Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Colton Herta walked away from a crash uninjured on Friday during the final day of practice for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Herta’s Honda wiggled in Turn 1 and then hit the wall, briefly went airborne and landed on its top late in the session on Carb Day.
Herta, 22, said he thinks he went “a little too fast for that corner,” but the Andretti Autosport driver said he was feeling fine.
“Thankful for a lot of things,” Herta said of the crash. “I guess the aeroscreen is part of that. More so the safety crew, and I guess just the durability of the side pods on the side structure of the cars. That was a big hit from the side. Yeah, the safety crews were there very fast flipping me back over.”
Herta’s team immediately went to the garage to begin preparing his backup car for the race.
Meanwhile, 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan turned in the top speed at 227.114 mph in a Honda. His Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson was second at 227.004, also in a Honda.
“We’ve been happy with the car all week,” Kanaan said. “That is no secret that the cars are good. We did a few pit stops there, run a couple things. But honestly, we didn’t change anything.”
The 33 drivers in the field combined to run 1,590 laps on Friday.
Scott Dixon of Ganassi is the polesitter for Sunday’s race.
–Field Level Media