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Hours after crash, Colton Herta qualifies for 109th Indy 500
Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian driver Colton Herta (26) crashes Saturday, May 17, 2025, during qualifying for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Steve Baker/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hours after harrowing crash, Colton Herta qualifies for 109th Indianapolis 500

Just hours after a scary crash that saw him flip upside down in a shower of sparks, 25-year-old Colton Herta locked himself into the 2025 Indianapolis 500 field in a back-up car that he hadn't turned a single lap in. 

After taking a harrowing, airborne, upside down ride through turn 1 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Herta qualified for the Indy 500 less than five hours after the crash. 

Herta locked himself into the 29th starting position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25th, where he'll go for his first Indianapolis 500 win in his seventh start. 

"Today really isn't about me," Herta told Fox Sports after the qualifying run that locked him into the race. "I tried all I could to probably ruin our day, and the guys did all they could to make it. I'm amazed that they were able to put a car together in this amount of time. That was a lot of work, not just from my guys, but from the sister cars as well, anybody who was willing to put in the work."

"It's less about me and what I just did to get out there. It's more about the crew guys and what they've done to put us in the position to even be in this race." 

Herta's four lap, 10-mile run culminated in an average speed of 230.192 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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