A fan whose automobile was smashed by a tire that went flying through the Indianapolis 500 is getting a brand new trip, courtesy of the observe proprietor who occurs to be one of many nation’s greatest auto sellers.

Penske Leisure is changing Robin Matthews’ 2012 Chevrolet Cruze, a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway advised The Indianapolis Star. Matthews additionally was given a number of distinctive experiences to make up for the inconvenience: kissing the “Yard of Bricks” on the end line and posing for images with the tempo automobile, a Chevy Corvette Z06 convertible. She received a trip residence in an official Indy 500 car whereas her white Cruze, nicknamed “Snowball,” was towed.

Matthews’ automobile was struck by the left rear tire of Kirk Kirkwood’s automobile, which spun out and flipped 17 laps from the end. Though the tire missed the grandstands, one fan was handled for minor accidents attributable to different particles.

“Massively relieved everybody seems to be OK,” tweeted writer John Inexperienced, who was sitting close to the place the crash occurred. “Watching a wheel fly over my associates at 150 miles per hour just isn’t an expertise I am anxious to repeat.”

Roger Penske, who purchased the speedway and IndyCar sequence in 2020, stated he and his staff had been investigating why Kirkwood’s tire indifferent. IndyCar makes use of tethers designed to maintain wheels from flying off in a crash. The morning after the race — gained by considered one of Penske’s drivers, Josef Newgarden — he talked to officers from chassis producer Dallara concerning the crash.

“I talked to the Dallara guys, and we’ll take a look at it,” Penske advised reporters. “We’ve tethers on these [wheels], and I’ve by no means seen a wheel come off of these. That, to me, might be the scariest factor, and we have got to repair that so it would not occur once more. Our technical guys are going to take a look at it.”