Colton Herta’s car was launched into the air from the rear of Rinus VeeKay when IndyCar suspended a restart on Friday night at Iowa Speedway.
The race was preparing to turn green after Will Power caused caution when his left front wheel fell off the car after a pit stop. When Pato O’Ward turned the field to green, IndyCar running control did not like what he saw and prevented the restart incredibly late. When drivers tried to slow down after accelerating at Turn 4, Herta’s car collided with VeeKay’s and went into the air.
Fortunately, Herta got out of her car and was fine. Her car avoided flying towards the fence and landing on the outer wall.
This is how it looked from Herta’s car camera.
#Indycar 🇺🇸 # Iowa250s
⚠️ Lap 162/250 ⚠️ This was the strong accident between Colton Herta and Rinus Veekay. Herta, who had been accelerating for the restart, had no trouble stopping and flew off. He almost didn’t hit the protective mesh in the middle of the finish line.
Both pilots fine. pic.twitter.com/0YDhm7gjwL
– Colombia Motor Fans (from 🏡) (@ColMotorFans) July 18, 2020
The crash was the first major test of IndyCar’s aerosol head protection for drivers. Herta’s car was thrown at VeeKay right next to the cabin of VeeKay’s car and a piece of debris from Herta’s car hit near the cabin of Marcus Ericsson’s car.
IndyCar installed driver protection before the 2020 season. Screens were long overdue in an effort to make IndyCar drivers safer and avoid catastrophic head injuries.
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Nick Bromberg He is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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