IndyCar: The Worst 10 Wrecks In The DW12 Era
By Asher Fair
No. 6: Indianapolis, 2015
This crash was much like the crashes of Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden from above, but worse.
Castroneves got loose in practice in turn one and spun around slightly under 180 degrees before the left side of his car hit the wall, with the rear hitting slightly before the front.
The rear of Castroneves’ car was not lifted on top of the barrier, however. Instead, it lifted up into the air and kept lifting. The car then flipped over before the rear of the car hit the ground with the nose of the car pointed towards the sky, which then caused the car to fall backwards on itself before being flipped upside down and rolling over once so that it landed right side up.
After spinning around a few times after it landed, the car eventually came to a right side up stop. Castroneves was not injured as a result of this crash.
No. 5: Indianapolis 2015
In practice for the 2015 Indy 500, James Hinchcliffe sped down the back straightaway and into turn three. In the middle of turn three, however, the right suspension on his car broke, sending him literally straight into the wall at over 220 miles per hour.
He sustained an impact of 126 G-forces, and part of the broken suspension piece went through the tub of the car as well as Hinchcliffe’s leg before stopping in his pelvis.
Not only the racing world but the whole world very well could have lost James Hinchcliffe that day because of how much blood he lost due to the suspension piece going through his leg. However, he miraculously survived, and the series only lost him as a competitor for the remainder of the 2015 season.
He returned for the whole 2016 season.