Indianapolis 500: a wheel flies to the stands, a tragedy narrowly avoided

After 150 laps without a hitch (out of 200), the Indianapolis 500 was disrupted by a very large number of collisions and accidents. American Josef Newgarden (Penske) won the 107th edition of the world's oldest car race still held. The first victory by an American since 2016.

He took advantage of two red flags in the final laps to swallow the Swede and defending champion Marcus Éricsson (Chip Ganassi). The first, and most spectacular, of these was caused by a collision between Kyle Kirkwood (A.J. Foyt Enterprises) and Felix Rosenqvist (McLaren) with 16 laps to go. Kirkwood saw his car crash into the wall and turn over while his left rear tire flew over the safety fence. Miraculously, he did not touch the public, passing between two stands.

Harrowing moment at the Indy 500 as a tire is flung from Felix Rosenqvist's car, narrowly missing fans, and Kyle Kirkwood is flipped in the collision. pic.twitter.com/38NLWvUFqX

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 28, 2023

Two laps later, it was the Mexican Pato O'Ward who had to retire after a crash caused by a light touch of Marcus Éricsson. The McLaren driver went head-to-head and ended up in the wall.

Oh noooooooooooon Romain Grosjean's crash at the Indianapolis 500... 😓 #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/dBSBiQNHcm

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) May 28, 2023

On the French side, Romain Grosjean (Andretti) also had to retire following a collision with the limits of the track. He had already hung Colton Herta in the pits. The other French rider, Simon Pagenaud (Meyer Shank), winner in 2019, also did not cross the finish line. He went head-to-head, after being jostled at the back by New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (Penske).