Townsend Bell and Ryan Hunter-Reay collide on pit road in Indy 500
Townsend Bell and Ryan Hunter-Reay were mainstays at the front of the field during the first half of the Indianapolis 500.
Their time at the front came to an end thanks to a wreck on pit road.
Bell, pitted behind Hunter-Reay, exited his pit stall and bounced off Helio Castroneves, who was in the outside lane of Indianapolis’ narrow pit lane. As he hit Castroneves’ car, Hunter-Reay pulled out of his pit and the two Andretti Autosport teammates collided and went towards the inside pit wall.
Castroneves was able to carry on without any damage, though he had a tire mark on the left side of his car. The damage to both Bell and Hunter-Reay’s cars was minimal, though they both lost a lap making repairs. Pit road was so crowded because the race was under caution for an accident involving Mikhail Aleshin and Conor Daly.
The crash could have been a lot worse had polesitter James Hinchcliffe not been ahead of both Bell and Hunter-Reay. Hinchcliffe had already accelerated out of his pit and a crew member was able to scramble out of the way as the two cars came to rest in Hinchcliffe’s stall.
Bell (12) and Hunter-Reay (52) combined to lead 64 of the race’s first 115 laps.
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
