Robert Wickens supports pulmonary contusion during a scary collision at IndyCar Pocono race

Canadian IndyCar driver Robert Wickens was flown to a hospital and was treated for injuries to his lower legs, right arm and spine after an accident early in a race on Sunday in Pennsylvania.

IndyCar said Wickens, 29, sustained a pulmonary contusion and will undergo an MRI and probable surgery at Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest at Allentown.

The driver from Guelph, Ont., Tried to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay during the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond when the two cars were lightly touched. That made sure the Hunter-Reay car drove into the wall and the Wickens car was taken for the ride.

View the crash here:

Wickens launched Hunter-Reay's car and entered the catchfence, where the cockpit of his IndyCar rotated several times before crashing back onto the track.

Medical workers at the Pocono Raceway were quietly present at Wickens, who was taken to an ambulance for transport to a helicopter. The impact of the wreck ruptured a large part of the fence.

Curt Cavin, the vice president of communications for IndyCar, said on the TV broadcast that Wickens was "awake and alert" when he was being transported.

Canadian James Hinchcliffe and Takuma Sato were other riders involved in the wreck.

& # 39; That's the worst thing you can see & # 39;

Hinchcliffe, of Oakville, Ont., Seemed to be in pain and clutched his wrists as he slowly left his car. Hinchcliffe was released and released from the medical center.

"I took my hands off the wheel when I went back, and I think a piece of debris came in while I was holding [my hands] in, kind of just hit the top of them, so I took a bit of a beating, but there is nothing broken, just some swelling and some cuts. We'll make it right and go well, "Hinchcliffe said.

Of course I hope that Robbie is doing well, never good to see a car rise, but I know he is in good hands, hopefully we will see him back in the car soon. & # 39;

Director Sebastien Bourdais reverberated the feelings of Hinchcliffe.

"That is the worst you can see, he is wounded, he is awake and alert and at least he lives," he said.

The race had almost two hours of delay and only eight rounds in the 500-mile (approximately 805 kilometer) race had been completed because of Wickens & # 39; crash and another accident just before the start.

Pocono Raceway president Ben May said about a fence of 24 meters and a few poles were damaged in the wreck.

The Pocono staff needed about two hours to repair the track and make it safe for the rest of the race.

Hinchcliffe is a teammate of Wickens in the entire Canadian team. The two raced each other as young people in Toronto and Hinchcliffe, second in ABC's Dancing with the stars in 2017, Wickens helped to lure IndyCar this season after a successful career in Europe.

Stark memory

The crash was a stark reminder of how drivers racing in open wheel risk their lives.

Hinchcliffe survived his own life-threatening injury when a broken part of his car pierced an artery during a crash of 2015 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hinchcliffe would have bleeding to death if it was not for the medical team that held the artery together because it was running straight from the track to a hospital.

A year earlier, Hinchcliffe had a concussion when he was beaten into the helmet by a piece of rubble on the road near Indianapolis.

Wickens had retired five Straight Top-Five finishes and matched a match-best second in the final race in Mid-Ohio.

Briton Justin Wilson died of a head injury in 2015 when a piece of debris from a crashed car hit the runway at the Pocono Raceway and hit his helmet.

Alexander Rossi won the race on Monday, but his thoughts were with Wickens.

"It's hard to really celebrate after what happened," Rossi told reporters.