A woman whose car was damaged by a tire that flew off of a car at the Indianapolis 500 will soon receive a new, replacement vehicle.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway confirmed plans to give Robin Matthews a new car, though details have not yet been finalized, Scripps News Indianapolis reports. The accident took place on lap 184 when Kyle Kirkwood made contact with Felix Rosenqvist's car, which led to Kirkwood's tire flying off, leaving the track and striking Matthews' car, which was located in the parking lot at the time. The 22-pound tire nearly missed striking the grandstand before making its way to the parking lot, with numerous spectators avoiding possible injuries.
"I saw what had happened; saw it bounced on top of a building and went and hit a car over there, which obviously is very concerning. We have tethers on the wheels, and it was a rear wheel that came off, and I'm sure the guys at INDYCAR will look at it, will determine what really happened," said team owner Roger Penske via Scripps News Indianapolis after the incident took place. "We haven't seen a wheel come off in a long time. We have high fences here. But we were very fortunate we didn't have a bad accident."
Penske said he believed the tether attached to the left-rear of Kirkwood's car failed, though INDYCAR said the rear tethers remained intact after the crash in a statement to the Indianapolis Star.