IMSA safety worker injured in end of race crash at Detroit
An IMSA race safety worker was injured during a crash at the end of Saturday's Tudor United SportsCar Championship race at Belle Isle in Detroit.
IMSA said Sunday that the worker, who was not identified, had broken ribs, a collapsed lung and injuries to his spleen and kidney.
The race was run in a combination of dry and wet conditions. Rain arrived at the end of the race and teams scrambled to make it to the finish with the slick tires that were on the cars instead of pitting for rain tires.
James Davison lost control of his car at the finish line and slammed into the wall on the wet track. His car then slammed into a safety truck. Here's the video.
Here's James Davison hitting the safety truck after the finish from FS2 broadcast. https://t.co/hMXtNlrcM1
— Geoffrey Miller (@GeoffreyMiller) May 30, 2015
The incident at turn one didn't end there. More cars piled into the tire barriers after Davison's crash, though they weren't captured by Fox Sports' cameras until the end of the incident. Four cars were stopped at the accident scene.
You can see a worker on foot running away from the crash scene in the Davison video. This angle shows what appears to be two safety workers scrambling to safety on the tire barriers.
Something weird and possibly not good happened in the tire barriers at the finish of the IMSA race. https://t.co/pCG2WGWZKg
— Geoffrey Miller (@GeoffreyMiller) May 30, 2015
IMSA has not said what exactly happened in the crashes, and neither has Fox Sports, who chose to focus on post-race interviews rather than the clearly crazy scene in turn one after the race ended.
Per the television feed, drivers did not see a yellow flag when they took the checkered flag in the rain. The safety truck was sitting in turn one – no, we don't know why – not far from the finish line, creating the dangerous situation even in fully dry conditions.
Imagine a safety truck sitting in turn one at a Sprint Cup Series race and all drivers pushing hard to the finish must avoid it as they slow down after taking the checkered flag. Oh yeah, add rain.
Even if it was a simple miscommunication by IMSA officials and track personnel, the screwup is inexcusable, especially in the wake of what happened with Juan Pablo Montoya and the Daytona jet dryer in 2012. IMSA has NASCAR ties; it was founded with help from Bill France Sr. and is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Dane Cameron drove the No. 31 to the finish for the overall win in the race.
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Nick Brombergis the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
