INDIANAPOLIS — 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 of the drivers eventually were cleared to drive again, but whether their cars would be ready was another story. Their teams were frantically trying to get backups prepared, and in Armstrong's case, that happened to be one of its road-course cars.
''I'm doing well,'' said Armstrong, whose hit came during an hour-long practice before qualifying even began. ''Obviously it was a rather large hit, but I'm feeling OK now. ... Fingers crossed we'll get out for an install (run) or even a full run if we're lucky.''
Qualifying on Saturday decides the fast 12 that will have a chance Sunday at the first four rows — and ultimately the pole — for the race on May 25. Those that qualify in spots 13-30 lock in their positions, while the slowest four cars or those that are unable to post a time Saturday go into a last-chance shootout Sunday to determine the final three spots on the 33-car grid.
Herta and Armstrong both wrecked 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 needed help to reach a vehicle that took him to the infield car center, but he was released a short while later. By then, his team at Andretti Autosport was already deep into preparing a backup car to get him back on the track.
''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.
