re: 2023 IndyCar Season - R17 Laguna Seca 9/10 2:30 pm ET (NBC)

The fan whose car was struck by the flying wheel during the Indy 500 is going to get a new car from Penske. In a way it was kind of fortuitous that the car that was struck was a Chevrolet, since the Penske IndyCar team uses Chevy engines. Good marketing that Penske buys a new Chevy for an unlucky fan.

espn.com/racing/story/_/id/37768342/fan-vehicle-damaged-indianapolis-500-tire-get-new-car

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The spokesperson told the Indianapolis Star on Wednesday that Penske Entertainment, which owns the IMS track and the IndyCar Series, would give Robin Matthews, a race fan from Indianapolis, a new car.

In the closing laps of Sunday's race, Kirkwood's car launched off the back of Felix Rosenqvist's after Rosenqvist hit the wall between Turns 1 and 2. Kirkwood's car flipped, and his tire went soaring over the fence and the corner of a grandstand where many fans were watching the race before landing in the parking lot, where it crushed the Chevrolet.

Matthews' car, which she calls "Snowball," had to be towed because of the damage caused from the crash. She was treated with a chance to kiss the yard of bricks, and IMS president J. Douglas Boles gave her a ride home.

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