NEWTON, Iowa (July 14, 2024) -- The highs and lows of motorsports and the dramatic moment in which it can turn on a dime was illustrated Sunday afternoon. All within AJ Foyt Racing.
Santino Ferrucci moved into the top 10 in the NTT INDYCAR Series standings and Sting Ray Robb took the scariest ride of his life with just two turns left to the checkered flag. Robb was alert and talking but was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines as a precaution.
Sting Ray gives a reassuring double thumbs up as he is loaded into the ambulance at the track after his frightening crash on the final lap of the race.
Upon seeing his mother Kimmie Serrano in the Iowa Speedway infield care center, he quipped, "Well that was in dramatic fashion to end the race!"
Robb came upon Alexander Rossi who was nursing his car to the end running on fumes and quite slow on track in the racing groove. Coming out of Turn 2, Robb rode over Rossi's right rear tire which launched Robb high into the air, flipping over and finally skidding to a stop upside down. He was extricated by the AMR Safety Team and examined by INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Julia Vaizer before being transported by helicopter to Des Moines.
"Sting Ray is doing well," stated Dr. Vaizer. "He is awake, alert, and he's in good condition. We're going to send him to the hospital for precautionary measures to get some advanced imaging. He's going to go by air just because of the location but he's in good spirits and he says hello to everyone."
The Goodheart crew in action.
Robb was running 19th at the time of the accident and was credited with 21st which is where he started in the Goodheart.vet Chevrolet.
Ferrucci for his part put on another show for the fans after starting 20th, he moved the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet into the top 10, again passing cars high and low on the track. However, despite a routine pit stop on lap 195, he slipped from 10th to 14th.
As the race wound down, Ferrucci made another pass to claim 13th. When the spectacular accident on the backstretch occurred involving Rossi, who was running eighth on the penultimate lap, tenth-running Kyle Kirkwood was also involved and out of the race. Ferrucci advanced to 11th, just shy of another top-10 finish. However, he did move into the top 10 in the IndyCar points standings.
"First off I'm glad Sting Ray's okay," said Ferrucci after visiting with him in the infield care center. "It was a good weekend all around for the 14 team as we got to tenth in the championship which is pretty impressive. Obviously, we're still leaving a little on the table here and there. I think it's a good thing to notice where we need to improve. We could have had a podium day one here and could have been well inside the top ten on day two but it's a clean race (for us), the car's in one piece, we rolled it onto the trailer and we'll carry the momentum up to Canada."
When interviewed on NBC about his driving the high line or outside groove on the track, he explained, “You know, I like this track a lot. I truly believe in the high side and making it work. We had a really great racecar. Bummed we couldn’t get back inside the top-10. Obviously, just missing out. I had a lot of fun. Honestly, I went wheel-to-wheel with Kyle (Kirkwood) for maybe three laps, just bumping off each other, and it was probably the most fun I’ve had in a racecar this year in this series. It was awesome. Hope everyone at the end of the race is okay. I can’t thank Sexton Properties, Chevrolet, and AJ Foyt Racing enough for a great racecar all weekend. Awesome, so we’ll get to 10th in the championship.”
Will Power won the race after a strategy call that saw him advance from 19th to second after the first round of pit stops--helped by a timely caution on lap 101. He pitted after the caution flew and nearly the entire field pitted beforehand. He claimed the top spot from Alex Palou after the second pit stop on lap 205 and was never headed.
Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Colton Herta rounded out the top five.
The teams head back to their shops to turn their cars around from a short oval setup to a street course setup for the upcoming race in Toronto next weekend. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto will be streamed live on Peacock and Indycar.com Sunday, July 21 starting at 1 p.m. ET.
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