American driver Colton Herta suffered a scary crash during the qualification round of the Indianapolis 500 on Saturday. Herta went airborne and flipped his car after spinning out and hitting a wall.
The 25-year-old driver walked away from the car on his own, and was evaluated by medical staff. IndyCar later said that Herta had been released and cleared to drive.
“Luckily these days these crashes look a lot scarier than they feel — not to say that one felt good,” Herta said, via the Associated Press. “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.”
The crash marks the third accident so far this weekend. Hours before Herta’s wreck, New Zealand driver Marcus Armstrong spun out and crashed during a practice round Saturday morning. Armstrong was stretchered off from the crash, but later released by medical staff.
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Both Herta and Armstrong’s wrecks took place just after Turn 1, where drivers can become vulnerable to wind gusts.
All of this comes after Kyffin Simpson also suffered a major wreck during “Fast Friday” practice, going airborne after wobbling on Turn 4.
Herta may still be able to compete if his team is able to get his backup car ready in time. Per the AP, if the car is not ready for Saturday’s qualifying round, Herta may be able to join the last-chance qualifier on Sunday in the final row.
Qualifying for the race is taking place Saturday and Sunday, before practices and events preparing for race day on Sunday, May 25.
