it may have looked, but let me point out that there wasn't a single second during the whole ordeal I felt I was in kind of serious danger. A reporter from one of the local stations asked me during the week if I had a superstitions or pre-race antics. I told her the only thing I do before each race is stretch really good. I've always felt that if you stretch good your body is relaxed and in order to stay focused and aware for 500 miles, you need to be relaxed.
I feel I relaxed and aware of everything going on around me. And what I mean by that is when I was heading for the wall I began preparing for it and when the car started back across the track I could feel that it was starting to take air in. There isn¹t a whole lot of time, but I began bracing myself mentally and physically for what next. When the car started flipping I did my best to stay calm and keep as relaxed as one can in that situation. I think I took more hits from the sod than I did from anything else. I had so much dirt and grass on my lap when the car finally stopped, that I couldn't get it off of me. My first reaction was to radio to the guys. I just said, "Guys, if I'm still connected I'm okay." I knew I was fine, but my pride took a pretty hard beating.
I got out of the car, gave a thumbs up to the crowd and took a ride to the Infield Care Center. That was the hardest part. Chrissie and my parents knew I was alive and breathing, but they still didn't know if I had broken bones or cuts. Seeing them and how upset they were makes the little things that much smaller. I think it's harder on those watching a wreck like mine, rather than actually playing the lead role in it.
I've taken plenty of tumbles since I started racing, but none were like what happened at Daytona. It sure was crazy how a car can come apart like that, but I'm glad it was a Penske Racing car that I was strapped into. I've never once doubted I am given the best cars a driver can have. There may not be anything left to the ALLTEL Dodge, but the single most import part of the it the ****pit is. It was completely in tact. Even my new Gatorade Drinking System didn't get a scratch on it. If it hadn't been covered in oil, I'd be using it this weekend at Rockingham.
In addition to the great cars, I have a team that I trust and it that showed last Sunday. Each week, someone on the team straps us the drivers in. I have the same person doing that chore every race and I owe him one. I've had a few words with the guys putting my seats in. I'd want something one way and they'd tell me "no" for one reason or another. Well, the "no's" paid off.
I'm a racecar driver. I know the danger involved in what I do and how things can change in split second. I not going to say I don't every think about those things, but they do not consume my life neither will what happened at Daytona. I would like to believe we've had our bad luck for the year. It¹s behind us and we¹re just as focused, if not more, to do all we can to win the championship.