A tyre-changer for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing who was injured during last weekends 2019 Indianapolis 500 is understood to be recovering following surgery. Chris Minot, known as Chachi by his crew-mates, was injured after being hit by a tyre, with the tyre smacking into Minot’s left leg.
Minot was a part of the pit-crew servicing Jordan King for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. On lap sixty-nine of the race, King pulled into the pit-lane and unfortunately collided with a tyre that was waiting for him in his pit-box. The tyre was sent careering into Minot, the right-front tyre changer, with the brunt of the impact being taken by Minot’s left leg.
Minot was carried off of the pit-lane by NTT IndyCar Series officials and his crew-mates, with Chris soon whisked away to the infield care centre before being transferred for further evaluation and treatment at the IU Health Methodist Hospital.
After the race concluded, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing released a statement regarding the condition of Minot, with the news thankfully being positive.
“We were relieved to hear that Chris was in good spirits before surgery on his left leg,” the team’s statement read, “He will be held overnight at IU Health Methodist Hospital. He has been a member of this team for almost 10 years and is a big asset. We have no doubt that he will come back stronger.”
Following the incident on pit-road, King would be awarded a drive-through penalty. This, coupled with the understandable delay to his pit-stop following Minot’s injury, would force King to fall two laps down on the race leaders. Ultimately, King would remain two laps down and would finish the race in twenty-fourth place.
Credit: Chris Owens / Courtesy of IndyCar
After the race, King’s main concern was, understandably, with the condition of his tyre-changer. The British driver was hoping to take a good result from his one-off appearance at the Indianapolis 500 to try and work his way back onto the NTT IndyCar Series grid in a greater capacity. However, Jordan admitted in post-race interviews that he was “really disappointed” in himself for hitting his crew-member and costing himself and the team a shot at a decent result.
“I’m thinking about Chachi [Chris Minot] obviously,” King said on Sunday, “I’m really disappointed in myself for the team, really for everybody. I think we had a pretty strong car. We were looking quite strong and making progress and looking at how the race finished, I think we could’ve been in the top 10, so that’s quite hard to swallow.
“The first point of call is to check that everything’s okay at the hospital. It’s not good, it’s not what you want to do [injure a crewman]. It’s not. I don’t even know what to say. I’m really disappointed in myself and for everyone involved. We could have had a good race but didn’t, so that’s that.”
The 2019 NTT IndyCar Series continues this weekend with the Grand Prix of Detroit doubleheader at the Belle Isle Street Circuit. Race one of the event will be run on Saturday, June 1, with the second race taking place the following day on Sunday, June 2.
