MIAMI — Veteran US stock car driver Ryan Newman was released from hospital on Wednesday, two days after a horrifying final-lap crash at the Daytona 500 left him with serious injuries.

About an hour and 15 minutes after updating his condition as alert, walking around the Halifax Medical Center hospital and playing with his children, Roush Fenway Racing said the 42-year-old had been treated and discharged.

The race team tweeted a photo of Newman from behind exiting the facility, holding hands with each of his daughters as he walked to the parking lot.

Newman's Ford Mustang had been leading on the final lap but spun out of control, struck the wall and went flying into the air before flipping onto its roof and bursting into flames.

Several ambulances raced to the scene of the wreck by the 2008 Daytona 500 winner, who was extracted from the car from behind black screens and taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

"Ryan Newman continues to show great improvement," the race team said in a statement just before his release.

"The veteran driver is fully alert and walking around Halifax Medical Center. True to his jovial nature, he has also been joking around with staff, friends and family while spending time playing with his two daughters." — AFP