Indy 500 star in huge crash and stands on track to yell ‘f*** you’ at | F1 | Sport

A furious IndyCar star refused to leave the track after crashing out of the Indianapolis 500 – until he had the chance to curse at the rival he felt was responsible for his wreck. Team owner Ed Carpenter entered himself in the American racing series’ flagship event but his day lasted for just 27 of the 200 laps as he became the third driver of the race to crash out.

The Indy 500 had already seen 2014 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay and Britain’s Katherine Legge crash out, the latter unfortunate to hit the wall after swerving to avoid the former who had spun out on his own. At the restart, Carpenter found himself in the wall after he was caught in a pocket between several other cars on track.

Replays showed former F1 driver and two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, who was on the outside of Carpenter heading into the corner, appear to come down the slope and into the American racer’s line, causing him to spin out and slam into the wall. Fortunately he seemed unharmed as he was able to climb out of the wrecked car under his own power.

Carpenter was clearly furious, though, as after removing his helmet he chose not to immediately follow a safety marshal off the track. Instead, he waited until the field came back around the oval to pass him so that he could show Sato what he thought of his driving.

Carpenter was seen standing on the Brickyard track, waiting until Sato was approaching. When he spotted the Japanese racer’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car, he pointed directly at him and could clearly been seen saying “f*** you” to the driver he blamed for ending his Indy 500 early.

Naturally, the incident sparked plenty of reaction online. One fan, who posted a screenshot of Carpenter’s outburst, wrote: “Ed Carpenter is a psycho. Gets in a wreck and then tries to square up a moving IndyCar!” Another noted: “I don’t think we need a professional lip-reader for what Ed Carpenter said to Sato.” And a third joked: “Ed Carpenter looks like a neighborhood dad yelling at cars for going 27mph down the street when the speed limit sign clearly says 25.”

Once he had been assessed by medics and cleared, Carpenter faced the media where he made his frustration with Sato clear. He said: “I was in the middle of a gaggle of cars, following [Marcus] Armstrong into turn one on the outside, and Takuma tried to make it three-wide into turn one on the restart, which was unwise.

“Not only did he do that, he tried to squeeze me down like I was not going to be there, so that’s really disappointing, so early in the race. For a veteran like that, a two-time champion, I would expect way more out of him. Needless to say, I’m pretty disappointed that happened.”