Whilst running in traffic, Josef Newgarden crashed his #2 Team Penske car on the exit of turn one, hitting the outside wall before coming to rest at the bottom of the track.
The young American was quickly out of the car and checked over at the medical centre at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He had set the fourth fastest time with a lap of 225.455mph at the time of his crash.
“I banged my foot a little bit, so it’s going to be bruised for the next couple of weeks, but I’ll get through that,” said Newgarden. “I’m totally fine, the car did its job like it always has. We have a great safety crew here in IndyCar, and we’ve got a great racing tub with Dallara.
“Tough break for us in the #2 car with Team Penske. It’s obviously not something you want to do, especially on a day like today – a pretty nice day out, no big issues. I’m disappointed that we ran into a problem.
“I just got called into the pits, so I was coming in and I didn’t want to check up too much for the guys behind me and cause a problem. It just seemed to get away from me. Until I get to look at everything, I’m not 100 percent sure what caused it.
“It was probably my mistake, but until I get to look at everything it’s hard to tell. I feel bad for our guys that we’ve got extra work.”
Video courtesy of IndyCar