Herta fourth to hammer Indy walls in 24 hours

Colton Herta experienced the biggest crash of the month of May at Indianapolis thus far as his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda spun in Turn 1 during his first qualifying run, pummeled the wall, flipped upwards and on its side, with the top of the car grinding along the SAFER barrier.

After emergency responders tipped his car over and returned it to its remaining wheels, Herta was able to climb from the car and was escorted to the ambulance by IndyCar’s AMR Safety Team. Based on the damage that was incurred, there’s no expectation for the car to be repaired in time for another qualifying run, if Herta is cleared by IndyCar Medical.

Herta’s impact at 12:05pm ET was the fourth significant crash in just under 24 hours. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson was the first on Friday at 12:46pm, and he was followed by Arrow McLaren/Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson later in the afternoon, and at 8:42am this morning, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong did extensive damage to his car in a Turn 1 spin and crash.

“I’m fine,” Herta said after he was seen by IndyCar Medical and cleared to drive. “Luckily, nowadays, these crashes look a lot scarier than they feel. Not to say that that one felt good, but the team's gonna be hard at work right now trying to get a car ready and it's gonna be probably impossible to get out today, so let's see what we can do. Just a terrible day for this to happen. And you know, it was kind of no real signs leading to it. We were super happy with the car this morning and go out and just cool, loose. It sucks.”