Incredible footage has captured the moment Conor Daly narrowly missed a harrowing crash by millimetres in the IndyCar Series season-opener.
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver was one of the lucky few to avoid the lap one crash at St Petersburg, which claimed six cars.
Daly swung to the left of the street circuit, just passing by the idle car of Devlin DeFrancesco before series debutant Benjamin Pedersen slammed into the stationary car.
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Taking to Twitter after the incident-packed 100-lap race, Daly expressed his shock.
“Never heard anything like that impact before,” he wrote.
“Felt like it was right next to my face. Glad they’re okay.”
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Daly found himself on the receiving end of an incident later in the race after contact from Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood.
He fell to the rear of the field but eventually recovered to claim 14th, one lap down on the field.
“The race was playing out how we wanted,” said Daly.
“We got really lucky to avoid that first crash, which was one of the craziest things I have ever seen in my life.
“I felt strong, running with (teammate) Rinus VeeKay and Josef Newgarden, then we just got taken out by Kyle Kirkwood.
“It was such a shame to get spun like that, but we hung on and kept fighting.”
The first race of the year was won by Marcus Ericsson, who snatched victory from Pato O’Ward with a pass just a few laps shy of the finish.
The IndyCar Series returns for round two at Texas Motor Speedway on April 3.
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