INDY 500: Trash bag caused 'awful' Montoya run

Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya was perplexed that he was in a position to hit a plastic bag during a qualifying run on Sunday.

Penske driver Montoya had already rued a "weird" first qualifying session on Saturday, in which he wound up 12th. During another run on Sunday, he was set to improve to at least 10th, but hit a plastic bag that he believes should have received more careful attention from spotters.

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"I'm surprised whoever is spotting in Turn 3 is not paying attention and should put his Verizon phone down or something," Montoya said. "On my out lap I saw it in the grass and thought that was odd. It stayed in the grass every lap [that followed] and when I came to Turn 3 it was in the groove, I hit it, [the car] lost all the front air and went straight. I got on the brakes not trying to hit the wall."

Due to the unique circumstances, Montoya was granted another qualifying run, but the team was not allowed to check the car or replace any parts other than the tires.

He wound up 17th, two spots behind where he started in 2015, when he claimed his second Indy 500 victory.

"Luckily, we got to make another run but a mount went out on the wing and we lost the front end," he said. "It was awful. We all cool down the engines for more power and now we have a hot engine. We had a bent wing mount from the bag and lost all the aero balance. The first run was perfect. 

"It's a 500-mile race so it's not a big deal, but you wish you had a better start."

Another winner of IndyCar's showpiece race, Scott Dixon, will start 13th after Chip Ganassi Racing was forced to change his Chevrolet engine between qualifying attempts.

"There were really only two outcomes – you were either going to get to qualify or you weren't," Dixon said. "It was nerve-wracking for the team. I couldn't do much but I'm excited for them and their extreme hard work they put in so quickly. When you get new engines they take about 150 miles to get tuned in. The other engine felt like it started losing power than we saw a bit of smoke."

Originally on Autosport.com