POSTED
ON AUGUST 23, 2015
BY
JOSH FARMER
Contributor to The Motorsports Report
Hunter-Reay
wins chaotic ABC Supply 500 as Wilson is injured
Content
Ryan
Hunter-Reay took his second win of the 2015 season at the ABC Supply
500, but the celebration was muted by a serious accident involving
his teammate, Justin Wilson.
Josef
Newgarden was the early man to beat after two aborted starts. The
Tennessean made a bold 4-wide pass for the lead and preceded lead the
opening stint. Following the first round of pitstops, the yellow flag
flew for Jack Hawksworth’s car losing a wheel which brought the
remainder of the field down pit road and cycling the lead back to
Newgarden.
Newgarden
picked up where he left off on the restart as Tony Kanaan soon roared
to life and picked his way through the pack and took the lead on lap
55. Following the next round of pitstops, Team Penske’s Simon
Pagenaud managed to take the lead by the virtue of making better fuel
mileage than his rivals.
Polesitter
Helio Castroneves soon joined the fight and took the lead before the
second yellow flag of the day on lap 85 flew for Jack Hawksworth and
Charlie Kimball coming together.
Following
a round of pitstops, Castroneves maintained the lead only for a
corner as Tony Kanaan passed him while championship changing drama
unfolded behind them on lap 93. Second place man Graham Rahal was
riding in the back of the pack after a fueling issue cost him several
valuable seconds. Rahal was hit by Tristan Vautier who dove down low
as the two went three wide with Justin Wilson and they crashed in
turn three.
Kanaan
held the lead briefly until his rookie teammate Sage Karam took the
lead briefly before being forced to pit after just a few laps at the
front.
Karam
would catch a lucky break as the yellow flag flew once again for
debris from Ed Carpenter’s Chevrolet on lap 109 which brought the
field down pit road again. Gabby Chaves inherited the lead as he
along with Will Power and Justin Wilson stayed out under the yellow.
The
Columbian rookie did not back down and diced with Penske giants Helio
Castroneves and Will Power for the lead before being forced to pit
under green. Meanwhile, Ryan Hunter-Reay rose to the occasion and
took the lead for the first time of the day.
Much
like Karam’s luck, Chaves would regain the lead as the yellow would
fly once again for Tony Kanaan’s spin on lap 132 and crash in the
short chute. He would lose the lead on the restart to Simon Pagenaud
but the yellow flew again for Marco Andretti’s crash in turn one.
Hunter-Reay
picked up the lead on the restart and held for 12 laps until a fox
ran on the track on lap 163, bringing out another yellow. Ryan
Briscoe and Justin Wilson stayed out under the yellow as the rest of
the field pitted as the field geared up for the restart on lap 167.
Karam didn’t get going which produced a spectacular display as the
field went seven wide going into turn 1 and nearly making it stick
but Helio Castroneves crashed, which inevitably brought out another
yellow.
The
majority of the field pitted again in order to top up with fuel to
insure that they would go the distance.
After
four laps of yellow, the race restarted and saw its longest green
flag stretch since the opening and featured rookie Sage Karam, Josef
Newgarden and Takuma Sato taking turns at the front.
Karam
soon extended his lead comfortably but fuel was becoming a concern
for the young rookie. With 21 laps to go, Karam spun coming out of
turn 1 and hit the outside wall head on. Scattering debris across the
track.
While
trying to avoid the debris, Wilson was struck by a piece of the
nosecone from Karam’s crash.
The
Briton was extracted from his car and was airlifted to Leigh Valley
Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital for an apparent head injury.
The
race was never red flagged and Gabby Chaves picked up the lead once
again. With seven laps to go the race restarted and Ryan Hunter-Reay
wasted no time roaring to the front and took the lead for good as
Chaves would fall out himself with an engine failure with three laps
to go, which ended the race under yellow.
The
celebration was muted as Hunter-Reay’s thoughts were with his
teammate.
“Obviously,
first and foremost, we’re thinking about Justin Wilson,” he said.
“With heads exposed and when you get flying debris, it’s a bad
luck deal. Our thoughts are with him. I know him and his family well,
they’re great friends of ours. Really, really just thinking about
Justin right now.”
IndyCar
officials announced that Justin Wilson is in a coma and has suffered
a severe head injury following the accident and is listed in critical
condition.
Josh
Farmer has covered motorsports since 2012 with a focus on the Verizon
IndyCar Series, the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship and the FIA
World Endurance Championship.
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