Wickens’ scary crash chills Rossi’s IndyCar win

LONG POND, Pa. — Alexander Rossi was as worried as the rest of the IndyCar field when a violent wreck shot Robert Wickens’ car airborne, ripped up the catchfence, sent debris flying and left the tub of the rookie’s Honda toppled on the asphalt.

The crash at Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon was the latest grim reminder of how drivers in open-wheel racing put their lives on the line.

“It’s part of our job, right? You’ve got to compartmentalize,” Rossi said. “You’ve got to accept it and deal with that emotion after the race.”

Wickens, 29, was awake and alert when he was airlifted to a hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was being treated for injuries to his lower extremities, right arm and spine. The race was stopped for nearly two hours to repair 80 feet of Track workers repair an 80-foot section of fence after Robert Wickens’ wreck during the sixth lap of the IndyCar race at Pocono. IndyCar officials said Wickens was hospitalized with “orthopedic injuries.”

fence.

Once the race restarted, Rossi got rolling. He dominated by leading 180 of 200 laps to win his second straight race and third of the season, slicing into Scott Dixon’s championship lead with three races left in the season. Will Power was second and Dixon third.

Wickens was

attempting to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay when the two cars slightly touched just six laps into the race. That caused HunterReay’s car to careen into the wall and Wickens’ car was pulled along for the ride. Once Wickens’ car soared over HunterReay’s and hit the fence, it spun round and round like a top. The fencing was shredded and

Wickens’ car reduced to just the tub, which came to a rest on the track along an interior wall.

Medical workers attended to Wickens, and the Canadian was taken to an ambulance before he was transported to a helicopter. IndyCar officials said Wickens also suffered a pulmonary contusion and will undergo an MRI and probable surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest in Allentown.

Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Pietro Fittipaldi and Takuma Sato were among the drivers collected in the wreck. Hinchcliffe held his wrists as he slowly left his car. He was cleared and released from the medical center. Hinchcliffe went to the hospital to visit his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammate.

The crash was another a chilling moment at Pocono. IndyCar driver Justin Wilson died from a head injury in 2015 when a piece of debris from a wrecked car bounced off the track and hit his helmet.

Just as the green flag dropped to resume Sunday’s race, New Albany’s Graham Rahal got into the back of Spencer Pigot, and Pigot spun and hit the wall.

“We can only hope one thing, that Robbie, Hinch and everyone involved is ok,” Rahal had tweeted during the delay. “These are the dangers we face, but we always hate to see it. The start can be debated for years, but doesn’t matter right now, focus on the well being of our friends and competitors.”

After that, the race ended without another caution. Rahal finished 14th.

Rossi ended Power’s bid to win three straight Pocono races. Power made a hard charge down the stretch, and his second-place finish kept him in the thick of the title hunt.

Dixon’s points lead over Rossi dipped to just 29 points.

“We’ve been a bit blah. They’ve been excelling,” Dixon said.

Sebastien Bourdais, who finished fourth, raised concerns about the quality of the repairs and condition of the fence, and he did not want to get back in the car. Track president Ben May said: “It may not be the prettiest job, but it’s going to be safe.”

Bourdais called the repairs “pretty lousy.”