Sting Ray Robb was involved in a frightening crash during the final lap of Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway, colliding with Alexander Rossi and being launched into the air. Rossi had slowed down due to running out of fuel, and Robb crashed into him coming out of Turn 2. Robb’s No. 41 Dallara-Chevrolet flipped twice and slid down the backstretch before stopping upside down. The AMR Safety Team helped him exit the car, and he was placed on a stretcher. Robb gave a thumbs-up to the crowd before being taken to Mercy One Medical Center in Des Moines, where he was released later that day.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. reviewed the crash and concluded that no one was to blame, despite some speculation that Robb could have avoided Rossi. On his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast, Earnhardt said, “People were saying Sting Ray could have avoided it. There was a lot of criticism about how he didn’t avoid this. I don’t know. Rossi runs out of gas. The IndyCar goes flying, flips, and it looks traumatic and crazy. In NASCAR terms, it’s like Ricky Stenhouse blowing up and Carl Edwards crashing into him at the start/finish line. No one blamed Carl because he couldn’t avoid Stenhouse. Same thing here.
“Sting Ray has a funny name, so he’s an easy target. But when I saw it, my initial reaction wasn’t ‘How did he run into him?’ You heard the onboard audio; the car starves for fuel. Rossi did a good job, didn’t change lanes or move around the track, just got run over. … I wouldn’t blame anyone. It’s an unfortunate situation without any clear fault.”
Sting Ray Robb was released from the medical center after the crash at Iowa Speedway. The 22-year-old is in his second full-time season in the IndyCar Series and first with AJ Foyt Racing. He is currently 21st in the points standings after 11 races. Ed Carpenter, who was also involved in the crash, felt Robb misjudged the situation as Rossi had been slow for a couple of laps. “Alex was off pace for a couple of laps,” Carpenter said. “I saw that, my spotter told me, I figured he had a fuel problem. It looked like Sting Ray misjudged the closing rate. They made contact, and I tried to avoid it but spun. I slid into Alex, then Kirkwood hit me, making the crash worse.”
Earnhardt raised concerns about Robb’s protection during the flip. “The driver is in a foam-padded u-shaped thing around their heads,” Earnhardt said. “I know it’s designed for righting the car at Indy. But what protection does he have in these types of crashes? Uncommon, hard landings worried me. But it’s good he’s doing well.”
