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 practice 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 frontstretch suddenly switch to behind the drivers. Herta’s car hit the outside wall then landed on its side and slid into the short chute before coming to rest. 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 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 seven-hour qualifying session left little time. Herta said he expected not to attempt to qualify again Saturday, which would mean the best he 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 infield 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 immediately began working on Armstrong’s backup car. The team was getting help from Chip Ganassi Racing, a fellow Honda-powered program with a close relationship.
Team owner Mike Shank said Armstrong would be OK to attempt to qualify once his new car was ready.
“He’s ready to get in. He’s ready to go flat into 1,” Shank said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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