IndyCar: Charlie Kimball 'caught out by the wind' in airborne crash at Pocono

LONG POND, Pennsylvania – Charlie Kimball’s Chevrolet was flying during Saturday’s Verizon IndyCar Series qualifications for Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono. This wasn’t the kind of “flying lap” Kimball was hoping for, however.

Kimball was on one of his two qualification laps around the 2.5-mile triangle-shaped speedway when the rear end of his Chevrolet came loose from the track. It slammed backwards into the Turn 3 wall and the impact lifted the car off the ground. Kimball’s car rode the top edge of the wall before it lifted further and hit several of the poles attached to the catchfence.

“We had a pretty good warmup lap and the car was giving me a lot of confidence and I went into Turn 1 and I didn’t like the balance so I made some adjustments,” Kimball explained. “I went into Turn 3 and got caught out by the wind and the 83 car rotated. Unfortunately, the car had been quick all morning and we were pretty close to the pole in qualifying.

“I hit sideways and I don’t know what rolled under. I was looking down riding along the top of the wall for a while. Overall, I’m happy to get away with just a couple bumps and bruises.”

Kimball’s only injury was a cut on the chin that required two stitches. Qualifications were halted while the damaged fence was repaired. Those repairs took less than one hour.

“We have a couple stitches on the chin and a bruise on my hand and finger,” Kimball said. “When you are this ugly to begin with it is hard to do much damage.”

Kimball’s car was damaged beyond repair and he will have to start Sunday’s 500-mile race in a backup car.

“Seeing us roll off the grid last isn’t going to be great but hopefully I’ll make it more exciting fighting my way through the field,” Kimball said. “The SAFER Barrier did its job. It’s not something you can test because you never want to crash but when it happens I’m pleased it was not worse.”

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