Terrible Crash on Last Lap of Nationwide Series Race at Daytona International Speedway Injurues 11 NASCAR Fans (VIDEO of Tire Hitting Fan) (Update: 30 Fans Injured)

At least 11 NASCAR fans were injured, some in serious condition, following  a terrible crash on the last lap of a Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway. According to reports, large chunks of race car debris, including a tire, flew into the stands and through the fence. The crash that occurred on the final lap of the race sent rookie Kyle Larson’s car sailing into the fence. Kyle Larson, Regan Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Nemechek, Robert Richardson, Trevor Bayne, Mike Wallace, Travis Pastrana, Elliott Sadler, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, and Justin Allgaier were all involved in the accident. While Tony Stewart won the race, its was little concern as 11 14 15 fans were transported to Halifax Health Medical Center, and an additional 14 were treated at the at-track care center.

VIDEO from Fox News Sports

At least 11 NASCAR fans were injured Saturday when large chunks of debris, including a tire, sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The crash began as the field closed in on the finish line and sent rookie Kyle Larson’s car sailing into the fence that separates the track from the seats. Large chunks of Larson’s car landed in the grandstands. The car itself had its entire front end sheared off, with the burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence. Nathan Kimpel, 24, who works at a concession stand near where the crash happened, told CBS News correspondent Adriana Diaz that he saw 10 to 15 fans being carried out on stretchers. “As soon as I saw the accident I just turned my head because I didn’t want to get injured or anything,” Kimpel told Diaz. “I saw the fence separate and more pieces of car parts flying up.”

ESPN reports the following:

Sergeant John Creamer of the Daytona Beach Police said 17 fans were injured, with two suffering “major injuries.” Eleven were sent to Halifax Medical Center where one adult is in surgery with life-threatening head trauma, and a 14-year-old is in critical, but not life threatening condition, hospital representative Byron Cogdell told ESPN.

Six of the injured fans were transported to Florida Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, and are expected to be treated and released.

At least one tire from Larson’s car flew into the seating area at Daytona. Police officers and NASCAR safety officials quickly ran to the location where part of the car went through the fencing, destroying one section of the catch fence.

Initial photos showed several people being placed on stretchers in the grandstands. One woman’s leg was bleeding as she was carried away.

“Right now, the function is to determine what damage was done,” NASCAR president Mike Helton said. “They are taking some folks to Halifax Medical Center. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone they are working on.

 UPDATE I: NASCAR makes YouTube take down eyewitness video of crash.

Really NASCAR, do you really want to go there and be like the rest sports who John Q. Public have run away from to watch NASCAR? NASCAR claims they took the video down out of respect for the injured fans. BS!!! You don’t get to make the call as to what is and is not shown and only filtered through the prism of NSACAR. The following VIDEO from The Verge is still available.

VIDEO of fan getting hit by tire. You can see in this fan video the tire in the stands