NASCAR crash update: Daytona 500 still a go despite Saturday's accident that injured two dozen

NASCAR, despite Saturday's crash, will go racing today at Daytona International Speedway, weather permitting, More than two dozen people were injured at Daytona International Speedway Saturday afternoon in the wake of a multicar accident.

“We met with NASCAR officials at 8 a.m. and worked late into evening and are prepared to go racing today,”  Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said Sunday morning.

The accident, which happened on the final lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300, sent  wreckage past a safety fence and into the grandstand.

Chitwood reiterated that 14 people were taken from the raceway by ambulance, and 14 were treated at the track. Local hospital officials confirmed 19 people in all were treated from Saturday’s crash.

Seven people remain hospitalized on Sunday at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, said hospital spokesman Byron Cogdell. All the patients were in stable condition.

The hospital treated a total of 12 people at the main trauma center in Daytona Beach, while six people were treated at the Halifax Health urgent care center in Port Orange, Cogdell said.

Another fan was treated at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach, but an updated condition was not available.

Speedway officials said 14 people were transported to local hospitals, but track president Joie Chitwood said there were a number of fans that weren’t transported but went to the hospital on their own, which would account for the higher number from the hospital.

Some fans also  were treated for illnesses unrelated to the crash, such as being overcome by the heat, and not related to the accident.

Chitwood said that the track’s guest services department helped all of those fans released to get re-connected with their family and friends, and in some cases, provided transportation back to Orlando.

Any fans involved in the incident who have tickets to Sunday’s Daytona 500 will be accommodated should they want to move to another location, Chitwood said.

The incident happened on the last lap, when Kyle Larson's car broke apart and Others spun out of control.

Larson's engine caught fire and ended up in front of fans along a crossover gate in the front stretch. The car tore through the catch fence designed to protect fans, hurling debris as high as 45 rows up, where it hit a spectator. Other car parts also flew into the stands.

Ludmilla Lelis contributed to this report. George Diaz can be reached at gdiaz@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgediaz