Chris Windom Out Of Freedom 100, Kellett Fastest at Indianapolis

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS — USAC racer Chris Windom will not participate in Friday’s Freedom 100 after an incident damaged his car beyond repair with the time available before Friday.

The No. 33 Belardi Auto Racing entry was in Turn 2 when Windom lost control and barely collided with teammate Santi Urrutia. The damage Windom’s car sustained would not be repairable to the teams’ satisfaction for Friday’s 40 lap race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“He got a little loose in Turn 2 and obviously hit the wall,” said Belardi team manager John Brunner. “The car is damaged too far for us to repair in time to do it properly, so at this point we didn’t have a lot of options, go get anther car, even getting another car was going to be tough because this race you need to be able to prepare it to a certain level.

“I don’t think we could do a good enough job for Chris or this race team, I just think it would’ve been asking too much and it would’ve been a last minute deal.”

The tub’s condition is uncertain. It will be sent to Dallara to determine if it can be repaired. There also was damage to the engine and gearbox.

Belardi Auto Racing hasn’t had the easiest of years with crash damage. Aaron Telitz had a major incident following qualifying for the second race in St. Petersburg earlier this year and his replacement car went all of a quarter of a mile in the second race before an incident with another competitor.

During the rest of the test, Andretti Autosport’s Dalton Kellett was fastest with a lap of 198.005 mph over teammate Pato O’Ward’s lap of 196.190 mph. 2017 Pro Mazda champion Victor Franzoni was third ahead of Ryan Norman, Windom, Davey Hamilton Jr., Urrutia, Colton Herta and Telitz.