NASCAR settles lawsuit with fan over Daytona wreck

Kyle Larson goes flying

NASCAR has settled with a spectator injured in a February 2013 Xfinity Series crash at Daytona International Speedway, and in doing so was able to avoid having drivers deposed as well as have its crash and fencing reports made public. Allen Davis sued NASCAR and the track parent company International Speedway Corp., in November 2015. The Florida man was sitting in the upper deck and, according to the lawsuit, "was struck in the head by a heavy piece of debris and suffered a catastrophic, traumatic brain injury."

Attorneys for NASCAR and the track filed a notice Monday with the court that parties had settled, and Davis attorney Dan Iracki confirmed the sides had agreed to a settlement with terms remaining confidential. He said Davis suffered permanent brain damage and will need medical care the remainder of his life. The settlement notice was filed during a week when Iracki had previously planned to take depositions of six drivers – Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman and Austin Dillon.

All but Newman had competed in that race and all either have been advocates for safety or served on the NASCAR Drivers Council. A judge denied NASCAR's request to postpone the depositions but left open the option for each driver to challenge the necessity of his deposition. "Certainly that could have been one aspect as to way it was resolved, as well as others," Iracki said.

It was Larson's car that flew into the catch fence in the wreck, where his car hit what is commonly referred to as the crossover gate. It is a gate in the fencing that allows fans and officials to go from the racing surface to the grandstands prior to the start of the race. The gate buckled, appeared to shear off the front of Larson's car and allowed a wheel with suspension pieces still attached, to fly into the stands along with other pieces of the car and fencing. More than 30 fans were injured in the accident.

The Davis lawsuit was the final current one pending, although the statute of limitations for filing a claim doesn't run out until Feb. 22. While there is video of the accident, NASCAR and the track have not made any crash analysis public. NASCAR had its two top safety engineers, Tom Gideon and John Palatak, do a crash reconstruction to analyze what happened.

Daytona and NASCAR refused to give that report up to Iracki, citing it as a legal work document. Bill Braniff, ISC Vice President of Construction, said in an affidavit filed in December that the NASCAR report, as well as other reports conducted by outside experts, were done for "legal advice," meaning that they are protected by attorney-client privilege. ESPN.com