Josef Newgarden escapes serious injury; Firestone 600 postponed

FORT WORTH, Texas -- IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden escaped serious injury Sunday in a horrific front straightaway crash in the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Newgarden's car was passing Conor Daly on the outside of Turn 4 when Daly had the back end of his car get loose and then turn into Newgarden's path.

The contact drove both cars hard into the wall, but it was a secondary hit that was most troublesome. Newgarden's car was not only heavily damaged, it was turned on its side with the top of the cockpit hitting the wall.

Newgarden was slow to get out of the car, but he seemed to do so under his own power. Seconds later, he grabbed his right shoulder and slumped to the ground.

Newgarden was later diagnosed with a fractured right clavicle and a small fracture of his right hand. Daly was not injured and accepted responsibility for the accident.

"The car appeared to do what it was supposed to do, the SAFER barriers did what they're supposed to do," IndyCar president Jay Frye said. "Thank goodness (Newgarden) is OK."

Said Newgarden in a statement released by IndyCar: "The car held up great and the response from the safety team was amazing. I'm banged up a little bit but I'm generally OK. That's all thanks to IndyCar and all the work everyone within the series does.

"I am feeling a little pain but I hope to be ready to rock and go again soon. We had a great car today, it just did not go how we planned. I feel bad for both Conor and myself, but I'm glad Conor is OK as well. I'll be back there fighting as soon as I can.

"Luckily, I am all right, thank you again to everyone who helped me."

The crash occurred on Lap 42, and while the cars were circling the track under caution heavy rain arrived for a second consecutive day. Seventy-one laps were completed, not enough to reach the halfway point of the 248-lap race. A race is official one lap past halfway.

The race was postponed to Aug. 27. The green flag will be at 8 p.m. ET, with the resumption on Lap 72. James Hinchcliffe is the leader.