Put a hot car on a racetrack, go hard on the throttle, and the result could be an accident. Anyone who has ever attended a track day knows that they could be "that guy" on any given day. On Sunday the hot car was a 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, that guy was GM's Executive Vice President of Global Product Development Mark Reuss.

To further Reuss's embarassment, his accident was shown on live TV. Reuss was driving the pace car for the second of two IndyCar races at the Detroit Grand Prix. Leading the pack to start the race, Reuss spun out in Turn 2 of the Belle Isle racetrack on the pace lap and hit the wall. Only the polesitter Alexander Rossi made it through the debris while the rest of the 23-car field had to stop. The accident caused a 34-minute delay.

Chevrolet issued a statement about the accident: "We are thankful that there were no serious injuries. Both the pace car driver and the series official were taken to the infield care center, where they were checked, cleared, and released.

It is unfortunate that this incident happened. Many factors contributed, including weather and track conditions. The car's safety systems performed as expected."

It was a bright, sunny day at the race with temperatures in the 70s when the race was set to start. While it rained earlier in the day, the track was dry by the time the race started. That doesn't make it seem like weather would have been a factor, other than, perhaps, the tires being cold. As for the safety systems, the stability control must have been turned off for the 750-horsepower ZR1 to spin out so easily.

Reuss is known to be a very capable performance driver with plenty of time on the Nürburgring and GM's Milford Proving Grounds. His shunt at the Detroit Grand Prix is further proof that this type of thing can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, his turn happened on live TV.