Insider: Legge, Wilson crash during Mondays Indy 500 practice
Motor sports insider Nathan Brown provides updates on Katherine Legge and Stefan Wilson after crash during Monday’s Indianapolis 500 practice session.
Clark Wade, Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Driver Stefan Wilson was taken Indiana University Methodist Hospital on Monday after he was involved in a crash during practice for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
“Stefan is doing well,” Indianapolis 500 medical director Julia Vaizer said. “He’s being transported for further evaluation, but he’s in good spirits. He has no significant issues at this time.”
Katherine Legge of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Wilson, driving for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, crashed going into Turn 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway just over halfway into the two-hour practice period. It was the first crash during preparations for the Indianapolis 500.
Legge appeared to run into the back of Wilson’s car heading into the turn and both cars then crashed into the wall.
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“What happened, happened, whether it’s from my angle or anybody else’s angle,” Legge said. “The cars in front of me checked up, and I lifted two downshifts and hit the brakes, and it was still too much speed going into one.”
Wilson crashed into the wall head on, while Legge crashed on the side.
A crew extracted Wilson from his car, putting him in a neck brace and on a stretcher. He gave a thumbs up to the crowd as he was getting loaded into the ambulance on the track. He bypassed the on-site care center at IMS and went straight the hospital.
Wilson’s brother, Justin, was killed in a crash during an IndyCar race at Pocono in 2015.
Legge was able to get out of her No. 44 Honda under her own power and stepped into the safety team truck.
“I’m fine, and I’m glad to know that Stefan is too,” she said after she was released from the on-site care center.
Legge’s car suffered significantly more damage than Wilson’s No. 24 Chevrolet. Both teams have said their plan at the moment is to repair their cars rather than replace them. IndyCar said there would be no penalty if either team uses a different car, however. DRR’s backup car — which has a go-kart motor and is used for pitstop practice — is two years old and has never been run in the 500.
Marco Andretti said he could see the crash in his mirror: “Literally a lap before that happened, we were in this string of cars, and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe how slow the pack is going.’ Like, it caught me out in Turn 3. I was way on the brakes, and I couldn’t believe how slow they were going.”
Wilson qualified 25th for the Indy 500, while Legge qualified 30th — barely missing the last row.
Legge was the only driver out of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to automatically qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Her three teammates — Christian Lundgaard, Jack Harvey and Graham Rahal — competed in Last Chance Qualifying on Sunday. Rahal, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500 15 times, didn’t make the cut.
“Day was going relatively well before (the crash), but it’s still super unfortunate for the whole team,” Legge said. “It’s been a hell of a week, and after yesterday, the guys don’t deserve to have the misfortune and the work now in front of them.”
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Earlier Monday, Graham Rahal, RLL’s lead driver who failed to make the race, said he would not try to take purchase the ride of one of his teammates. RLL’s race qualifiers are Legge, Christian Lundgaard (31st) and Jack Harvey (33rd), who bumped Rahal from the field at the last second in Sunday’s qualifying.
“You’ve got to earn it here, and we didn’t earn it,” the veteran of 15 Indy 500s said. “I don’t believe in that.”
In the first hour-plus of practice, Scott Dixon had the top lap at 229.184 and pole-sitter Alex Palou was next at 227.392.
