‘Enough,’ say some drivers after crash
Nazareth native among those telling IndyCar to leave Monroe County track following 3rd serious smash-up in 5 years
A first-lap crash in Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 that affected five drivers and red-flagged the race for 45 minutes may have ended the hopes of those who want IndyCar to return to Pocono Raceway next year and beyond.
The main prerace storyline was that Sunday’s race could be IndyCar’s last at Pocono because no contract had been signed for the 2020 season.
The speculative reasons why IndyCar may not come back after seven consecutive years of racing were low attendance and the emotional stress caused by racing at a track where two severe crashes unfolded over the previous four years.
Those hoping for IndyCar to come back wanted a big crowd and a safe race.
They didn’t get either. And they didn’t get a full race either since a thunderstorm red-flagged the race with 128 of the scheduled 200 laps completed.
That result left Australian Will Power with his third victory in the last four races at Pocono.
The crash, which appeared to
start when Takuma Sato tried to wedge in between two cars, took out Sato’s car as well as those driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist, although Hinchcliffe, Rossi and Hunter-Reay returned to the race and received a 10-lap penalty for working on their cars during the red flag period.
Sato, Hunter-Reay, Rossi and Hinchcliffe were checked and cleared the medical center.
Rosenqvist, whose car went airborne and skimmed the top of the fence for several yards, was diagnosed with non-life threatening injuries and taken to a trauma center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for further evaluation. He was later cleared as well.
IndyCar medical director Geoffrey Billows said Rosenqvist was walking and was expected to be fine.
Several of the drivers put the blame on Sato, who was looking to make a move in traffic in Turn 2.
Rossi called Sato’s maneuver “upsetting and disgraceful.”
Hunter-Reay called it “ridiculous” and said he thought all drivers would have learned a lesson after last year’s race featured an equally horrific crash that caused life-threatening injuries to Robert Wickens.
Wickens, still confined to a wheelchair by his injuries, responded to Sunday’s crash on Twitter by writing: “How many times do we have to go through the same situation before we can all accept that an IndyCar should not race at Pocono. It’s just a toxic relationship and maybe it’s time to consider a divorce. I’m very relieved (to my knowledge) that everyone is okay from that scary crash.”
Nazareth native Sage Karam, whose crash into the wall at Pocono in 2015 began a freakish chain of events that resulted in the accident that took the life Justin Wilson, also chimed in via Twitter.
“Glad to see everyone is ok,” Karam wrote. “Never a good feeling when you see something like that especially when it’s your brothers. Think the answer is clear that we should not be here. In my opinion that question was answered awhile ago.”
Karam later added: “I don’t want people to think that I dislike pocono. I think it’s a great track it’s just not meant for indycars. We need to be smart and move on and go to tracks that fit these cars. I love oval racing and want it in Indycar I just simply don’t love Indycar at pocono.”
Sunday’s race was IndyCar’s 26th at Pocono, with the first coming in 1971. IndyCar raced at Pocono from 1971-1989 and returned in 2013.
Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com.