NASCAR driver Ryan Newman released from hospital after crash

Mr Newman has been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his two daughters

Ryan Newman has been treated and released from Halifax Medical Centre just two days after his horrifying crash (Rousch Fenway)

NASCAR driver Ryan Newman has been discharged from hospital in Florida two days after his horrifying crash in the Daytona 500.

His racing team, Roush Fenway, tweeted a picture of Mr Newman leaving the Halifax Medical Centre in Daytona Beach, Florida, holding the hands of his two daughters.

“Ryan Newman has been treated and released from Halifax Medical Center,” the tweet confirmed.

Two earlier tweets, one showing Mr Newman with his daughters in the hospital, confirmed his improvement since being admitted to hospital on Monday evening.

The second, a statement from Roush Fenway, reads: “Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement after Monday night’s last-lap accident at Daytona International Speedway.”

It continues: “The veteran driver is fully alert and walking around Halifax Medical Centre. True to his jovial nature, he has been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his two daughters.”

Mr Newman's wife, Krissie, from whom he recently announced an amicable split, filmed his departure from the medical centre, saying: “Best sight ever!!!”

The crash, in which his car first hit the outside wall, flipped over and caught fire after impacting another car in mid-air, before sliding across the finish line on its roof, would have once been fatal had it not been for vast improvements in the car and track safety. Mr Newman has long been an advocate for improved safety in NASCAR.