We see IndyCar drivers crash at ovals fairly regularly, so Hildebrand backing his Ed Carpenter Racing machine into the wall at Iowa Speedway during first practice didn’t look particularly remarkable.
He went a bit low, lost the rear of the car and spun into the barrier, with a pretty hefty hit to the rear-end. But, watching the replay and looking at the cockpit reveals something very strange.
Just after the moment of impact at Turn 2, the steering wheel pops off and zooms out of the cockpit, like it’s trying to make a fast escape.
That’s a bit strange.
It’s very rare we see steering wheels coming off in motorsport accidents, let alone flying through the air and smashing into the tarmac. We wonder if it still works?
Very weird, and we’re sure IndyCar and Ed Carpenter Racing will be investigating what happened. Hildebrand was able to get out of the car, though, which is a good thing.
