IndyCar: Castroneves on back foot after wadding up car on Wednesday

Four-time and reigning Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves spun on the Apron between Turns 1 and 2 at Indy Wednesday during the open practice, careening across the track and hitting the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 late in the day.

Castroneves was unhurt, but his Indy 500-winning No. 06 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda suffered significant front, right-side and floor damage.

“I didn’t feel anything strange, anything bottoming, I wasn’t pushing,” Castroneves said. “And the rear just spun out. I was trying to control it, making sure I didn’t crash, and it was a very odd situation. Unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid that. It was very unusual.”

Just 21 minutes later, 2018 “500” winner Will Power spun in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet in the Turn 1 warmup lane and veered toward on-track traffic. He barely kept his car from entering the oval, and Colton Herta was forced to run above the racing line in Turn 1 to avoid Power, also spinning, nudging the SAFER Barrier in Turn 1 and shearing the attenuator from the rear of his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. Power and Herta both were unhurt.

IndyCar drivers have very little feel for when their car is about to break loose.  With the low downforce setups at Indy to maximize speed, almost all crashes occur suddenly and without warning because the drivers have little to no warning when the rear tires are about to break loose.

Like they have in previous years, the Speedway applied sealer to the track and apron back in October to stop water from getting under the track surface, freezing, and then damaging the asphalt pavement.

Four drivers crashed on Wednesday, and one theory is that the sealer is to blame, making the IndyCar drivers look like wankers.

Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com