IndyCar Driver Injured in Violent Crash

Robert Wickens suffered 'orthopedic injuries'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 19, 2018 11:31 PM CDT
Updated Aug 20, 2018 1:37 AM CDT
IndyCar Driver Injured in Violent Crash
Robert Wickens prepares to qualify for Sunday's IndyCar series auto race, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, in Long Pond, Pa.   (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

IndyCar driver Robert Wickens has been admitted to a hospital in Allentown, Pa., with what the series calls "orthopedic injuries" sustained in a violent wreck early in a race Sunday. IndyCar says Wickens was awake and alert as he was airlifted from Pocono Raceway to the hospital and he was still being evaluated Sunday night, the AP reports. The 29-year-old Canadian driver was attempting to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay when the two cars slightly touched. That caused Hunter-Reay's car to careen into the wall and Wickens' car was pulled along for the ride. Once Wickens' car soared over Hunter-Reay's and hit the fence, it spun round and round like a top.

The fencing was shredded and Wickens' car was reduced to just the tub, which came to a rest on the track along an interior wall. Medical workers calmly attended to Wickens, who was taken to an ambulance before he was transported to the helicopter. The impact of the wreck tore out a large section of fencing that needed almost two hours to repair before racing resumed. Alexander Rossi won the race and said it was "tough to celebrate" with Wickens in the hospital. In 2015 at Pocono, Justin Wilson died from a head injury when a piece of debris from a crashed car bounced off the track and hit his helmet.

(More IndyCar stories.)

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