Colton Herta’s Tough Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Shortly after noon, Colton Herta faced a tough setback at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he collided with a truck.

A few hours later, he was back on the track for the 109th Indianapolis 500.

After a frightening crash, Herta went through evaluation at the medical center but returned to push himself and the No. 26 Honda to its limits. Just before 5 PM local time, he managed to complete four laps on the 2.5-mile oval.

His efforts were enough to secure a place in the race:

When time expired at the end of the session, Herta finished with a position of P29, just making it into the top 30.

As noted by James Hinchcliffe from Fox Sports, telemetry data indicated that Herta didn’t ease off the throttle at all during those four laps, despite earlier issues that day.

For anyone unfamiliar with Herta’s crash, here’s how it went down.

He wasn’t the only driver facing challenges following a serious crash on Saturday. Marcus Armstrong, driving the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, also had a substantial crash during Saturday morning’s practice. After spending some time at the care center, he was cleared to get back on the track.

Armstrong had qualified once, yet his average speed over four laps fell short of what was needed to secure a position in the Indianapolis 500. He now has to aim for one of the final three spots in Sunday’s Last Chance Qualifying Session.