IndyCar: Count our blessings and move on to Gateway

By Asher Fair | Aug 20, 2019

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Ryan Hunter-Reay of the United States, driver of the #28 DHL Honda, races during the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

After yet another troublesome IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway, let’s be grateful for the fact that no major injuries were suffered and move on to Gateway.

It didn’t happen on the opening lap of last year’s IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway like it did in this year’s, but in both races, a five-car wreck in turn two of the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) “Tricky Triangle” oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania on the first green flag lap launched a car into the catch fence.

All in all, both wrecks were similar. They both happened to involve five Honda cars, they both happened to involve Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato and James Hinchcliffe, and they both happened to involve a separate driver, a rookie driver, being launched into the turn two catch fence.

Last year, it was Robert Wickens who was launched into the fence, and this wreck left him paralyzed from the waist down.

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This year, it was Felix Rosenqvist who was launched into the fence.

As a result, there have been numerous calls for IndyCar to end its relationship with Pocono Raceway and not return to the track after this year.

There are certainly issues that need to be addressed concerning Pocono Raceway should the track and the series agree to a contract extension for next year and beyond, primarily as it pertains to the catch fencing and infield spotter stand.

There are even bigger issues that need to be addressed concerning overaggressive driving on lap one of a 500-mile race, and these issues are magnified by the lack of passing that the UAK18 aero kit has produced in superspeedway races and thus the urgency created as early as lap one.

Anyone who has been on Twitter, Facebook or any other form of social media after this race knows that there are many fans and drivers alike who are beyond irritated with how this past weekend played out, especially as it pertains to the crash.

But one thing, perhaps the biggest thing, that is seemingly being ignored is the fact that everybody walked away from this crash. Rosenqvist did go to the hospital after emerging from his wrecked car under his own power, but he was evaluated and released.

https://twitter.com/FRosenqvist/status/1163217732038463488

This is a testament to how safe IndyCar is and really how wrong things have to go in order for somebody to be seriously injured or killed. Look at all of the recent massive wrecks that have taken place across the sport, not just at Pocono Raceway. Wickens’s was one of the very few that did not result in everybody walking away.

Reading some of the comments from Sunday afternoon’s, you’d think someone had been killed based on the insults and criticism being directed at IndyCar and Pocono Raceway.

But let’s take a step back here and count our blessings instead of focusing on the negativity. Yes, on some level, there need to be changes. But to have such a violent wreck result in no major injuries is a reason for celebration, not a reason for nothing but doom and gloom.

With the next race on the schedule just four days away already, it’s time to focus forward.

Let’s move on to Gateway.

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World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park, is scheduled to host the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 for the third consecutive season after returning to the IndyCar schedule in 2017 following a 14-year hiatus.

This race, the 15th of 17 races and the fifth and final oval race on the schedule, is set to be broadcast live from the four-turn, 1.25-mile (2.012-kilometer) oval in Madison, Illinois beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 24, and it is scheduled to begin shortly thereafter at 8:45 p.m. ET.