Horrific crash for pole-sitter

INDIANAPOLIS — A frightening crash sent polesitter Scott Dixon’s car airborne and onto a retaining wall during the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, but Dixon was not seriously hurt.

The crash started when Jay Howard lost control on Lap 53 of the 200-lap race and Dixon slammed into him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dixon’s car then flew into the air and crashed on top of an inside retaining wall, tearing the car apart. But the tub containing Dixon remained intact and he walked away from the crash. Howard also was not hurt.

“A little bit beaten up,” Dixon said in a television interview following the crash. “Glad everybody was OK. Definitely a wild ride.”

As Dixon’s car was in the air, Helio Castroneves’ car drove under him. “I saw they were flying, I ducked, I closed my eyes,” Castroneves said. “When I opened [them], I was in the grass.”

His car had a damaged front wing, said Castroneves, who eventually finished a close second behind winner Takuma Sato.

The race was stopped for 18 minutes under a red flag so that track workers could repair part of the safety fencing that was ripped open by the impact of Dixon’s car.

The New Zealander, who is a four-time champion of the Verizon IndyCar Series, won the Indy 500 in 2008.

Montoya comeback

Two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya finished sixth after it appeared he was destined for a long day.

Driving for Team Penske, Montoya started 18th and ran out of fuel just before a pit stop that shuffled him back in the pack.

“From there to come back to where we finished was great,” the Colombian said. “The car was really good at the end of the race.

“I told the guys on the last stop, ‘Let’s take a swing’ [with adjustments] and we did and the car came to life,” he said. “I would have liked to have had some more laps at the end.”

Bourdais returns

Sebastien Bourdais returned to the speedway only one week after a vicious crash in practice that left the French driver with a broken hip and pelvis that required surgery.

Bourdais, 38, walked into the track’s media center on crutches and then said he plans to recover quickly enough to race Sept. 17 in the IndyCar season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

“I have no intention to let this incident stop my career,” he said. “It’s just going to be a game of patience and trying to make sure I’m ready when it matters.”

Bourdais, who drives for Dale Coyne Racing, lost control of his No. 18 car and slammed nearly head-on into the outside wall at more than 200 mph.

He was replaced for Sunday’s race by Australian James Davison, who finished 20th.