‘Really scary’: Indy 500 rookie crashes into pit crew member

The Indianapolis 500 pole sitter’s race came to an unfortunate end after one of his pit crew was left in a stretcher.

IndyCar rookie Robert Shwartzman’s Indianapolis 500 came to an unfortunate end on Sunday.

Shwartzman started the race on the pole as he completed the quickest time around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in qualifying, but all the jubilation turned to pain as a debacle on pit road nearly seriously injured a handful of his crew members.

He came into his pit stall after completing about 87 laps, and his car skidded as he got into the box. Four of his crew members tried to avoid the sliding car but failed. One crew member was taken away on a stretcher.

Watch in the video player above.

“I honestly felt really strange brakes when I was coming slow in pit lane. I locked up both front tires, which usually isn’t the case,” Shwartzman said. “I wasn’t sure if it was the brakes or because the tires were cold. I tried to be very slow. But as soon as I touched my brakes, my whole front was lost, and I went right into the guys.

“It was really scary because at the moment I braked I was just a passenger.”

This was not the way Shwartzman would have wanted to end his day. Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

The crew member was stretchered off the track. Photo: X

The crash was enough to end his day.

The Prema Racing driver was the first rookie to take the pole position since 1983.

“It’s just really sad because we did such good work in qualifying,” he said. “But it’s the Indy 500. Anything can happen. A lot of strong drivers are out of the race or behind. This is the Indy 500. This happens.”

Alex Palou took home the checkered flag. It was his first win in the Indy 500 and the fifth in the first six races of the 2025 season.

This story first appeared on Fox News and was republished with permission.

Originally published as ‘Really scary’: Indy 500 rookie crashes into pit crew member