Buddy Rice OK After Scary Accident at Joliet Indy Race

JOLIET, Ill. September 12, 2004; The AP reported that Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice walked away unscathed after a scary accident late in the Delphi Indy 300 that sent his car skidding upside down along the track.

Rice was running fifth on lap 186 when Darren Manning's right front tire touched Rice's left rear tire coming out of the second turn at the Chicagoland Speedway. The impact turned Rice's car sideways and lifted it up into the air, starting it on a tumble up and backward over Manning's car.

The nose of Rice's car hit the track and then the rest of the body slammed into the wall, upside down. Rice's car continued to slide upside down along the track, finally coming to a rest in the middle of the backstretch.

Rice's crew could be heard calling to him, but there was no response. Safety crews raced to the crash site and gently righted the car. As soon as the car was rightside up, Rice popped up, unhurt.