Kyle Busch breaks leg in big crash, will miss Daytona 500

Sun, Feb 22 2015

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch suffered a compound fracture of the lower right leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left yesterday at Daytona during the 112th lap of the Alert Today Florida 300, the season-opening race of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Busch came into contact with the infield wall just past the pit lane exit, an area where there is currently no SAFER barrier, which is designed to reduce the risk of injury in a crash. Fellow racer Ty Dillon, the third-place finisher in the race, expressed a common refrain following the news of Busch's injury.

"I think we're to the point now in NASCAR we should have SAFER barriers at a place like this, we're going so fast. I think we could probably afford it," said Dillon.

Matt Crafton will drive the No. 18 Toyota today at the Daytona 500 today as a substitute for Busch, but it's not yet clear if he will continue to drive the car following Daytona. Kurt Busch, Kyle's older brother, will also miss the Daytona 500 due to the domestic violence case against him in Delaware.

Video footage of the wreck can be seen above. It goes without saying, but we wish Kyle a speedy recovery and a return to his stock car as quickly as possible.

By Jeremy Korzeniewski