3-Car Indy 500 Practice Crash Sends Rossi to Hospital as Newgarden Tops Session at 226.198 mph
Updated
Updated · Indianapolis Motor Speedway · May 19
3-Car Indy 500 Practice Crash Sends Rossi to Hospital as Newgarden Tops Session at 226.198 mph
14 articles · Updated · Indianapolis Motor Speedway · May 19
Turn 2 produced the biggest moment of Monday practice when Alexander Rossi spun into the SAFER Barrier, triggering separate spins by Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean as they tried to avoid him.
Rossi was awake, alert and taken to a local hospital for further evaluation, while O’Ward and Grosjean were released without injury after the 1:28 p.m. ET crash.
Josef Newgarden led the rain-shortened session at 226.198 mph after a disappointing qualifying day, with Takuma Sato second and rookie Dennis Hauger third.
Rain, lightning, track inspection and the crash limited running to 35 minutes, but the 33-driver field still completed 1,053 laps while shifting focus from qualifying speed to race traffic.
Rossi had qualified second for Sunday’s 110th Indianapolis 500, with final race preparation set for Carb Day practice on Friday.
Can an injured Alexander Rossi, now in a backup car, still realistically challenge for the Indy 500 win?
Rossi's crash highlights car safety, but what underlying risks do IndyCar's 230 mph speeds still pose to drivers?