Graham Rahal’s run in the 105th Indianapolis 500 came to an end against the turn 2 wall.
After a pit stop on lap 119, the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda spun coming through turn 2 in the warmup lane, hitting the wall with the right side of the car.
Further replays show that the left-rear tire was not secure to the car before Rahal left his pit box.
The Ohio native was leading prior to his pit stop and was checked and released from the medical center. Rahal has been cleared to drive.
“Famous last words, but we had them. We had them,” Rahal said. “The fuel saving that we were doing, the car, we were in the perfect spot, we were just cruising. I keep using the word ‘going to.’ That’s not the right word, but our strategist played it right. I felt like I was doing a good job in the car. We got ourselves where we needed to be. We had them today and, like I said, this one’s hard to accept.
“I’m proud of the United Rentals guys, we worked hard. I’m sorry we didn’t win this thing because we should have.”
The left-rear tire bounced into Conor Daly’s path and the No. 47 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet hit the tire with the left side of the very front of the nose. The tire landed in the grass next to the track.
Three things were obvious about this incident. 1, the tire changer did not get the wheel nut tight. You can see his body language when the car left the pit. 2, the wheel fell off the car before Rahal spun. 3, Paul Tracy just starts running his mouth about accidents before he sees the facts. He puts together a fixed dialogue in his brain about the situation that has happened. It is the worse type of reporting/describing a race. Not forgivable when you make a career of doing it. I like PT, he could be the best if he would stick to the facts and speculate from that point.