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Brad Keselowski glad Helio Castroneves is ok after scary pit road crash

Shortly after Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves was involved in a scary crash on pit road in Monday’s ABC Supply 500 Verizon IndyCar Series race at Pocono Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Brad Keselowski took to Twitter.

Not only did Keselowski express gratitude that his friend and teammate was okay, Keselowski tweeted “Halos please” -- a reference that essentially urged IndyCar to require halo devices that surround the driver cockpit, similar to those that were tested earlier this year in Formula One. Halo devices are among safety additions that IndyCar officials have considered since the tragic death of driver Justin Wilson a year ago at Pocono.

The accident on Lap 64 occurred when Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi and his No. 98 Castrol Edge/Curb Honda pulled out of his pit box, was released into the “slow lane” Inside lane) and made contact with Charlie Kimball, who was slowing to take his No. 83 Tresiba Chevrolet from the “fast lane” (outside lane) into his pit stall.

The impact sent Rossi’s car airborne, sailing on top and over Castroneves’ in his No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet before returning to the racing surface on the other side of Castroneves’ car. Tire marks from Rossi’s car on the top and side of Castroneves’ cockpit were clearly visible when shown after the incident on NBCSN.
“Very glad that nobody got hurt,” Castroneves said. “It’s just a shame. The Hitachi Chevy was really having a good day and we just had another good pit stop when I was coming out of the pits. All of a sudden there was a car on top of me. It was a little strange to be honest.

“It’s certainly unfortunate because this will hurt us in the championship battle but our team will never give up. We’ll move on to Texas where, fortunately, we’ve had a lot of success.”

Castroneves said Rossi’s car struck his hand as it sailed over the cockpit, but that he was alright. A few hours after the race, Castroneves also took to social media to further assure his fans he was fine.

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