Sigh of relief at Indy after no disasters

INDIANAPOLIS – Derrick Walker looked and sounded relieved after Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Five crashes, no serious injuries and no cars in the air – a good day for IndyCar’s biggest race and a welcome one for Walker, who heads competition for the series.

“It showed the decision we made in qualifying made a big difference,” Walker told the Associated Press in Gasoline Alley. “We had a great race, that’s the takeaway from today.”

For Walker, the race may have been the easiest part of May.

The debate over how fast qualifying speeds came to a frightening end when three drivers – three-time race winner Helio Castroneves, two-time Indy pole winner Ed Carpenter and Josef Newgarden, Carpenter’s teammate – all got their cars turned backward and flung upside-down during a five-day span of practice. None of them was seriously injured.

Walker responded to the flurry of crashes by requiring all cars to qualify in the slower race-day trim. The change worked.

Despite some hard hits and big spins involving big names, nobody’s car went airborne over the last seven days at the 2.5-mile Brickyard.

“We finally proved that we don’t flip every time we crash,” 2013 Indy winner Tony Kanaan said after a big hit in the fourth turn during Sunday’s race. “I’m glad I’m OK. I’m glad that we’re able to prove a lot of people wrong. It’s a very unfortunate thing that happened to me, but if I have to prove that we don’t flip cars anymore, here it is for the critics.”

It wasn’t a perfect day.

Sebastian Saavedra hit the fourth turn wall after Jack Hawksworth clipped the back of his car with 24 laps to go. On the rebound, rookie Stefano Coletti slammed into the front of Saavedra’s car.

IndyCar’s safety team, which saved James Hinchcliffe from a life-threatening leg wound Monday, took its time helping Saavedra out of the car, then carried him to the ambulance. The Colombian driver was later transported to Indiana University Methodist Hospital where he was diagnosed with a bruised right foot. Track officials said he needed additional evaluation before he would be cleared to drive next weekend in Detroit.