Kyle Busch out for Daytona 500, NASCAR to address safer barriers

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch suffered a compound fracture of his lower right leg following a crash during Saturday's NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway and will not race in Sunday's Daytona 500.

Busch was involved in a multi-car accident with seven laps to go in the 120-lap event. Busch's no. 54 Toyota Camry spun across the track and impacted a section of the infield wall not protected by a SAFER barrier.

Busch emerged from his car under his own power, but was immediately transported to a local hospital for treatment.

In a statement from Joe Gibbs Racing, the team says Busch suffered a compound fracture of his lower right leg and a fracture of his left foot. The statement said Busch is currently undergoing surgery on his leg.

JGR also confirmed that defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Matt Crafton will drive the No. 18 Toyota in Sunday's Daytona 500. A substitute driver for next weeks race at Atlanta or beyond has not been determined yet.

Following the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona on Saturday, NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O'Donnell said the accident that caused Busch's injuries "should not have happened."

"That's on us," said O'Donnell. "We're going to fix it. We're going to fix it immediately."

"The Daytona International Speedway did not live up to its responsibility today. We should have had a SAFER barrier there today, we did not.," said Daytona Speedway president Joie Chitwood. "We're going to fix that. We're going to fix that right now.

"We've got the team out tonight. We're going to install tire packs along that 850-foot linear square feet of wall, so we're ready to go racing tomorrow. Following that, the Daytona International Speedway is going to install SAFER barrier on every inch at this property.

"This is not going to happen again. We're going to live up to our responsibility. We're going to fix this and it starts right now. We don't want to see any competitors injured here."

Asked why there wasn't already a SAFER barrier in place in that part of the track, Chitwood said, "I don't have a good answer for that" but also said the cost of installing the barriers wasn't an issue.

"For us, we really can't look at financials as a reason for this. We have to have a venue which we can put on NASCAR racing and have competitors be safe," said Chitwood. "Come Monday, we're going to start the plan so we can put SAFER barrier everywhere here. Finances don't come into play. That's really not a question. We're going to get this fixed and be sure we're ready for the next event here."