INDYCAR racing is back! But before we could even get going, we had a pretty big wreck collecting 8 cars. It’s unfortunate that wrecks like these happen on lap 1, especially in a 100-lap race.
Devlin DeFrancesco had the most spectacular of accidents in this incident but was surprisingly the first driver to be released from the medical center.
Benjamin Pedersen was especially disappointing as it didn’t even appear he tried to slow down coming to that wreck. These cars are safe, but we shouldn’t be putting them to the test when possible. Everyone appeared to be okay following the pileup, except for some stiffness and perhaps finger injuries.
Most drivers were very thankful for the AMR Medical station new for this year. Helio was also appreciative of the aero screen.
Following this incident, I proposed the idea of single file starts, similar to what they already do for restarts in these races. These tracks are all very narrow. It’s hard to fit two cars through those first few turns, so maybe double-wide starts are just asking for these big accidents.
On the restart, David Malukas and Marcus Armstrong got together. This resulted in a flat tire for Armstrong and a penalty for Malukas.
Romain Grosjean started on the pole and led through the first stint. But after the first cycle, Scott McLaughlin came out ahead of Grosjean. Shortly after the aggressive move from McLaughlin, a full course yellow came out. This yellow nearly fell right into Scott Dixon’s strategy but because of the blend line, McLaughlin maintained the lead before the yellow came out.
On the restart, Rinus VeeKay got caught in some tire barriers leading to another pileup involving 3 cars. Kyle Kirkwood went airborne. Jack Harvey was also involved.
On the next restart, Colton Herta ended up in a true barrier with the assistance of the defending champion, Will Power. Power then had to restart at the tail end of the field.
After the third set of stops, Grosjean and McLaughlin came out side by side at the blend. The two leaders got together, taking them both out of the race. This left Pato O’Ward in the lead.
With three laps to go, Pato O’Ward had an engine issue that gave Marcus Ericsson the lead. Ericsson went on to win, O’Ward finished second, and Scott Dixon rounded off the podium.
Next up is Texas Motor Speedway in about… a month
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Jack Harvey was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Everyone at PPN is hoping for the best for Jack.