The drivers of the two cars involved, Jay Howard and Scott Dixon, were fine, but the violent smash-up caused moments of panic in the pits and in the stands.
Horrified crew members and spectators gasped as Howard lost control, slamming into Dixon’s car, which exploded as it collided with the barrier.
Dixon credited safety protocols for the lack of injuries.
The race was halted for almost 20 minutes as crews cleaned up the track.
In the end, Takuma Sato of Japan won the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.
The #Indianapolis500 photog in the red hat. Lucky guy. #ScottDixon.
Posted by John Fricke on Sunday, May 28, 2017
REPLAY: @scottdixon9 incident in turn 1 at @IMS #Indy500 #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/JaK8lfx4nt
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 28, 2017
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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