INDIANAPOLIS — Despite a wild crash on the final lap of Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway, Sting Ray Robb has been cleared by the IndyCar medical staff to compete in this weekend’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto through the streets of the Canadian city.
Robb, driver of the No. 41 Goodheart Vet Pray.com Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing, finished a season-best 15th on Saturday, but was involved in a crash that saw his car fly through the air and land upside down on the backstretch at the seven-eighths-mile track.
Robb met with media during a Tuesday afternoon video conference.
“Huge shout out to the AMR safety team and IndyCar medical,” said Robb, who was transported to a hospital on a stretcher following the incident. “They were on top of the car before I was even stopped, I think. Yeah, very, very grateful for all their support, the host event, things we’ve been going through to make sure I’m all right.
“We’re cleared for Toronto, which is awesome and exciting. It’s surprising considering the magnitude of that impact. Very, very grateful.”
Robb said it’s important to get back in the race car as soon as possible.
“Getting back in the car at Toronto I think is the best thing for me,” Robb said. “When you get kicked off the saddle that hard, you want to get back on as quick as you can to keep the momentum going.
“I’m very excited I get to do that this weekend. As a matter of fact, the team has done a good job to get the car back together and get it in the truck and headed back to Toronto this afternoon.”
Robb remembers the accident vividly.
“As I was up in the air, I could see the top of the catch fence almost at my level. At that moment I realized I was in some trouble there,” he explained. “I still had my hands on the steering wheel at that point, bracing myself. I had enough time in the air where it kind of went slow motion. I let go, grabbed under my harnesses to hold on.
“On the way down I had time to think about accidents that I’ve seen in recent history where guys, they’ve gone flying through the air like that,” Robb added. “Think about Hinchcliffe, Dixon at the speedway. Even Simon Pagenaud last year — 112Gs. I was at 109Gs.
“The fact of the matter is I should be more hurt as I am. I don’t know why I’m OK as I am. I’m giving the glory to God for that. Thanking the crew picking me up out of the car. Everybody did their job as they were supposed to.”
Robb described his extraction from the race car.
“I had some bruises on my hips from the lap belts working, as they should have. When they brought me out of the car and pulled me out, I got light-headed, kind of sit out the bed too quickly in the morning sometimes, you get light-headed, see stars a little bit. It was like that, but just super severe,” he said.
“I passed out for I don’t know how long it was. It was pretty quick. When I came to, I was like, ‘I’m not doing too well.’ Yeah, we know.
“They immediately laid me down on the stretcher. It was a precautionary that we want to make sure it’s not just dehydration, turning 248 laps left, getting dizzy from that. Once I was down on the stretcher, I felt great. I was seeing clearly. They hooked me up to an IV. Immediately I could feel the energy come back and I was ready to go.”
Robb was life flighted to the hospital where he underwent numerous tests, all which came back negative.
Despite the setback at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, Robb believes his team has improved rapidly this season.
“The fact of the matter is we’re building momentum, building a program a lot from a new team with a lot of new engineers and new mechanics,” he said. “It’s taking time to get to this point, but that momentum is being felt. We’re getting better every weekend.”