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05/17 11:49 CDT Colton Herta crashes heavily in Indy 500 qualifying, hours
after Marcus Armstrong's practice wreck
Colton Herta crashes heavily in Indy 500 qualifying, hours after Marcus
Armstrong's practice wreck
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Colton Herta crashed heavily in qualifying for the
Indianapolis 500 on Saturday, hours after Marcus Armstrong was taken away on a
stretcher after a scary crash of his own at nearly the same spot at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Both wrecks occurred in Turn 1, where winds gusting up to 30 mph that are
largely blocked by the grandstands down the front stretch suddenly switch to
behind the drivers. Herta's car hit the outside wall and then landed on its
side and slid into the short chute before coming to rest, and safety crews had
to work together to flip it back on its tires.
Herta was able to climb out, but he needed help walking to a waiting vehicle
for a trip to the infield care center. He was released a short while later and
IndyCar said that Herta had been cleared to drive should his backup car be
ready.
Andretti Autosport was busy working on it, but the crash an hour into the
nearly 7-hour qualifying session left little time. If they were unable to get
back out Saturday, the best Herta could do would be the final row in
last-chance qualifying Sunday.
"Luckily these days these crashes look a lot scarier than they feel --- not to
say that one felt good," Herta said. "There were no real signs leading to it.
We were super happy with the car this morning. Went out loose and couldn't even
get Lap 1 in."
Armstrong also was able to climb from his wrecked car but was immediately
helped onto a stretcher. He gave a thumbs up as he was loaded into an ambulance
and taken to the care center, where he was released about 90 minutes later.
"He is awake. He is alert. He's doing well," said Dr. Julia Vaizer, the medical
director for IndyCar and the speedway.
Meyer Shank Racing also began working on Armstrong's backup car, even though it
was unclear who would attempt to qualify it. The team was getting help from
Chip Ganassi Racing, a fellow Honda-powered program with a close relationship.
If Armstrong is unable to qualify the No. 66 --- it was pulled from the lineup
for its guaranteed qualifying attempt --- there are few options available. Tony
Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner, is the only driver to have completed the
refresher course, but he is the team principal for Arrow McLaren, and completed
it so that his team would have a backup should NASCAR star Kyle Larson have to
abandon the May 25 race to make it to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.
There is also a conflict of interest between the Chevrolet-powered Arrow
McLaren team and the Honda teams.
Other backup drivers could conceivably complete the refresher Sunday, allowing
them to get into Armstrong's car. But without making a run Saturday, the best
they could do would be to nail down one of the final three spots on the 33-car
grid.
"It looked a bit weird, to be honest," Armstrong's teammate, Felix Rosenqvist,
said of the crash. "I haven't seen any updates or anything. I just tried to
look at the screen while I was sitting in the car. Hopefully they can bounce
back quickly."
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
