Driver suffers terrifying Indy 500 practice crash as track left damaged by huge impact

Scott McLaughlin's Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway came to a premature end as the New Zealander suffered a terrifying crash in practice ahead of the top-12 qualifying session. The impact left a significant indent on the racing surface, such was the scale of the shunt.

The driver of the Pennzoil No.3 Chevrolet had previously gone to the top of the practice timing charts and was considered one of the frontrunners for pole position in the fast six later on Sunday, but his participation now looks impossible following a terrifying crash. Last year's pole-sitter lost the rear of his race car at Turn Two, sending him into the Safer barrier at high speed. The 'Yellow Submarine' Chevrolet was sent airborne by the contact and made a second impact with its sidepod onto the asphalt.

The Team Penske driver was the pole-sitter in 2024 but was forced to watch team-mate and close friend Josef Newgarden win his second successive Borg Warner Trophy, as the Nashville-born star passed Pato O'Ward on the final lap in an instantly iconic finish at the Speedway.

McLaughlin's chances of a front-row start next Sunday evaporated with his practice crash, although Newgarden and Will Power will fly the Team Penske flag in top-12 qualifying later today.

McLaughlin joins a three-strong list of drivers who have crashed so far this weekend. Marcus Armstrong found the wall in practice on Saturday ahead of the full-field qualifying, and now faces a daunting experience in last-chance qualifying to book his place in the 33-car field next weekend.

Colton Herta also hit the wall on Saturday. On his first qualifying lap, the California-born star smashed into the barriers and was sent flipping into the air before landing upside down on the IMS asphalt. Remarkably, his engineers rebuilt the car in time for him to sneak into the top 30 before the end of the day, punching his ticket to the 109th running of the Indy 500.

Speaking to Fox Sports after he was released from the in-field care centre, Herta said: "Yeah, I'm fine, you know. Luckily, nowadays, these crashes look a lot scarier than they feel - not to say that that one felt good. But I think the team is going to be hard at work right now trying to get the back-up car ready, and yeah, it is going to be probably impossible to get out today, so we'll have to see what we can do.

"Just a terrible day for this to happen. And it was... no real signs leading to it. We were super happy with the car this morning and [we] go out and just loose... couldn't even get lap one done. So it sucks, but I'm good and we'll keep going."