Oriol Servia caught up in crash during IndyCar season finale in Fontana

FONTANA, Calif. - (October 19, 2013) – The 2013 IndyCar Series season came to an abrupt conclusion Saturday night at Auto Club Speedway for the National Guard Panther Racing team, as driver Oriol Servia was caught-up in a multi-car crash that stuck Panther with a 19th-place finish.

Servia started in the 14th position and fell a lap down early in the event, but was able to return to the lead lap during a caution period on Lap 102 after an accident involving Andretti Autosport driver Carlos Munoz. But shortly after the field restarted following the accident Servia ran into trouble as Justin Wilson got sideways in front of him and he was collected in the crash as Josef Newgarden attempted to avoid Wilson at the same time.

Servia was uninjured in the accident and cleared and released from the infield medical center.

The MAV-TV 500 was Servia’s seventh start of the season for Panther, the most amongst the four drivers who started a race in the team’s No. 4 entry this season. His best finish of the season was a seventh-place result that he earned at both Iowa Speedway and the second race of the Grand Prix of Houston. In addition to Servia the No. 4 Chevy was piloted by Ryan Briscoe (six starts), JR Hildebrand (five starts) and rookie Munoz (one start) during the season.

Oriol Servia, No. 4 National Guard Chevrolet: “I saw Justin (Wilson) getting loose and I thought I’d be able to avoid it, and I did. But Josef (Newgarden) was there as well and collected me, but it was just one of those things where it was too many of us in the same real estate. Nobody did anything wrong because there was nowhere to go. But it was a shame because we were dialed in to be strong at the end of the race. It was tough out there tonight – everybody was sliding around, so it was one of those nights where you wanted to get to the last pit stop and then start racing. Everybody was being patient and driving really smart, but things can always go wrong.”

Mike Kitchel