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Tire Flies Off Indy 500 Car, Soaring Over Crowd Before Landing on Vehicle in Parking Lot

Indy 500 fans witnessed a rare incident some have deemed a "miracle" during Sunday's race

<p>Jef Richards/For IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK</p>

Jef Richards/For IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK

Indy 500 fans witnessed a rare incident deemed a "miracle" while out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

After racer Felix Rosenqvist's car clipped Kyle Kirkwood's, as captured by NBC Sports, Kirkwood's car flipped, sending his back tire flying over the grandstand and into a parking lot outside the venue. Luckily no one was injured in the process, including the drivers, as safety teams raced to their rescue immediately following the collision.

Numerous spectators weighed in on witnessing the unsettling, yet remarkable experience on social media.

"Hugely relieved everyone appears to be ok," one person wrote via Twitter. "Watching a wheel fly over my friends at 150 miles per hour is not an experience I’m anxious to repeat."

"I have never seen anything like that in my life," added another. "That tire leaped over the stands and missed the end of the SE Vista by less than 20 feet. I'm hearing people by the suites were giving thumbs up, so it sounds like it cleared into the golf course. But man, that was close."

IndyCar blogger Matt Archuleta also tweeted about the incident, writing, "An angel must have grabbed that tire. Talk about a miracle."

<p>Jef Richards-USA TODAY Sports</p>

Jef Richards-USA TODAY Sports

Related: Racer Stefan Wilson Out of Indy 500 After Fracturing Vertebra in Crash During Monday&#39;s Practice

The Indianapolis Star identified Robin Matthews, a local racing fan, as the owner of the car hit in the parking lot.

“I didn’t see it come down,” Matthews told the newspaper. “I came down and they said ‘Robin, it’s your car!’ I thought, ‘No.’ I thought somebody was pranking me."

Asked about the damage, Matthews said, "It’s a car. It’s fine."

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As for the drivers involved, Bleacher Report noted that they appeared to be okay, with Kirkwood, 24, even talking to safety workers before getting taken off the track in an ambulance for further evaluation.

"Disappointed in todays outcome, but as I sit here and think… I have so many things to be thankful for," Kirkwood later wrote on Instagram. "Thankful I was able to walk away from this. Thankful every fan was safe. Thankful for the best team in the world. Thankful I race in the safest era of motorsports. The list can go on and on."

Related: Katherine Legge, Only Female Driver in Indy 500, Wants to Be the Best &#39;Regardless of Gender&#39; (Exclusive)

Josef Newgarden ended up winning the 107th running of the racing competition on Sunday, marking the first time he has won the Indy 500 in the 12 times he has competed.

"I started out as a fan in the crowd, and this place is amazing, regardless of where you're sitting," he said afterwards, per ESPN. "Everyone kept asking why I hadn't won this race, and they look at you like you're a failure if you haven't won it."

"I knew I was capable,” he added. “I knew I could."

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