The engines at Daytona had barely gone quiet when a family outing around NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500 took a sudden, terrifying turn. After spending the day in the heart of the race weekend’s excitement, one young fan’s walk along the beach shifted from celebration to emergency in seconds, setting off a chain of events that would leave his family shaken and authorities racing to respond.

“A young man named Sullivan Clarke, 13, was visiting Daytona for the races this weekend when a man he didn’t know walked up and cut his throat while he was walking with his parents—the only reason Clarke survived is because he happened to look up at the Boardwalk, which shifted his neck and saved him from a fatal wound,” a fan posted on X.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department, the teenager survived the completely unprovoked attack on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk on February 14. He had been walking back to his hotel with his parents when 44-year-old Jermaine Lynn Long allegedly approached him and slashed his neck with a box cutter in a single horizontal motion, as captured later on surveillance footage. Authorities arrested Long shortly afterward, charging him with second-degree aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

The Clarke family had been returning around 10 p.m. after a full day soaking in the festivities surrounding the Daytona 500. Sullivan was on his phone and walking just a few feet from his parents when the suspect lingered nearby before striking. His mother, Lori Clarke, later said she noticed a “strange look in the man’s eyes” seconds before he lunged toward her son’s neck, at first thinking he was trying to steal the phone.

Sullivan didn’t even realize he had been cut until people in a nearby car began shouting and handing him tissues to stop the bleeding, while a bystander rushed to help. He was later taken to Halifax Hospital, where doctors closed the wound with 13 stitches.

“I turned at the perfect time…I happened to be looking up at the slingshot, and I turned. And that’s why he got the side of my neck,” Sullivan said.

“It was crazy. I saw my son’s neck totally gashed open, I could see the meat in his neck,” his father, Jerod Clarke, recalled. Doctors later told the family the blade missed vital arteries by just a millimeter, a difference that likely saved Sullivan’s life.

Long was found near the pier overpass close to Joe’s Crab Shack and taken into custody. Court records later revealed he is a convicted sex offender with a history of battery, child sexual assault, theft, and drug offenses. During questioning, he admitted to putting his hands on the teen but denied cutting him.

“It was absolutely horrifying. I couldn’t believe it could happen so fast,” Lori Clarke said.

Such a harrowing incident is not new to NASCAR history. Back in 2022, NASCAR driver Bobby East fell prey to a stabbing attack outside Los Angeles and sadly could not survive it. The primary suspect, Trent William Millsap, allegedly fled the area before police arrived. However, during a later encounter, Milsap was shot down when he became confrontational.

Even during this year’s Daytona 500, a Florida man was arrested for posting a threatening video.

Such incidents paint a grim picture of the background in which NASCAR’s Daytona race takes place. On a brighter note, things were hunky-dory inside the Daytona track.

The brighter side of the day

NASCAR had a tumultuous season in 2025. Ranging from constant outrage about the championship format to almost losing a lawsuit trial, the sport went through an upheaval. Yet the Daytona 500 last Sunday marked the first step away from those troubles. Many factors contributed to the buoyant reactions and NASCAR’s chance to say, “Hell yeah!”

First was the weather factor, crucial for fans after Bowman Gray’s snowy disaster. For the first time in three years and just the third time in the 2020s, inclement weather did not touch the Daytona 500 and came an hour after the checkered flag.

Ratings for the prestigious race have yet to be released. However, NASCAR said Sunday there were 150,000 people “on the property” for the race. This figure is comparable to 15 years ago and upholds NASCAR’s in-person success.

What’s more, the sight of six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan shaking hands with NASCAR CEO Jim France was the ultimate sign that all is well. After being embroiled in a fierce NASCAR lawsuit, Jordan’s team, 23XI Racing, won the Daytona 500 with Tyler Reddick.

Clearly, NASCAR had a lot going on inside the track. The unfortunate and harrowing incident off the track was shocking; hopefully, actions will be taken to prevent such crimes in the future.