Michael Barnes was running seventh in the 67th Daytona 200, March 8 at Daytona International Speedway, when on lap 11 he clipped the last section of soft barriers at the exit of the chicane and suffered a violent tumble down the banking in NASCAR Turn Three. “I just remember it flashing right out in front of me,” Barnes told Roadracingworld.com, referring to the non-inflatable safety module. On-track activities were postponed on the day of the Daytona 200 due to winds, some gusting as high as 50 mph, according to race officials, moving soft barriers out of position. “I just remember Nicky Moore being in front of me, which is why I went high,” continued Barnes. “I don’t know if I was trying to squeeze into a spot that was too tight, but I don’t disregard the wind pushing it into me. But it was the biggest surprise ever! “I believe it hit the right front of the bike. I think it must have tapped the brakes, because I was off immediately. Then I did nothing but tumble down the track. I tumbled down the track, then down the banking. But my safety gear really did its job.” SPEED Channel showed a replay of Barnes, strapped to a gurney, being loaded into an ambulance, but only reported that he was transported to Halifax Medical Center with no further update on his condition. “I’m really disappointed that nothing was updated,” said Barnes. “It would have been really easy for them [AMA]. I was assessed with a broken left thumb before the end of the race.” Barnes said he had surgery to pin his thumb fracture at Halifax Medical Center and was released later that night. “It was a simple fracture and a simple surgery,” said Barnes. “I even went and made a brief appearance at the Ocean Deck that night to let people know I was OK.” Barnes said the pin will stay in his thumb for four weeks, “and we’ll access things then.” Barnes raced his 2007-spec Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 Formula Xtreme bike in the Daytona 200, a one-race deal, and a Celtic Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 (another race-by-race deal) to a competitive sixth (0.047 second behind fourth) in Superstock in hopes of showing potential employers that he is competitive and healthy after suffering a season-ending wrist injury in May 2007. “I hope I showed that,” said Barnes. “I felt good all weekend. I’m pretty proud of myself and the times I turned. Unfortunately, this [crash] is one of those freak deals. Hopefully, I’m done with my share of freak deals for a while. I just want to say thanks to all my friends, family and fans for supporting me.”