This Terrifying Indy 500 Crash On-Board Is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen Before

Sunday's Indianapolis 500 had just one wreck until the final 15 laps, but the first major wreck of the day was one of the biggest at the Speedway in years. McLaren's Felix Rosenqvist lost control exiting turn 1 while fighting in the top three,hitting the outside wall before sliding back down into the short chute and colliding wheel-to-wheel with Kyle Kirkwood. The resulting crash was terrifying, but nobody was injured.

In a moment captured by an incredible on-board camera angle, Kirkwood's car is sent flying into the barriers upside down. We can see the driver react in real time as his car slides on the aeroscreen and roll hoop, sparks flying behind his helmet, before eventually coming to a stop.

Another clip shows that on-board side-by-side with the actual hit. Here, we see just how little Kirkwood is able to see around him throughout the crash. After driving his way into contention late in his second Indianapolis 500, Kirkwood finds himself upside down and facing backwards, sliding along the outside wall with a view of only what is behind him. IndyCar medical officials would arrive within seconds to flip his car over by hand and extract him.

At the moment of impact, an entire wheel is sheared off Kirkwood's car. This breaks the wheel tether that is meant to keep those loose components on the car and out of the stands, sending the wheel flying out of the track at speed. Fortunately, the wheel clears the entire turn 2 grandstand and instead rolls into a parking lot, where it hits a fan's Chevrolet Cruze. That fan, Robin Matthews, was tracked down by Indianapolis Motor Speedway track president J. Douglas Boles post-race for a photo with the Yard of Bricks and a ride home. Her car, apparently named Snowball, was fortunate to escape with only one hit to the left-front fender. It is certainly a new example of what can go wrong at a race track, but far better than just about every alternative when a wheel escapes the track at speed.

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