Kyle Busch out of Daytona 500

— -- DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch will miss the Daytona 500 with a right leg injury after a hard crash into an interior concrete wall during an Xfinity Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.

Busch, in obvious pain, had his right leg placed in an air cast before being transported to Halifax Health Medical Center. He was awake and alert at the hospital, Joe Gibbs Racing officials said.

His wife, Samantha, was crying as she left the infield care center with team owner Joe Gibbs and team president J.D. Gibbs. Samantha Busch is pregnant with the couple's first child, a boy due in May.

Busch was supposed to start fourth Sunday in the Daytona 500. A replacement driver hasn't yet been named.

The accident occurred when Busch was racing directly behind JGR teammate Erik Jones. Jones got turned and Busch got clipped. Busch's car sped left across an area of the track used as an entrance to the road course portion of the speedway and then slammed hard into an interior concrete wall.

Busch climbed out of the car before laying down on the grass near his car.

The wall did not have a steel-and-foam energy-reduction (SAFER) barrier, which NASCAR has had installed in the turns and other areas at tracks but has consistently been criticized for not having everywhere on the inside and outside walls on ovals.

This is the second consecutive year that Daytona International Speedway, a track where the cars are limited in horsepower because of the high speeds, has been criticized for not having enough SAFER barrier.

Kevin Harvick hit a concrete wall just beyond the pit exit last year -- not too far from where Busch hit Saturday.

The track added 240 feet of SAFER barrier before its race in July, but only to areas of the outside wall and not in the area where Harvick hit.

Reaction was swift on social media from drivers, including six-time champion  Jimmie Johnson, calling on NASCAR to install the energy-absorbing material everywhere at race tracks.

Former driver Jeff Burton, now a television analyst, called on NASCAR to overcome costs: "It's very expensive but we have to find a way."

And Regan Smith, who earlier in Saturday's race rolled his car for the first time in his career, said it was inexcusable in 2015 for tracks hosting national events not to have SAFER barriers everywhere.

"I'm genuinely furious right now," Smith tweeted.

Ty Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress, said after Saturday's race that NASCAR should have SAFER barriers "everywhere."

"We're going so fast," Dillon said. "... I think we can probably afford it. I hate to hear about anybody in our sport getting injured. The sport's advanced so far in safety that we shouldn't have any crazy, bad injuries."

Busch has 29 career Sprint Cup wins in 365 career starts. His best finish in the standings was fourth in 2013.

Busch will not be awarded any points for Sunday's race. NASCAR, which requires drivers to compete each week to be eligible for its season-long championship, would have to grant Busch an exemption to not start a race he qualified for as well as to miss any future events and still be eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Ryan Reed won the Xfinity race with a late pass of Brad Keselowski.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.