By Luis Torres, Staff Writer
A two-car incident on a restart eliminated Conor Daly and rookie Oliver Askew out of the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge Sunday.
Coming to the restart on Lap 93, Daly’s No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet was attempting to get by Alex Palou and Graham Rahal until losing control at the exit of Turn 3. This was a result of Daly going low into concrete brim that’s bitten a few drivers this month.
While Daly was spinning, further behind was Askew whose No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet slid in a sharp angle, slamming hard into the inside wall. Daly made front nose contact towards the wall, but the biggest damage came at the back of his car due to Askew running into him.
A massive crash for Oliver Askew in the #Indy500.@IMS added SAFER Barriers designed for safety, and we're so glad they exist as he and Conor Daly are OK. Watch the race on @NBC: https://t.co/B6M3MXYpFe pic.twitter.com/2T6m3Y8ZYL
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 23, 2020
The carnage brought out the fourth caution of the afternoon as their dreams of Indy glory were over. Especially Askew, who led a few laps and appeared to be a favorite to win Indy 500 ROTY honors following Rinus VeeKay stalling on pit road on Lap 63 which put him two laps down up to that point.
Both drivers got out of the cars and soon were checked and released from the infield care center.
When asked what happened, Daly wasn’t sure how his car lost control. However, once he saw the replay, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver put the blame on himself.
“I had a good run and we’re still going slow. It’s like my left front tire fell into a hole or something. Not sure why that happened. That’s never happened before,” said Daly. “Very strange and hate it for the guys. I thought I almost had it and then Oliver (hit me). I don’t know what happened to him, but it’s a shame to see for him too.
“I caught the curve which is probably on me. It’s a shame, so we’re looking forward for Gateway now.”
A shaken up Askew took time to catch his breath and aside from banging up his knee, but fortunately he was okay once describing his exit at Indianapolis.
“I’m okay now. I was a little shaken up after that hit. I think I got the wind knocked out of me and banged up my knee a little bit. Thank you to Dallara and INDYCAR for making these cars so safe and the AMR Safety Crew as well,” said Askew. “Big sorry to the team. We were having a good run there being very aggressive on strategy and the car felt really good.
“In he accident there, I saw a bunch of smoke in front of me and I think I tried to avoid Helio (Castroneves) and just lost the car trying to avoid the accident. That’s a shame.”
Daly and Askew will be credited with a 29th and 30th place finish.
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