Filed under: Motorsports, Celebrities
VIDEO: Danica Patrick hits crew member on pit lane at Indy
by Chris Tutor on May 10th 2008 at 11:55AM 
Follow the jump for video if the incident
We are soooo glad Danica Patrick hearts Autoblog, because during practice at Indy yesterday, she struck a pit crew member of a competing team. Dale Coyne Racing's Charles Buckman, the chief mechanic for Mario Moraes, suffered a concussion as well as scalp and facial cuts after being hit and then sailing over Danica's car in pit row.
According to several trackside eyewitnesses, the incident was completely not Danica's fault. Apparently, Indy's pit area was busier and more congested than usual due to a weather delay, and Buckman took one step too many to the right just as Danica was pitting. He was taken to Methodist Hospital and is expected to recover fully from his injuries. For his part, Buckman says he doesn't remember many details about the incident.
People at the track said Danica and her teammates were visibly shaken by the accident. Marco Andretti saw the accident happen, and told Sports Illustrated, "It's a dangerous situation; a crowded pit lane, a lot going on. You don't like to see that kind of thing but it's not Danica's fault. Stuff happens. Racing is dangerous. We're very concerned and hopefully it will turn out good." Thanks for the tip, Joe!
[Source: Sports Illustrated]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Torrent 12:03PM (5/10/2008)
This is one of those 'lol' moments, but i don't want to get lowest ranked. He should moved out of the way- not ran towards the car. LOL ROFL LMAO LOL xD!!!!!
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vince 12:15PM (5/11/2008)
Women drivers...
IK47 12:05PM (5/10/2008)
how is it not her fault?
she should have used the horn?
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Thedevil 12:14PM (5/10/2008)
Well what do you expect?she is a female driver,she probably was putting on her makeup.
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rouse42 12:15PM (5/10/2008)
he should of jumped like kobe or hilary swank in the next karate kid.
pit crews could be wearing full gear like F1 soon if danica keeps running people over.
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Tourian 12:17PM (5/10/2008)
I don't see the point of the opening statement of pointing out that she "hearts Autoblog." Is she going to be mad if the news reports this incident?
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PauloBecker 1:53PM (5/10/2008)
If she can do that to a rival team manager, imagine what she'd do to people who give her bad press!
Agent47 12:17PM (5/10/2008)
By the looks of it I would have guessed that the driver was not only a woman, but also Asian.
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mario 8:10PM (5/10/2008)
typical racist comment
Golferal 11:57PM (5/10/2008)
My wife is female (obviously) and asian and I can attest to the validity of this comment (pleeeeeease don't tell her I said that!)
Gstill 12:23PM (5/10/2008)
Helmets might be a good idea.
Thank you for making the token woman driver joke, so I didn't have to.
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pmiddle5 12:33PM (5/10/2008)
Dumbass guy....I'm not pinning any of that blame on the racing driver.
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LOs 12:43PM (5/10/2008)
I have to agree with this you would think a Chief Mechanic would know well enough not to be wandering around in that pit lane like that. There is a reason that wall is there and why crews stay as close to it as possible until the cars come in.
Brett- BMW Advo 12:49PM (5/10/2008)
agreed, these cars are fast and this is a competition. the drivers and the crew members all need to be aware and focused. getting hit by cars isnt rare in the racing world.
watch yo back crew men! and Danica, i'll watch yours ;)
Kayne001 11:47AM (5/12/2008)
did anyone happen to see the part where the guy in front of him moves out the way and doesn't look back to warn anyone. Just as a precaution.
AmericanTruckGuy 12:42PM (5/10/2008)
So much for Honda's "Safety for Everyone" initiative.
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Noidor 12:54PM (5/10/2008)
This guy is so lucky. We all have lapses in our judgment, especially when our minds are highly preoccupied with something else. I'm sure he was always careful on pitlane, but it almost cost him his life one time when he wasn't. Not Danica's fault, undoubtedly she is going to be paranoid next time when she enters the pitlane.
One more thing, I think that under race conditions pitlane is a lot safer because there is a code that is being followed, it is during practice when people are relaxed when crap like this happens.
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sdcarnut 1:30PM (5/10/2008)
She looks like she was going 100 mph ??
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azzo45 8:30PM (5/12/2008)
NO! IndyCar like most modern, professional series impose a pit lane speed limit.
Danica would be dragging her foot to warm up the carbon brakes & was going 35-40MPH down from a 55MPH pit speed limit?
IRL makes them wear helmets during the race... should make them do it in practice as well.
gkoenig 2:10PM (5/10/2008)
Before watching the video, I wondered how it was that everyone said it was not her fault, but seeing the video makes it very clear to me.
Indy (and F1) car drivers have very poor visibility; in fact, it is one of the major challenges of driving these vehicles that your eye line is only 18-20" off of the pavement. As she pulled in, her view of the pit area was mostly obstructed by the other pitted car and the crew member standing there with his hand out signaling to the parked driver to hold his position. She developed and committed to her trajectory based on what she saw and she likely could not have even seen Buckman (the man she struck).
As soon as he stepped out, that was that.
Sucks to be everyone involved, but they should all be thankful that Buckman is going to be OK. I have a feeling that if he was 12 inches over to the left and hit the car more square instead of being clipped, this whole thing would have come out much worse.
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