An Indianapolis 500 fan whose car she called ‘Snowball’ was damaged when a wheel flew off a racecar and out of the track will receive a new car, an Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesperson said.
The spokesperson told The Indianapolis Star that Penske Entertainment will provide fan Robin Matthews, who is from Indianapolis, with a new car following the incident.
“Somebody said it hit one of the golf carts. I was parked by the golf carts and I looked and I saw the back of my car and I’m like ‘OK’ and didn’t think anything of it,” she told WTHR.
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“Then somebody from another suite was like, ‘Robin, I think it’s your car’ and I was like ‘shut up’ because I didn’t believe him, he’s a jokester.
“He was like, ‘It’s your car’, and he showed me a picture.
“Immediately, my stomach dropped and I was shaking, just anxious and nervous. Just scared, just thankful nobody got hurt.
“My car’s name is Snowball and she took one for the team.”
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Matthews said damage had been done to the radiator as well as cosmetically to the bonnet and wheel arch.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles organised a ride home for Matthews after the race and brought her to the famous Yard of Bricks at the start-finish line.
The wheel came off with less than 20 laps to go in Monday’s race when Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood collided.
Kirkwood’s left rear tire bounced off the track and over the fence and the corner of the grandstand in the second turn before landing in a parking lot.
It travelled about 320 metres before crashing into the front of Matthews’ parked Chevrolet Cruze.
A red flag halted the race after the crash, and two more red flags followed before Josef Newgarden won by beating Marcus Ericsson in a one-lap shootout.
One spectator received treatment at the infield medical centre with minor injuries related to debris flying.
An IMS spokesman said at the time that there were no injuries related to the wheel.
IndyCar owner Roger Penske says he is certain series officials will investigate what led to the wheel sailing over the catch fence and grandstands.
“We haven’t had a wheel come off in a long time,” Penske said.
“We were very fortunate we didn’t have a bad accident.”
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