TORONTO (July 21, 2024) -- For the second week in a row the integrity of the Dallara Indy car was tested and passed with flying colors --although this week it was Santino Ferrucci who was the test pilot walking away from a spectacular multi-car accident on the streets of Toronto.
Driving the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet, Ferrucci started the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto in 17th place but contact between Christian Lundgaard and Pato O'Ward on the start in Turn 1 bumped Ferrucci into the wall damaging his steering and requiring a front wing replacement.
Restarting last, Ferrucci was driving to survive on the 1.786-mile temporary circuit at Exhibition Place. He had worked his way into 17th mostly by way of attrition as drivers dropped out or dropped back due to mechanical issues or accidents. However, on lap 73, Pato O'Ward spun in Turn 1 and it soon turned into a multi-car accident. With O'Ward sitting at the exit of Turn 1--a blind corner -- Marcus Ericsson hit O'Ward in the rear and then Pietro Fittipaldi clipped O'Ward's nose. Ferrucci, in close pursuit of Fittipaldi, hit O'Ward's nose full speed and launched into a high flying act, turning over, riding the wall and skidding to a stop upside down.
Once again a driver walks away from a terrifying crash and testifies to the high safety standards of the INDYCAR Series and Dallara, the Indy car manufacturer. Here the aeroscreen did its job to protect Ferrucci.
The AMR Safety team was on the scene in less than a minute, checked on all the drivers and gently righted the No. 14 car. Once righted, Ferrucci climbed out of the car on his own. After a checkup by the INDYCAR Medical staff, he gave an interview to former Foyt Racing driver Charlie Kimball who was working as a pit reporter for NBC/Peacock this weekend.
Ferrucci is watching the replay of his accident and explaining to Charlie Kimball what happened.
“First off, I’m very, very thankful for INDYCAR and the medical team," Ferrucci said. "The cars are so safe. To have a scary accident like that, and just to walk away fine. [I'd like to] Tell my wife Renay, 'I’m fine, so don’t worry too much. I know you’re not here.'
"I never saw Pato (O’Ward). At the start of the race, I had the steering wheel bent trying to avoid Pato, and we were just left hand up, right hand down. When I came through there, I never saw Pietro (Fittipaldi) clip him. Nothing on the spotters. There was no yellow, no nothing. I didn’t know to check up. Super unfortunate. Trying to take care of equipment, trying to have a recovery day. Just a bummer, but we’re going into a couple of ovals. We’ll recover there and go for some wins."
Ferrucci, who placed 20th, is still tenth in the NTT INDYCAR standings and is looking forward to competing on the three ovals and lone road course remaining on the schedule.
“Obviously, full steam ahead," Ferrucci added. "I’m devastated for the guys. That’s not what we want to do here at AJ Foyt Racing. I think we’ll make it back. We’re going to Gateway, Milwaukee, and Nashville, and also, I love Portland. It’s a fantastic track. Just make the most of it. We’ve accomplished a ton with this Sexton Properties Chevrolet. I can’t thank this team enough for the stellar year we’ve had. There’s nothing to be lost there at all.”
His teammate Sting Ray Robb, who started 27th, was running 23rd in the No. 41 Goodheart / Pray.com Chevrolet when his clutch went out 14 laps into the 85-lap event.
“Terrible weekend here," said Robb, who placed 25th. "Very frustrated. Sad for the team, honestly. They worked their tail ends off the last few weeks, and me having that big accident last weekend, we wanted a good result. We keep building that momentum. We keep getting better every weekend. We made a step forward from qualifying into the race. Pretty happy with the car, but when the clutch breaks, there’s not much you can do. Big bummer for the team. Not their fault, not my fault. Just frustrating."
Team President Larry Foyt summed up the weekend, saying, "Well, it was a tough weekend for us here in Toronto. First off, I'm just glad Santino is okay. That's two weeks in a row we've had scary accidents with our drivers but it just shows how safe these cars are and the job Dallara's done and AMR safety team, so, definitely thankful for that."
"I've seen these types of wrecks on some of these street courses before and it happens fast, and it's hard for guys to see around some of these tight corners. So just glad everyone's okay. And tough for us as a team, that's a lot of damage over the last two weeks, but we'll rebound. We've got a couple of weeks to fix these things up and get ready to close the season out strong, try to keep the 14 car in the top 10 and also get the 41 car in that leadership circle. So that's that's our goal."
Pole winner Colton Herta won the race while his teammate and outside pole winner Kyle Kirkwood finished second. Rounding out the top five were teammates Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong.
The teams have off until the Series returns to action Saturday night, Aug. 17th at Worldwide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.
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