Indy 500 fan whose car got hit by flying tire surprised with amazing experience at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
There was nearly a catastrophic moment at this year’s Indy 500 when a tire flew off a car on the track and up into the stands. No one was injured by the actual tire thankfully. However, as the tire kept going, the same couldn’t be said for the car of one Robin Matthews.
The tire, which came from Kyle Kirkwood’s car after a run-in with Felix Rosenqvist, ended up out in the track parking lot where Matthews’ Chevy Cruze, named ‘Snowball’, was hit.
After her car was towed, though, she got a pretty sweet deal out of it as J. Douglas Boles, the president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, brought her out onto the track following the Indianapolis 500.
In a conversation with the Indy Star, Matthews went on to say that she thought it was a prank once she was told what happened. Once she found out it was true, she at least had a good amount of positivity considering all things.
“I didn’t see it come down. I came down and they said ‘Robin, it’s your car!’ (And) I thought, ‘No.’ I thought somebody was pranking me,” Matthews said. “It’s a car. It’s fine.”
Fans and spectators at the Indy 500 wouldn’t normally expect their cars to get involved in the festivities. Since Matthews’ did, she at least got a pretty sweet memory out of the incident before she has to deal with her vehicle in the days to come.
IndyCar fan injured by debris from wreck that sent tire out of the track
Some fans at the Indianapolis 500 got more adrenaline than they bargained for this afternoon. That’s because, with 17 laps to go, a tire from the car of Kyle Kirkwood flew off and then over the fence after a collision with Felix Rosenqvist.
The important thing is that no one was officially injured by the tire. However, per Jeff Gluck at The Athletic, one fan was injured by other debris caused by the accident. In a response from IndyCar, Gluck added that the spectator was “seen at the infield care center and released.”
Again, this could have ended far, far worse had a person actually been hit by the tire. That’s especially true considering how high it was and how rapidly it was moving. A crisis was averted, though, as the race finished its 107th edition with more than enough accidents.