American racing driver Jim Pace is lucky to walk away with nothing more than a bad taste in his mouth, after going for a wild ride at the wheel of his vintage race car during this weekend’s WeatherTech International Challenge at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Per a report by Classic Cars Journal, Pace was behind the wheel of his 1974 Can-Am Shadow DN4 vintage racer during a qualifying session that featured a variety of other similar-era race cars, including some from Formula 1 and Formula 5000, when the open-wheel racer took to the skies along the famously-long main straight of the circuit.
Update/Correction: 7/26/20 4:30 p.m. ET: We’ve learned that driver Jim Pace is okay and did not suffer any injuries as a result of his crash. Also, we’ve been informed that the Can-Am race car Pace was driving was not his own, he was simply the driver of the vehicle for that particular event.
“Thank you all for the concern,” Pace said via email. “A wild ride along the front straightaway at one of my favorite racetracks. A bit of air got under the nose and lifted, then blew over backward sliding down the straight. The rescue crew was there immediately and I exited on my own. Sorry, this nice car was damaged with me as the driver.”