Dario Franchitti injured in flying wreck, fans hurt
Accident showers debris into grandstand, injuring 13 spectators and an IndyCar Series official
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Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti fractured two vertebrae and broke his right ankle when his car went airborne into a fence on Sunday on the last lap of the Grand Prix of Houston. The accident showered debris into the grandstand, injuring 13 fans and an IndyCar Series official.
Franchitti was transported by ambulance to a hospital. The four-time series champion had surgery on his ankle was being held overnight, and IndyCar said a series official was treated for minor injuries.
Houston Fire Department spokesman Ruy Lozano said 13 fans were injured, and that 11 were treated on site at Reliant Park. Lozano said two were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The accident in turn five was reminiscent of Dan Wheldon’s fatal 2011 crash at Las Vegas in that competitors had to drive through the wreckage.
It was a sobering moment for race winner Will Power, who injured his back in the Las Vegas crash, and for Scott Dixon, who took control of the IndyCar championship race on Sunday but passed by teammate Franchitti’s car and waved in an attempt to get an update on his condition.
“The smells and the visuals, for me, and even talking to Will, you have the remnants of Vegas popping into your head with you coming around the corner and you can’t drive through it because there’s a field of debris,” Dixon said. “There was no near the amount of damage that we saw [in 2011], but seeing the replay was a big shock.”
The accident occurred after contact between Franchitti and Takuma Sato sent Franchitti’s car launching over Sato’s and into the fence. Parts and pieces from both cars flew into the grandstand and Franchitti’s badly damaged car bounced back onto the track. E.J. Viso then hit Sato’s car.
The caution came out to immediately freeze the field, preventing Dixon from making a final attempt on passing Power for the win. Dixon won Saturday’s first race of the doubleheader weekend and settled for second after Franchitti’s crash.
Power initially seemed shaken when he climbed from his car and admitted the accident reminded him of Las Vegas, where he and Wheldon both hit the fence.
“I just saw Dario’s car and him sitting in it with a lot of damage, and yes, that’s what it reminded me of,” Power said. “I hate seeing that. We try to keep these cars on the ground.”
The accident ended a weekend that saw Dixon move into the points lead following mechanical failures for Helio Castroneves on consecutive days.
Castroneves came to Houston with a 49-point lead over Dixon. But gearbox problems on for Castroneves on Saturday and Sunday mean that now Dixon has a 25-point lead in the standings and needs only to finish fifth or better in the October 19 finale in California to win his third IndyCar title.
“It’s still going to come down to the wire,” he said. “It’s still going to be the last lap, last corner kind of situation. At least I hope that it ends that way.”
