Indy 500 Fast Friday practice halted by Siegel’s flying crash

A 19-year-old California native, Siegel was in the midst of a third lap during a simulated qualifying run when his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda snapped around and hit the outside wall on the exit of Turn 2.

After making contact with the wall, the back of the car lifted off the ground, getting almost inverted, and skated down the backstretch on its left side before coming to a stop in the middle of the track.

Nolan Siegel has been seen and released following this crash and blow over during #Indy500 practice.

📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/fZaP7mxuvJ

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 17, 2024

All cars are given an extra 100 horsepower via more turbo boost today, to allow cars to simulate the four-lap qualifying runs.

"I don't know [what happened] to be honest," said a bewildered Siegel after being checked and released from the infield care center. "I'll have to look at it closer.

"I had one snap of oversteer that I caught and then turned back in and spun, and I'm not exactly sure why." 

After seeing the replay, he added: "Feel bad for the team that's been working so hard for so long for this and just kind of threw it away. So not at all happy about that one.

"But, we'll move forward and see if we can get back out and qualify for the race tomorrow."

Siegel, who currently runs full-time in Indy NXT and is vying for his second points-paying start in the IndyCar Series, was able to walk away from the accident after receiving assistance – due to car positioning and the aeroscreen – which required the car being turned back on its wheels for him to get out. There were some patch work needed on the track where the suspension of Siegel's car dug into the pavement.

He added: "We're probably going to have go back to the spare car and we don't know exactly where that's going to be. I'll look into what I can do differently.

"I'm fine. I feel like I can go back out and we'll have a chance at making the race at least, but certainly a setback we didn't need so my apologies to everyone."

The incident happened roughly 90 minutes into the day, with Siegel only running 15 laps with a best of 229.813mph (28^th overall). He becomes the third driver to crash this week, with Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, involved in separate incidents on Thursday’s running.