Collet walks away after fiery crash triggers red flag at Indy 500
Collet walks away after fiery crash triggers red flag at Indy 500
Brazilian rookie Caio Collet escaped serious injury after his car struck the wall in Turn 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and caught fire, forcing race officials to throw a red flag with approximately eight laps remaining in the 2026 Indianapolis 500. Emergency personnel extinguished the blaze and assisted Collet from the car; he was able to walk away under his own power.
The incident occurred while Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward were contending for the lead. Collet’s A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet became loose and overcorrected into the outside barrier, with fire breaking out at the right rear as the car skidded toward the infield grass. The red flag brought the field to a halt, resetting conditions for what became a decisive final sprint. Rosenqvist ultimately won the race on the final lap.
Collet was making his Indianapolis 500 debut in his first full NTT IndyCar Series season. He advanced to the series after finishing second in the Indy NXT Series in 2025, a campaign in which he won three races. Entering the race, he held 70 points through six starts, placing him 21st in the championship standings with no top-ten finishes on the season.
The crash ended Collet’s day and dropped him out of the classified finishers. The 2026 race produced more than 50 lead changes, and the red-flag restart underscored how competitive the closing stages had become before Rosenqvist’s decisive final-lap move secured victory.
