WATCH: Frightening shunt sends Indy NXT car backflipping at Mid-Ohio

The Indy NXT race at Mid-Ohio on Sunday (July 6) saw two Andretti Cape drivers involved in a huge crash on lap 4 of 35. Ricardo Escotto and Sebastian Murray made contact while racing on the fastest portion of the 2.258-mile circuit in the lead up to Turn 4.

Murray started the race in P12, while Escotto was further behind in P16. By lap 4, the latter was right behind his teammate on the long straight before Turn 4. Murray, who was ahead, drove along the inside line. Escotto, attempting to overtake his Andretti Cape teammate, chose a line too close to him on the inside.

Consequently, his front right tire made contact with Sebastian Murray's rear left, directing him towards the barriers on the opposite side, and taking Escotto with him into the barrier. However, Murray, driver of the No. 2 car, was worse affected as his car went airborne and did a full backflip before coming to a rest in the middle of the track completely destroyed.

Here's a video of the incident from the Indy NXT race at Mid-Ohio:

As the cars went towards the barriers, some debris also flew high enough to pass by the tall stand for the cameraman. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. Ricardo Escotto's car also went momentarily airborne but landed the right way on the grass. Debris from the crash was scattered all over that part of the circuit.

Both drivers were okay as they got out of their cars under their own strength, drawing applause of relief from the fans in attendance. The AMR safety team was at the scene within seconds. Indy NXT red-flagged the race as the safety crew attended to the drivers and cleared the track.

Myles Rowe and Hailie Deegan, behind the Andretti Cape teammates, were lucky enough to be a bit distant from the crash. They manoeuvred their way around the cars and debris.

Indy NXT also shared a clip of HMD Motorsports driver Caio Collet's reaction to the crash when he was back on pit road after the race was red-flagged. The 2024 winner at Mid-Ohio was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of it and mouthed "F***".

The 35-lap race was shortened because it precedes the main IndyCar event at Mid-Ohio, which will go live on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.

Sebastian Murray sends heartfelt message to AMR safety team after "unfortunate" Indy NXT crash with Ricardo Escotto

Sebastian Murray at the Indy NXT by Firestone Race - Source: Getty

Shortly after the crash, Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto were seen and released from the medical center. The former spoke with IndyCar pit-lane reporter Georgia Henneberry about the incident. Murray said on the Indy NXT live stream.:

"It's super unfortunate. I'm not really sure what happened. I'll have a look at the video when we get back. I'm just glad that everyone is okay. Massive thank you to the safety team. They were on the scene very, very quickly, Massive thank you to them."

"Obviously, apologies to the team. It's been a good weekend so far, hoping to make our way up, but things happen. Hopefully, we can perform better," he added.

Murray is in his first season in Indy NXT and has recorded one Top 5 finish in eight races so far. Escotto also spoke with Henneberry shortly after, calling the crash "scary" and blaming his teammate for moving into him.