By David Morgan, Associate Editor
NEWTON, Iowa – Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 was one lap shy of ending as a clean and clear affair, but on the final lap, chaos struck.
Coming off Turn 2 on the final lap, Alexander Rossi was off the pace, apparently running out of fuel when Sting Ray Robb ran up on him at a high rate of speed, making contact and launching his No. 41 Chevrolet skyward. The car did a pirouette while in the air, coming down hard on the driver’s side, sending the car flipping down the backstretch, where he would come to rest upside down.
Behind Rossi and Robb, Kyle Kirkwood jumped out of the gas and spun while trying to avoid it, but wound up getting collected in a wad of cars that also involved Ed Carpenter.
Carpenter’s car would wind up getting launched over Rossi and he would land on Kirkwood’s car with his rear wheel hanging perilously on the side of the aeroscreen on Kirkwood’s car.
After a quick response from the AMR Safety Team, Carpenter’s car was able to be removed from over the top of Kirkwood, with the two and Rossi all able to climb out under their own power.
Shortly thereafter, Robb’s car was righted and he was able to be pulled from the cockpit. Safety officials placed him on a backboard and loaded him into a waiting ambulance, where he flashed a thumbs up to let everyone know he was OK.
After a short stay in the INDYCAR Medical Unit, Robb was transported by air to a local hospital for further evaluation. Safety officials noted he was awake and alert, with the decision to transport him by air being a result of the vast distance between the track and the hospital.
“Sting Ray is well. He’s awake, he’s alert, he’s in good condition,” said Dr. Julia Vaizer, head of the IndyCar Medical Unit. “We’re going to send him to the hospital to get some advanced imaging. He’s going to go by air just because of the location, but he’s in good spirits.”
All three of the other drivers involved were evaluated and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit.
For his part in the incident, Rossi passed on his well wishes to Sting Ray, noting that they were just trying to make it to the end on fuel when it unexpectedly hiccupped out of Turn 2, leading to the collision between himself and Robb.
“I’m not sure what exactly happened with the fuel load, but we had to go into a pretty crazy save mode there at the end,” Rossi said. “I think we were going to get there, but…
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