Former Indy 500 Champ Simon Pagenaud Miraculously Walks Away From Insane Multi-Flip Crashh

Auto racing is inherently dangerous.

Both fans and drivers are aware of this. But in recent years, premier racing series’ such as NASCAR, Formula 1 and IndyCar have made massive strides toward improving the safety of the sports.

It’s not always perfect, as NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney learned the hard way recently. But it’s still vitally important.

On Saturday morning, one recent safety innovation may have saved the life of IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud.

Pageneud, a 39-year-old Frenchman, is the 2016 series champion and 2019 Indy 500 champion.

He was taking place in a practice session for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Saturday morning when the brakes in his Meyer-Shank Racing Chevrolet failed. Pagenaud was driving over 180 miles per hour at the time.

The result sent his car flying off track before turning sideways and doing several flips before coming to rest on its side up against a tire wall.

Miraculously, Pagenaud was able to exit the car under his own power and walk away before being escorted to the track’s medical center.

While thankfully he was alive and in relatively good health, Pagenaud was ruled out of the rest of the day’s on-track sessions.

“Driver of the No. 60, Simon Pagenaud, was evaluated and released by the INDYCAR medical team. As per INDYCAR protocol, Pagenaud has not been cleared to return to racing today. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow morning,” IndyCar said in a statement.

Even if he cannot participate in the race, the result of the crash as an unqualified success.

IndyCar modified its cars for safety prior to the 2020 season. Those modifications included the introduction of an aero screen surrounding the car’s cockpit.

The screen not only kept the car in tact, it kept any debris from entering the car as Pagenaud flipped. Thankfully, the IndyCar star both survived the crash and was able to walk away relatively unscathed.

But talk about a wild ride.