Two passengers were injured in Saturday's safety car crash at Rolex 24 at Daytona

An unfortunate situation befell the Rolex 24 at Daytona before an actual lap was ever run in the race over the weekend.

Hours before the 24-hour race, the safety car wrecked during what was assumed to be early morning hot laps. Fans at the track saw the incident happen and were able to grab photos of the wrecked vehicle after the fact, and it wasn’t pretty. It was unclear how the incident happened at the time.

After the surprising and harrowing news made its rounds, racing fans wondered if the driver and passengers inside the car were alright. Well, we have a little more clarity on Tuesday, as it’s been reported that two passengers were injured during the crash.

“More Rolex stuff: 2 passengers were injured in Saturday’s safety car crash,” reported Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press. “Daytona International Speedway says: ‘two individuals were transported to an area medical facility for further evaluation.’ No further info on extent of injuries or current status.”

That’s certainly not the way anybody hoped to begin the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and hopefully the passengers who were injured at the time were taken to a medical facility as a precautionary measure.

In the end, the event still went off, and was entertaining as ever. Here’s to hoping there aren’t many accidents to worry about when NASCAR returns to Daytona in a couple of weeks, and we can make it through the season unscathed.

More on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Porsche Penske’s victory

After 24 hours of racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a confusing final two laps led to Porsche Penske winning overall and in GTP. There appeared to still be time on the clock when the white flag came out, and it was unclear when the race had ended. 

Even as the Porsche Penske team watched from the pit area, they weren’t sure if they were able to celebrate yet. Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron, and Josef Newgarden watched nervously as Felipe Nasr drove away from the Whelen No. 31 car, driven by Tom Blomqvist. 

The quest for a third-straight Rolex 24 at Daytona didn’t pan out for Blomqvist. Instead, it is the Penske team that celebrated. Newgarden added a Rolex 24 win to his Indy 500 victory from 2023. A fantastic year for the IndyCar star.

This race came down to about a second difference between the No. 7 and No. 31. Tom Blomqvist put all he had into making the comeback against the Porsche Penske car, but it wasn’t meant to be. 

Although, Blomqvist had a pass with about 80 minutes to go in the race that was outstanding. It really came down to losing to the Penske team on the final pit stop of the day. 

The end of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was strange, to say the least. However, it was great racing and even if there was another lap or two in this race, Blomqvist just didn’t have enough to catch Nasr.

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.