Tony Kanaan soars to top of Carb Day charts as Herta literally soars

Carb Day serves as the final practice session for the NTT IndyCar Series field before Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, though it was a session to forget for Colton Herta and David Malukas as both were involved in wrecks. For Herta, the only practice he got was being an aeroplane pilot as he found himself flying through the air before landing on his roof, though he walked away without injury.

The two crashes only capped off an inauspicious day that began with a rain delay, and the colder temperatures prompted Rinus VeeKay to only run eighteen laps before concluding his run. Once the weather cleared, Malukas’ day ended when he made contact with Santino Ferrucci in turn one, shooting him into the wall.

Later in the session, Herta lost control of his car and clipped the outside turn two wall, and the ensuing lift caused the vehicle to flip onto its roof before coasting down the backstretch and hitting turn three nose-first. Herta’s accident was very similar to Dan Wheldon‘s blowover in the 2003 race, with both taking off at nearly the same position and angles. Despite the scary nature, he was released from the medical centre without issue.

“Well first off I’m fine,” Herta subsequently tweeted. “More importantly we’re moving to the backup car and will be ready to race Sunday. Thank you to everyone at the medical center and of course the on track safety team.”

While Herta’s flight dominated the day’s airwaves, Chip Ganassi Racing continued its strong Month of May as Tony Kanaan, Marcus Ericsson, and 500 pole winner Scott Dixon were respectively first, second, and fourth quickest. Kanaan set a best time of 39.6277 seconds, ahead of Ericsson’s 39.6468. Fellow Ganassi driver Jimmie Johnson was the fastest rookie in seventh.

Although topping the charts is always a good day, Kanaan regarded his Carb Day as “uneventful. We went through some pit stops. We just really ran all day in traffic.

“It wasn’t much to do. We’ve been happy with the car all week, that is no secret that the cars are good.”

Takuma Sato broke up the Ganassi party by being third at 39.6757. Herta’s strongest time before his wreck was good for twentieth, while Malukas’ placed him three spots ahead.

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