IndyCar likely to investigate wheel that flew out of racetrack

It’s not every day that you see the tire of an IndyCar fly outside of a track. But that’s what happened during the closing laps of Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, and the sport is likely to investigate what went wrong.

Felix Rosenquist and Kyle Kirkwood collided in the final 16 laps of the Indianapolis 500. Rosenquist spun out and clipped the backend of Kirkwood’s car, which sent the tire flying over the fence and grandstands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The tire narrowly missed the crowd, instead smashing into a nearby parked car at IMS. IndyCar owner Roger Penske says he believes officials will look into what happened.

“We haven’t had a wheel come off in a long time,” Penske said, per ESPN. “We were very fortunate we didn’t have a bad accident.”

SCARY crash for Kyle Kirkwood at the #Indy500😨

Tire went flying and narrowly missed the crowd 😬https://t.co/mGlYTvoKD1pic.twitter.com/uMSaSvu7qv

— On3 Pro (@On3ProSports) May 28, 2023

Tethers are supposed to keep the tires attached to the cars, even in the event of the wreck. But once Rosenquist’s car clipped Kirkwood’s the back rear tired dislodged from the vehicle and went soaring.

Thankfully, nobody sustained any injuries from that frightening moment.

“We have tethers on the wheels, and it was a rear wheel that came off,” Penske said. “And I’m sure the guys at IndyCar will look at it, will determine what really happened.”

Indy 500 makes history with record purse in 2023

The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 made history again in 2023. For the second-straight year, the purse set a new record.

Total prize money for this year’s running amounted to $17,021,500, a little over a $1 million increase from last year’s purse. Winner Josef Newgarden — who claimed his first victory in the Indy 500 on Sunday — took home a record $3.666 million.

Last year’s race saw a purse of $16,000,200 with winner Marcus Ericsson raking in $3.1 million for claiming the checkered flag. That’s now the second-largest purse in Indy 500 history.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said, per Racer.com. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Newgarden passed Ericsson on the final lap of the race to cross the yard of bricks first and win his first Indianapolis 500. Ericsson came up one lap shy of becoming the first repeat champion at the event in over two decades.