Ryan Newman rushed to hospital after fiery crash late in Daytona 500

Ryan Newman was taken directly to a local hospital after a fiery crash on the final lap of Monday's Daytona 500.

Newman had surged into the lead on the final lap when runner-up Ryan Blaney's bumper caught the back of his Ford and sent Newman hard right into the wall. His car flipped, rolled, was hit on the driver's side by another car, and finally skidded across the finish line engulfed in flames.

It took several minutes for his car to be rolled back onto its wheels. The 2008 Daytona 500 winner was placed in a waiting ambulance and taken directly to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona. The damage to Newman's Mustang was extensive; it appeared the entire roll cage designed to protect his head had caved. Newman's condition was not immediately known.

Drivers were stricken with concern, including a rattled Corey LaJoie, the driver who hit Newman's car as it was flipping.

"Dang I hope Newman is ok,'' he posted on Twitter. "That is worst case scenerio and I had nowhere to go but (into) smoke.''

Denny Hamlin ended up winning the race, becoming the first driver since Sterling Marlin in 1995 to win consecutive Daytona 500s. However, his celebration in victory lane was subdued.

"I think we take for granted sometimes how safe the cars are and number one, we are praying for Ryan,'' Hamlin said.

In an interview on Sirius XM NASCAR following the race, Gibbs apologized for the winning team celebration as workers were still tending to Newman. The car owner said they were not aware of the severity of the situation.

Blaney said the way the final lap shook out, with Newman surging ahead of Hamlin, that Blaney locked in behind Newman in a move of brand alliance for Ford.

"We pushed Newman there to the lead and then we got a push from the 11 ... I was committed to just pushing him to the win and having a Ford win it and got the bumpers hooked up wrong,'' he said. "It looked bad.''

NASCAR gave no immediate announcement on Newman's status and officials moved bystanders away from the crash scene.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.