Yikes! Indy car crash

[BonzoHansen]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/helio-castroneves-uninjured-after-scary-indy-500-practice-crash-173506728.html

[NJSPEEDER]

Wonder what was going through his head when the car was just sort of slowly (slowly being a matter of scale considering he had just lapped at 219mph) levitating while going backwards. Must have seemed like it was hanging there forever just waiting for a big hit.

Helio did complete the medical check and jumped right into the back up car. Wonder how these guys walk with balls that size.

[sweetbmxrider]

Well seasoned to pull his hands the f outta the way.

[BonzoHansen]

Well seasoned to pull his hands the f outta the way.

i saw that. he knows how to crash lol

[The_Bishop]

That's an expensive skill to practice.

[Mike]

I hope this isn't a product of their new aero package. That car went up like a kite the second it was backwards

[L695speed]

I hope this isn't a product of their new aero package. That car went up like a kite the second it was backwards

I hope you're not onto something. Another one went airborne today near the end of practice, same turn, let go in nearly the same spot as this one, and went almost head on into the wall before flipping and sliding all the way down to turn two. Another crashed hard into the end of the pit wall yesterday as well I think.

Fortunately all three crashes the driver's walked away with no worse than a bruised hand on one of them. I have to say though, none of them were as dramatic as Mario's aerobatics back in '03.

[Mike]

They have fortunes invested in these aero kits. And it seems like the second they are 3/4 of the way spun it's creating massive lift

[maroman88]

needs moar nascar roof flaps

[NJSPEEDER]

I hope this trend doesn't continue into the race or we may witness the first driver killed at Indy in 30+ years. Adding in traffic at 220ish mph just makes for too scary of a formula.

I think Mike nailed it with the body kit observation. People spin at Indy every year, normally just a 180 and pan the left side of the car into the wall.

[Mike]

You also see the mid turn (short straights) spins Into the inside every year.

[Mike]

Also, they are filling their promo. And kept talking during last weeks race about he desire to break the mph record this year. Maybe now that two cars have been on their lids they should chill out

[Mike]

And another this morning. Ed carpenter upside down and into the fencing.

[L695speed]

I just saw that, these are not people who are total amateurs either. A 3 time winner, a two time pole sitter (was going for 3 in a row this year before this) and a series race winner.

This one was scariest of the bunch because that car almost climbed the fence.

Looks like IndyCar hit the panic button... from Racer.com

Carpenter's accident was the third Chevrolet car to go upside down so IndyCar ordered the ramps inside the rear wheel covers on all GM cars to be removed. IndyCar also mandated a return to race day boost pressure, which effectively took away 40-50 horsepower, and sent Gasoline Alley into a mad thrash to remove the ramps and change gears to accommodate the reduced power.
"This is amateur hour," said one former IndyCar champion. "They are changing the rules on the fly and it's madness. We didn't test these cars until a couple weeks ago so we had no idea what to expect and now they're messing with the aero package without having any idea about the consequences.
"They're throwing darts at a board."

[BonzoHansen]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ed-carpenter-crashes-during-indianapolis-500-practice-133234381--irl.html