Satuday's MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway was a thrilling race for the few thousand who attended in person, but no one had more thrills than Australian Ryan Briscoe.

Filling in for injured Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe in the No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Honda, Briscoe went for a wild ride as he approached the white flag. He and fellow Honda driver Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact on the front stretch, sending Briscoe flipping end over end in the grass in front of a stunned crowd. Both walked away from the incident uninjured.

The crowd stood for the final 10 laps as the lead changed several more times. As the field approached the white flag, Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay was pushed into Briscoe as they raced in a large pack behind the race leaders. Both Hondas crashed on their run to the start/finish line, with Briscoe becoming airborne, coming down nose first in the grass and flipping several times. His car landed on its wheels, and the Australian gave a double thumbs up to the relieved crowd as his car came, finally, to a stop. Both drivers were helped out of their cars by the Holmatro Safety Team uninjured.

Here is a video of the massive crash:

"I had some momentum coming down the front stretch," said Briscoe. "I was going to take that low line into one and two and felt like we were going to come home with a top three, for sure. Unfortunately, Hunter-Reay got turned around, I had nowhere to go and she went flying. Thankfully, I'm all right and no big deal. Now we look forward to the next one."

He later tweeted: "Well that was a WILD ride!! Thanks for all the messages, I feel fine if not just a bit bruised here and there. 'Twas a fun race till then!!"

Another tweet from Briscoe: "IMO: I thought today's @IndyCar race was awesome, A few drivers need to show more respect out there, but the racing was fierce & exciting."

After the race, Briscoe walked out on the grass and inspected the large ditch his wild ride left on the front stretch. He even laid down in the "divot" and posted a video on YouTube, his sense of humor also unscathed:

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal won the race and took the checkered and yellow flags at the same time. He ended a seven year, 124-race dry spell, scoring his second Indy car race win after winning his series debut on the streets of St. Petersburg. Two of many impressive statistics from the MAVTV 500 include a record 80 official lead changes, with 14 different drivers leading at least one lap.

The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to the historic Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply Wisonsin 250. Follow @VAVELIndyCar for coverage leading up to and during the race weekend.

Cathy Shumaker is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow her on Twitter at @cathyshu.