Indycars can travel well over 220 MPH at the Indianapolis 500, so naturally the largely-carbon-fiber Dallara DW-12 chassis that the vehicles are built on have been developed with safety in mind. One of many safety enablers is the concept of the “tether,” whose job it is to keep all the various bits that are meant to absorb crash energy by breaking off the main “safety cell” from flying off onto the racetrack or into the stands. Tethers are used to hold aero bits, but they’re best known for making sure the wheels and suspension stay with the car when they break off. Apparently one tether at today’s race failed, because a car launched its wheel and tire assembly way out into the parking lot and onto a poor unsuspecting Chevy Cruze.

The Indianapolis 500 is underway, and with over 230,000 tickets sold it’s supposed to be among the biggest in the race’s over-100-year history. It’s an exciting event, with crazy parties happening in the stands, but especially in the infield’s “Snake Pit,” and just outside the speedway in the “Coke Lot.” But though the Indy 500 can feel like it’s all about parties, the race itself is a lot of fun to follow, and not just for the high-speed crashes.

Still, while I don’t love the idea of covering only car crashes (as there’s more to racing than the dangerous part that can get people killed), I’ve just been informed of a wild one unlike any I’ve ever seen:

Alucina a color

En la Indy 500 Kyle Kirkwood perdió una rueda en este vídeo ????????????

(Atención al siguiente tweet) pic.twitter.com/g2Nb1gIttJ

— Virutas de Goma™ (@VirutasF1) May 28, 2023

Wow! The Indy Star explains what happened, writing:

With less than 20 laps to go in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood collided and Kirkwood’s rear left tire bounced off the track and headed toward — but over — the crowd in Turn 2.

It was a terrifying site as the tire flew up over the outer fencing and headed toward the grandstand. A red flag was waved to halt the race. According to Nick Criser who was in the area, the tire thankfully missed the crowd.

Here’s a look at the tire flying over the stands (see red circle):

This was freaking dangerous, the tyre (circled in red) just passed over the crowds#IndyCar #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/y6pGUrL6p2

— MultiViewer (@f1multiviewer) May 28, 2023

And here’s the Chevy Cruze that took a beating from that wheel/tire (also below that in the replies to the tweet is a slow motion look at the crash:

here’s the slo-mo of the tire going into the crowd:#Indy500 pic.twitter.com/NtpFurU0DJ

— jamie jordan (@JordanJamie) May 28, 2023

Here you can see what appears to be the tire crashing into the Cruze:

Overhead cam shows the tire slamming off a car in the lot beside the Turn 2 suite. That was LUCKY. #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/8T5k0dQeqz

— Chad Willis (@ChadWillis) May 28, 2023

And here’s a look at the parking lot, for context:

Thankfully nobody was hurt with that Tire that was sent out of the racing area.#Indy500 pic.twitter.com/uhe6bi7isb

— The Wide World Of Motorsports (@THEWWOMS) May 28, 2023

Perhaps the most important clip you need to see is this one:

“I’m just glad I’m so safe.”

Kyle Kirkwood is okay after a scary crash ends his day at the #Indy500. pic.twitter.com/p1bsnDtKuZ

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 28, 2023

Kirkwood, whose car was sliding upside down at an absurd speed, is safe.

Oh, and if you want to learn more about tethers, check it out:

UPDATE (May 28, 2023 9:16 P.M. ET): The Cruze had to be towed, per this tweet from Indiana-based news reporter Rich Nye:

This is Robin Matthews of Indy. Her white Chevy Cruze she calls “snowball” was the car hit by the wheel that flew over the fence in a crash at #Indy500. The car had to be towed. @IMS President @jdouglas4 brought her to the yard of bricks & getting her a ride home. #TrackTeam13 pic.twitter.com/Ba4GN8w4bP

— Rich Nye (@RichNye13) May 28, 2023

Topshot Credit: NBC/Jamie Jordan (Twitter)