Has Pocono become incompatible for the modern IndyCar Series or do drivers need to be more careful to prevent the type of incidents that have marred the track since it was reintroduced to the schedule in 2013?

That was the topic of the day following yet another race in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in which a violent multi-car crash sent a car airborne into the catchfence, and its driver, to the hospital.

Justin Wilson died in 2015 when he was struck in the helmet, at speed, by a piece of debris off a car from an incident in front of him. Robert Wickens was left paralyzed following a crash in Turn 2 last season in which the rookie driver aggressively dived under Ryan Hunter-Reay, initiating contact, and was sent airborne into the fencing.

On Sunday, an eerily similar incident sent Felix Rosenqvist, nose cone first, into the Turn 2 catchfence. Fortunately for Rosenqvist, the tub did not fly into the fencing and the car landed firmly back onto the racing surface.

The latest incident began when Takuma Sato took Alexander Rossi and Hunter-Reay three-wide, cutting down in front of both, sending their cars sideways in front of the field. James Hinchcliffe was also involved.

Rosenqvist was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation but IndyCar confirmed there were no serious injuries.

Believing these incidents to be a track compatibility problem, Wickens tweeted that IndyCar should not return to Pocono Raceway next season. American Sage Karam issued a similar statement of his own.

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How many times do we have to go through the same situation before we can all accept that an IndyCar should not race at Pocono. It’s just a toxic relationship and maybe it’s time to consider a divorce. I’m very relieved (to my knowledge) that everyone is okay from that scary crash — Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) August 18, 2019

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I don’t want people to think that I dislike pocono. I think it’s a great track it’s just not meant for indycars. We need to be smart and move on and go to tracks that fit these cars. I love oval racing and want it in Indycar I just simply don’t love Indycar at pocono. — Sage Karam (@SageKaram) August 18, 2019

It’s important to note that Pocono does not currently have a contract to host an IndyCar Series race next season. It has been reported that IndyCar has recently entered into an agreement with Richmond Raceway to compete in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2020.

Additionally, IndyCar will soon implement a windscreen in front of the driver compartment, an evolution of the Advanced Frontal Protection deflection device implemented in response to the Wilson crash of 2015.

As a result, Sunday’s podium of Will Power, Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud believe both the cars and the track are compatible with Pocono Raceway.

They say the series of misfortunes at the historic 2.5-mile speedway boil down to circumstances and overly-aggressive driving.

"Honestly I feel bad for Pocono..." Dixon said. "I felt the crowd today at the start of the race was fantastic. It was gaining some really good momentum. Hopefully it gets to continue.

"Some mistakes that have happened on track, honestly they could happen anywhere. If you look at Justin or Robby, those can happen anywhere. I feel bad that it gets a bit of a bad taste in that scenario. I think the drivers in a lot of situations can do a better job to help that situation. Honestly, I hope we come back."

Power agreed after winning for the third time at Pocono.

"It's a great oval for us," Power said. "Obviously some unfortunate accidents here, like Scott said, that could happen anywhere. Kind of got a bad rap for that."

Pagenaud simply said, "yes, what they said."

Most of the vitriol for Sunday's incident was reserved for Sato, nearly the entire paddock blaming his first-lap approach for what transpired.

"I can't even begin to understand how after last year Takuma thinks that was acceptable," Rossi said during his post-crash television interview. "It's disgraceful and it’s unacceptable."

Hunter-Reay called it "ridiculous."

It remains an open question if Pocono will return to the schedule in 2020. Certainly, the run of misfortune, and resulting bad vibes, will not instill a vote of confidence.

The visual of a gate zip-tied to the catch-fence doesn’t help either -- nor does the makeshift secondary spotter stand in the infield of Turn 2. It’s an archaic facility.

Ultimately, Wilson’s younger brother, Stefan, would just prefer the series return to another road course instead.

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Maybe the teams can all come together and instead of paying crash damage at Pocono can just put into a fund to pay sanctioning fee for a Watkins Glen return. Easily $1.5-2M in crash damage after 2 turns of the race.... Relax, I’m mostly joking 🤷‍♂️🙄 — Stefan Wilson (@stef_wilson) August 18, 2019

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