Follow the jump for video if the incident
We are soooo glad Danica Patrick hearts Autoblog, because during practice at Indy yesterday, she struck a pit crew member of a competing team. Dale Coyne Racing's Charles Buckman, the chief mechanic for Mario Moraes, suffered a concussion as well as scalp and facial cuts after being hit and then sailing over Danica's car in pit row.
According to several trackside eyewitnesses, the incident was completely not Danica's fault. Apparently, Indy's pit area was busier and more congested than usual due to a weather delay, and Buckman took one step too many to the right just as Danica was pitting. He was taken to Methodist Hospital and is expected to recover fully from his injuries. For his part, Buckman says he doesn't remember many details about the incident.
People at the track said Danica and her teammates were visibly shaken by the accident. Marco Andretti saw the accident happen, and told Sports Illustrated, "It's a dangerous situation; a crowded pit lane, a lot going on. You don't like to see that kind of thing but it's not Danica's fault. Stuff happens. Racing is dangerous. We're very concerned and hopefully it will turn out good." Thanks for the tip, Joe!
[Source: Sports Illustrated]
BREAKING: More Porsche Panamera pics surface![BREAKING: Automaker bailout agreement reached in Senate, still not a sure thing [UPDATE]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/billpass_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
BREAKING: Automaker bailout agreement reached in Senate, still not a sure thing [UPDATE]![LA 2008: 2010 Mazda3 shows its smiling face [w/VIDEO]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/01_mazda3_live_la_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
LA 2008: 2010 Mazda3 shows its smiling face [w/VIDEO]
LA 2008: Honda surprises with FC Sport fuel cell sports car concept
LA 2008: Redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion
Formula for Peace: Israeli and Palestinian drivers get on track
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
Knight Rider: The Liveblog -- Season 1, Episode 8
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 HUMMER H3T Alpha
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Torrent @ May 10th 2008 12:03PM
This is one of those 'lol' moments, but i don't want to get lowest ranked. He should moved out of the way- not ran towards the car. LOL ROFL LMAO LOL xD!!!!!
vince @ May 11th 2008 12:15PM
Women drivers...
IK47 @ May 10th 2008 12:05PM
how is it not her fault?
she should have used the horn?
Thedevil @ May 10th 2008 12:14PM
Well what do you expect?she is a female driver,she probably was putting on her makeup.
rouse42 @ May 10th 2008 12:15PM
he should of jumped like kobe or hilary swank in the next karate kid.
pit crews could be wearing full gear like F1 soon if danica keeps running people over.
Tourian @ May 10th 2008 12:17PM
I don't see the point of the opening statement of pointing out that she "hearts Autoblog." Is she going to be mad if the news reports this incident?
PauloBecker @ May 10th 2008 1:53PM
If she can do that to a rival team manager, imagine what she'd do to people who give her bad press!
Agent47 @ May 10th 2008 12:17PM
By the looks of it I would have guessed that the driver was not only a woman, but also Asian.
mario @ May 10th 2008 8:10PM
typical racist comment
Golferal @ May 10th 2008 11:57PM
My wife is female (obviously) and asian and I can attest to the validity of this comment (pleeeeeease don't tell her I said that!)
Gstill @ May 10th 2008 12:23PM
Helmets might be a good idea.
Thank you for making the token woman driver joke, so I didn't have to.
pmiddle5 @ May 10th 2008 12:33PM
Dumbass guy....I'm not pinning any of that blame on the racing driver.
LOs @ May 10th 2008 12:43PM
I have to agree with this you would think a Chief Mechanic would know well enough not to be wandering around in that pit lane like that. There is a reason that wall is there and why crews stay as close to it as possible until the cars come in.
Brett- BMW Advo @ May 10th 2008 12:49PM
agreed, these cars are fast and this is a competition. the drivers and the crew members all need to be aware and focused. getting hit by cars isnt rare in the racing world.
watch yo back crew men! and Danica, i'll watch yours ;)
Kayne001 @ May 12th 2008 11:47AM
did anyone happen to see the part where the guy in front of him moves out the way and doesn't look back to warn anyone. Just as a precaution.
AmericanTruckGuy @ May 10th 2008 12:42PM
So much for Honda's "Safety for Everyone" initiative.
Noidor @ May 10th 2008 12:54PM
This guy is so lucky. We all have lapses in our judgment, especially when our minds are highly preoccupied with something else. I'm sure he was always careful on pitlane, but it almost cost him his life one time when he wasn't. Not Danica's fault, undoubtedly she is going to be paranoid next time when she enters the pitlane.
One more thing, I think that under race conditions pitlane is a lot safer because there is a code that is being followed, it is during practice when people are relaxed when crap like this happens.
sdcarnut @ May 10th 2008 1:30PM
She looks like she was going 100 mph ??
azzo45 @ May 12th 2008 8:30PM
NO! IndyCar like most modern, professional series impose a pit lane speed limit.
Danica would be dragging her foot to warm up the carbon brakes & was going 35-40MPH down from a 55MPH pit speed limit?
IRL makes them wear helmets during the race... should make them do it in practice as well.
gkoenig @ May 10th 2008 2:10PM
Before watching the video, I wondered how it was that everyone said it was not her fault, but seeing the video makes it very clear to me.
Indy (and F1) car drivers have very poor visibility; in fact, it is one of the major challenges of driving these vehicles that your eye line is only 18-20" off of the pavement. As she pulled in, her view of the pit area was mostly obstructed by the other pitted car and the crew member standing there with his hand out signaling to the parked driver to hold his position. She developed and committed to her trajectory based on what she saw and she likely could not have even seen Buckman (the man she struck).
As soon as he stepped out, that was that.
Sucks to be everyone involved, but they should all be thankful that Buckman is going to be OK. I have a feeling that if he was 12 inches over to the left and hit the car more square instead of being clipped, this whole thing would have come out much worse.