There’s always something fun about seeing the one-off entries that appear at Verizon IndyCar Series races over the course of the season, and Saturday’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis was no different.
Suffice to say the days for Martin Plowman in the No. 41 Alfe Heat Treating Honda for A.J. Foyt Racing and Franck Montagny in the No. 26 Suretone Honda for Andretti Autosport, though, were probably more than they bargained for.
Montagny’s race started decently enough when he rose from 21st on the grid to 10th within the first 10 laps, but it was a bit of a red herring. The Frenchman avoided the start line crash but then gained further positions on the Lap 9 restart, a restart he was deemed to have jumped by INDYCAR and thus received a drive-through penalty.
Plowman ran methodically through the early stages of the race, but on Lap 48 their paths crossed. The Englishman lost control trying to pass Marco Andretti at Turn 7, ran through the inside apex of the car and crashed into and over the rear wing and engine cowling of coincidentally, Andretti’s teammate Montagny.
Plowman took to Twitter to apologize for the moment and explain the rest of his race.
Thanks for all the messages. I’m just glad everyone was safe today. I took a big hit to the helmet from debris at the start.
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
It was a wild race that threw everything at me today. I made a mistake on the restart, I just lost the rear on the marbles passing Marco.
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
The nice thing was, Plowman’s day wasn’t over after the shunt. The car, in its throwback Foyt “Coyote Orange,” did its best “Transformers” imitation and restarted, damage-free, and Plowman attempted to gamble on strategy. He was on pace for a potential top-10 result before a late pit stop resigned him to 18th.
I’m sorry for ruining Franks race, glad he’s ok. After that we took a gamble and was looking at a top 10 until something broke.
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
So thankful for this opportunity. I might not be happy with result, but the big boss told me I did a hell of a job and he was proud of me
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
Now I need an ice-pack on my butt…I have a pretty big bruise growing
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
The day was crazy for Plowman, as well, as debris contacted his helmet. He tweeted this picture below.
Helmet damage from start. I got very very lucky. I tested the safety of the new carbon fiber strip today. pic.twitter.com/fjC9yqZfPC
— Martin Plowman (@Plowey) May 10, 2014
He’ll have a chance in the rebranded and re-liveried No. 41 ABC Supply Honda on Sunday; meanwhile Montagny, who enjoyed his one-off return to IndyCar, is not sure when his next race will be.