Kyle Busch injured in Xfinity Series crash, will miss Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch was injured in a multi-car crash during the final laps of the Xfinity Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch suffered a compound fracture of the right lower leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot in the accident. Joe Gibbs Racing said Busch will be out indefinitely, with no timetable for his return.

The accident occurred out of the frontstretch tri-oval when Erik Jones broke loose and spun in front of the field. Busch had been right behind Jones, a JGR teammate, when his car skidded across the infield grass and slammed into the wall nearly head-on. The wall was not covered by a protective barrier.

Track workers helped Busch remove himself from his battered No. 54 car, and he was then shown alert on a stretcher with a splint wrapped around his right leg. Busch was transported to Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation.

JGR named Matt Crafton to drive the No. 18 car in the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Busch was scheduled to start fourth.

Including Jones and Busch, a total of eight cars were damaged in the wreck with eight laps remaining. With the exception of Busch, all drivers involved escaped injury. Busch's wife, Samantha, was shown crying on television. She is expecting the couple's first child, a boy, in May.

Immediately following Busch's wreck, a multitude of drivers took to social media to express their frustration that Daytona did not have SAFER barriers installed on all walls surrounding the racing surface.

Regan Smith, who walked away uninjured after flipping in an earlier accident, said, "I'm genuinely furious right now," on Twitter. Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson called for every track to install SAFER barriers on all walls.

A few hours after Busch's crash, Daytona track president Joie Chitwood III announced the track was working to cover the wall Busch impacted using tires in time for the Daytona 500. Daytona will also install SAFER barriers on every wall within the speedway's confines.

"The Daytona International Speedway did not live up to its responsibility today," Chitwood said. "We should have had a SAFER barrier there today, we did not. We're going to fix that. We're going to fix that right now. We've got the team out tonight. We're going to install tire packs along that 850-foot linear square feet of wall, so we're ready to go racing tomorrow.

"Following that, the Daytona International Speedway is going to install SAFER barrier on every inch at this property. This is not going to happen again. We're going to live up to our responsibility. We're going to fix this and it starts right now."

Second-year driver Ryan Reed won the Alert Today Florida 300. The win was the first of Reed's career and the first Daytona Xfinity victory for Jack Roush, Reed's car owner.