Andretti’s Colton Herta Goes Airborne in Indy 500’s Carb Day Practice

Colton Herta’s car suffered large-scale damage after it went airborne and turned upside down before landing during the Indianapolis 500 Carb Day practice on Friday.

Herta, a driver for Andretti Autosport, was driving his No. 26 Honda car. With the Indianapolis 500 in two days, team owner Michael Andretti told The Indianapolis Star that the 22-year-old would drive the backup car, keeping his inside spot on Row 9. 

However, he will not have the chance to test the new car before Sunday’s race.

While his car is severely damaged, Herta managed to escape the wreck without injuring himself and was initially cleared to drive by the IMS medical director, Geoffrey Billows, according to the Star.

Herta, who recently won the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month, said he was trying to make final adjustments to his car when it went airborne. 

“It all happened really fast,” Herta said per the Star. "It was 60 or 70 gs of a hit very impressive when you can hit that and still be standing and fine with no major injuries.”

Herta also stated the rain showers from earlier in the day on Friday could have impacted the track’s conditions, per the Star. He later tweeted saying that “he was fine” and “will be ready to race on Sunday👊🏻.”

"Thank you to everyone at the medical center and of course the on track safety team,” Herta tweeted. 

In the two-hour session on Friday, Tony Kanaan had the fastest lap at 227.114 miles per hour, followed by Marcus Ericsson (227.004), Takuma Sato (226.839) and Scott Dixon (226.696).