Pole sitter Scott Dixon of New Zealand was able to climb from his crippled car Sunday after a spectacular crash that brought the 101st Indianapolis 500 to a temporary halt.
Britain’s Jay Howard bounced off the outside wall near turn one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and slid into Dixon’s vehicle, sending it careening into the air and sliding along a guardrail on the inside of the track, a burst of flame shooting from the back end.
Both Dixon, the 2008 winner, and and Howard were able to climb from their cars.
“Just a little beaten up there,” Dixon told a television interviewer. “That was a little bit of a rough ride. I’m so bummed for the team — we had a great shot.”
Officials brought out the red flag to halt the race for some 20 minutes to clean debris and repair a broken section of safety fencing.
At the time of the crash — 55 laps into the 200-lap race — two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso was in the lead of his first Indianapolis 500.
Alonso rocked the racing world when he opted to defect for the weekend from Formula One — skipping Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix to take on America’s “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
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