Top side of Josef Newgarden’s car hits wall in massive crash
Josef Newgarden fractured his right collar bone and suffered a fracture in his right hand in a scary crash at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Newgarden’s car got flipped over on its side after an impact from Conor Daly and the wall. Newgarden’s car then hit the wall a second time — this time with the top side of the car as his head was perilously close to both the track surface and the wall.
Safety workers helped Newgarden from his car after the accident but he collapsed to the ground once he stepped out of the cockpit. From there he was loaded into a waiting ambulance via a backboard.
The wreck will certainly incite further discussions on the necessity of cockpit protection for IndyCar drivers. The series didn’t make any changes to the cockpit designs following the death of Justin Wilson in 2015. Wilson was struck in the helmet by a piece of debris from a car that crashed ahead of him at Pocono. And not only was Newgarden’s head seemingly in danger during the crash, drivers behind Sunday’s crash had to dodge a multitude of debris, including a bouncing tire.
The wall on the Texas frontstretch had to be repaired following the accident because of the damage from Newgarden’s car. The race, originally scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed to Sunday because of difficulty drying the track following Saturday storms.
But the race never got finished Sunday. It started raining shortly after the crash and the race was halted. Because of a poor forecast and upcoming test sessions for IndyCar teams, the race has been postponed to August 27. The race will be resumed at the point of suspension (72 laps in).
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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!
