Keith Groller: Sunday’s IndyCar crash a harsh reminder of just how dangerous auto racing is

Aug. 21--LONG POND -- Since they took over running Pocono Raceway for their grandfather, Dr. Joseph Mattioli, in 2011, Brandon and Nick Igdalsky have enhanced the racetrack in Monroe County with numerous amenities.

There's a water fountain at one of the entrances, a dog park, a children's playground, fireworks, fan fairs, concerts and many other attractions to see on a race weekend.

The one place that no one wants to be, however, is standing outside the infield medical center with a medevac helicopter whirring across the parking lot preparing to transport a driver to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

It happened in 2015 when IndyCar driver Justin Wilson was involved in a freak accident when a piece of Sage Karam's car hit him in the head. Wilson died a day later of a traumatic brain injury.

It happened again Sunday on the seventh lap of the ABC Supply 500 Verizon Indycar race when rookie Robert Wickens made contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay coming out of Turn 2, the often talked about tunnel turn. Wickens went airborne, going over Hunter-Reay's car and over the wall into the catch-fence.

The scene was one of the most horrific ever at Pocono Raceway, a visible reminder that auto racing is perhaps the most dangerous of sports.

The race was red-flagged for nearly two hours as the fence was repaired and debris cleaned up.

Alexander Rossi, a driver for Andretti Autosport, eventually won the race , but just like when his teammate Hunter-Reay won in 2015, winning was secondary.

Almost all of the drivers expressed immediate concern and best wishes to Wickens, who, it was later revealed, had sustained injuries to his lower extremities, right arm and spine, according to IndyCar officials. He also sustained a pulmonary contusion and was to undergo an MRI. According to the Associated Press, he underwent surgery Monday night for his spinal injury.

Wickens has a few broken bones and numerous bruises but is expected to race again one day -- if he chooses to get back in a car.

And he likely will because drivers accept the risks and inherent dangers of flying around tracks at excessive speeds while trying to get in and out of tight spaces to pass others.

Both Wickens and Hunter-Reay are lucky to be alive. The outcomes could have been worse -- if Wickens' car went into the fence cockpit first, if the protective tub had not remained intact, if the debris field had been fractions of an inch lower as it sailed over Hunter-Reay's head.

Enough ifs to ignite a renewed safety debate, calls for different fencing at ovals or halos over the cockpits to protect drivers' heads.

But racing is never going to be 100 percent safe. If risk was not part of the show, there would be no show.

The open-wheel cars on the IndyCar circuit go much faster than the NASCAR stock cars that were center stage at Pocono in June and July.

The average speed of Sunday's race was 191.304 mph. The average speed of the NASCAR three weeks earlier was 132.460 mph.

Vicious crashes occur in the Monster Energy Cup Series, too. In fact, the trauma center at Lehigh Valley Hospital Center was dedicated in honor of the Mattioli family in part because the hospital saved the life of NASCAR driver Bobby Allison in 1988 after he suffered a major crash at Pocono.

But IndyCar has had more tragedies in recent years with a crash taking the life of Dan Wheldon in 2011 and Wilson three years ago.

During Sunday's lengthy delay, Nazareth racing legend Mario Andretti was interviewed by NBC Sports and noted the safety improvements made from the time he raced.

"The sanctioning bodies have certainly been responsible and have reacted to issues of track safety with [steel and foam energy reduction] barriers at these tracks," Andretti said. "And the cars themselves are safer. But it's a work in progress because each incident provides something new, a new aspect that leads to 'I think we can do this better.'"

Andretti said when he was a driver, "the risk was accepted. We had to. There was no other choice. But as time went on, we got smarter. The cars got faster, the engineers had more knowledge. If we can make the car go faster, why not also make it safer so we can race another day?"

Mario's son, Michael Andretti, was accused of being insensitive when he was interviewed after the Wickens accident. The team owner said Wickens should have let off the gas and it was too early in the race to be so aggressive, prompting a backlash on social media over his perceived detachment.

Perhaps he was just compartmentalizing. Andretti has lost enough friends to racing accidents -- including Wheldon and Wilson, who was driving an Andretti car in the fatal 2015 accident at Pocono -- to understand the emotions enveloping the paddock on Sunday.

No matter how safe they make the cars and tracks, if you put people in cars going extremely fast and bunch them together on a track, bad things can happen.

That's why there's a church service at the track before every race.

It's why auto racing, although not nearly as popular as the stick and ball sports, is something that appeals to the most adventurous side of us.

In promoting the race last week, both Marco Andretti and Nick Igdalsky talked about IndyCar putting "on a good show."

The fans that stayed the course at Pocono got a show on Sunday -- one that fortunately had a happy ending.

Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press contributed to this story.

kgroller@mcall.com

610-820-6740

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