INDIANAPOLIS — Three Indianapolis 500 winners spun whereas popping out of the pits Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and four-time race champion Helio Castroneves hit the second flip wall with about 80 minutes left in an unusually chaotic testing session.

Castroneves was taken to the observe’s infield medical middle the place he was checked and cleared to drive shortly after the crash. The Brazilian gained final 12 months’s race in the identical automotive that hit the wall.

“Very unusual,” Castroneves mentioned. “I wasn’t pushing, I wasn’t even making an attempt. It was very uncommon. I do not know when you guys noticed however I used to be like I am unable to consider what simply occurred.”

The testing session was delayed early within the day for about 90 minutes following rain. After the observe dried, temperatures within the excessive 40s and warmed up into the low 60s as drivers took to the observe

Castroneves wasn’t the one veteran who had bother with the chilly, breezy situations.

Alexander Rossi, who gained the five hundred in 2016, and Will Energy, the 2018 champion, additionally spun within the warmup lane.

Whereas neither hit the wall, Energy’s automotive pressured Colton Herta to go excessive by way of the primary flip and Herta wound up slamming into the wall. Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson barely averted hitting the Andretti Autosport driver as Herta’s automotive stopped.

Energy could not clarify it, both.

“It scared absolutely the daylights out of me,” Energy mentioned. “I really feel horrible for Colton as a result of he crashed due to me. However I had zero warning. Zero. It felt like water.”

Shortly after the second crash, sequence officers halted testing for the day so they may give the observe a extra thorough inspection. IMS, IndyCar and Firestone, the tire provider for the sequence, mentioned they have been working to guage the warmup lane in turns one and two.

One other testing session is scheduled for Thursday.

The 22-year-old Herta, like Castroneves, was shortly launched from the infield medical middle and leared to drive.

“I wasn’t positive how far up the observe Will was however I needed to go extensive,” hee mentioned. “I used to be near having nowhere to go.”

Six-time sequence champ Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing posted the quickest lap of the day at 227.187 mph. Conor Daly of Ed Carpenter Racing was second at 226.985 and rookie Callum Ilot of Juncos Hollinger Racing was third at 226.308.

“The very first thing I mentioned was the warmup lane felt slick after which I noticed Alex spinning so it made sense,” Daly mentioned. “I feel the extra we go, it is going to get higher. It is unlucky however I feel we are able to run if we’re just a bit bit cautious with it.”

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, driving with a bandaged hand in his first IndyCar season driving ovals, was twenty fifth at 218.785 after recording the eighth-fastest non-tow velocity within the first of the three two-hour home windows.