| Danica Patrick hits another team's crew member
Posted: May 9, 2008 12:29 PM PDT
Updated: May 9, 2008 06:16 PM PDT
Patrick talked to reporters after the crash
IMS spokesman Ron Green said Buckman had facial and scalp lacerations and a concussion.
Danica Patrick walks out of the pit area after her car struck a crewman from Dale Coyne Racing during practice.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A member of Dale Coyne's pit crew is recovering at Methodist Hospital after being struck by Danica Patrick's race car on pit road Friday afternoon. It happened about 1:30 p.m. while the drivers were practicing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Although it was an accident, Patrick still feels bad about what happened.
"It's really, really unfortunate what happened today. Thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," said Patrick. "Hopefully he can get back to the track soon and be able to do what he loves."
IMS spokesman Ron Green said he had facial and scalp lacerations and a concussion. He was first taken to the Clarian Medical Center at the Track before being transferred to Methodist Hospital.
"Danica came in, he was walking back to the garage area, and just missed seeing it...got hit and thrown to the ground. It looks bad, he's got some face cuts. So there was blood," said team owner Dale Coyne. "He got knocked out for a minute or so, but they checked him out here at the infield and he was alert and awake, knew where he was at, so they took him down to Methodist to do a scan, make sure the concussion isn't bad, and the doctors here think he'll be fine, just have a pretty mean headache tomorrow."
A witness said Charles Buckman was looking for another IndyCar driver when Patrick ran into him. Buckman was unconscious at the scene and rushed to the track hospital.
After the incident drivers continued to practice until rain ended the practice. IMS officials shut down the track around 4 p.m. and said the track will remain closed for the rest of the day. There will be another two-hour practice session Saturday morning before the noon start of pole qualifying for the May 25 race.
WISH-TV Racing Analyst Derek Daly said Patrick's crew quickly got her out of the car and escorted her from the scene. Daly said Patrick did nothing wrong.
Daly also described the incident in the WISHTV.com Sports Blog:
"The big story was Danica hitting another team's mechanic. It was a friend of mine, Chuck Buckman. Chuck has been at the speedway for more than 20 years. He was my mechanic when I drove for Tony Bettenhausen's Provimi Veal Team.
I saw the incident just seconds after the impact. The AGR team whisked Danica away immediately as the IMS safety crew and doctors tended to Chuck. I could see that he had facial lacerations and had lost some blood. There was about seven rescue officials who lifted him on to the stretcher with him connected to an IV and to oxygen. Some AGR crew members were visibly upset. I have witnessed a crew member being killed in a pit lane at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1982. It does not take great speed to cause serious injury.
The pit lane was pretty hectic at the time with lots of action as teams tried to cram in laps as it looked like it was going to rain."
This was the third incident at the track on Friday. Rookie driver Alex Lloyd was also hospitalized with neck pains after hitting the wall hard during practice. Another rookie, Mario Dominguez spun off and hit the wall while coming off of pit road.
-The Associated Press contributed to this story |