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3 Crashes Highlight Friday Indy 500 Practice
Briscoe, Power, Viso Crash
POSTED: 4:23 pm EDT May 16,
2008
UPDATED: 5:28 pm EDT May 16,
2008
INDIANAPOLIS -- Ryan Briscoe crashed his backup car during a full day of practice Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Briscoe, who qualified third on Pole Day, slammed the back of his Penske Racing machine into the wall.Rookie drivers E.J. Viso and Will Power crashed earlier in the day during practice for the Indianapolis 500.Viso, a 23-year-old Venezuelan, hit the wall first. He had completed only one lap early in the session and was still building speed when he lost control going into the third turn, struck the outside wall with the rear of his car and spun across the track.He was out of the car on his own and appeared to be unhurt.Less than 30 minutes later, Power, who had turned the second-fastest lap of the day at 223.039 mph, spun and slid into the wall, sending up a cloud of flame and debris. The 27-year-old Australian also appeared to escape injury.Both Viso and Power are among the nine drivers who have moved to the IRL's IndyCar Series along with teams making the transition from the now-defunct Champ Car World Series.Neither of them was among the 11 drivers who qualified for the May 25 race last Saturday and it was unclear if either had a backup car available in which to attempt to qualify when time trials resume Saturday.The first two crashes came during a busy first hour of Friday's practice. On Thursday, 35 cars turned more than 2,600 laps on the 2 1/2-mile oval without a single incident.
Copyright 2008 by TheIndyChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.








