Alexander Rossi suffered injuries to his finger, ankle in crash; what it means for Indy 500

Alexander Rossi underwent procedures on his right ankle and a finger on his left hand following a crash during Monday’s Indianapolis 500 practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ed Carpenter Racing announced Monday night.

Rossi, who is slated to start second in Sunday’s Indy 500, crashed into the wall in Turn 2 at practice after losing control of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. After slamming into the wall, Rossi’s car made contact with Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean crashed while trying to avoid the incident. O’Ward and Grosjean were released from the IMS infield medical center. Conor Daly’s car also suffered damage in the crash.

After spending more than 90 minutes inside the medical center, Rossi was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, eventually leading to the procedures. Per ECR, Rossi will be evaluated throughout the week with “the full intent of participating in the final practice on Friday, May 22 and the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24.

ECR will move to a backup car for Rossi’s entry, which will not cost the entry its spot on the starting grid. If Rossi is unable to drive the car Sunday, the entry will move to 31st on the grid, starting ahead of Caio Collet and Jack Harvey, whose cars failed post-qualifying technical inspections for illegal Energy Management System (EMS) covers.

If Rossi doesn’t recover in time for the race, ECR must find an IndyCar-approved replacement. ECR’s reserve driver is Hunter McElrea, who has only driven in one IndyCar race, on the streets of Toronto in 2024. McElrea would be an Indy 500 rookie who hasn’t gone through the Rookie Orientation Program (ROP), which the four Indy 500 rookies in this year’s field completed at the Indy 500 open test in late April. Rule 4.3.2.9.8 would require McElrea to go through an ROP but IndyCar could allow him to do one this week. It seems unlikely, however, that IndyCar would approve a rookie who hasn’t been on an oval in an Indy car if Rossi were not available.

ECR could turn to veterans who have been in the Indy 500 recently but don’t have a seat this year if Rossi doesn’t recover. Notable drivers from last year’s Indy 500 who aren’t in this year’s race include Devlin DeFrancesco, Robert Shwartzman, Callum Ilott and Marco Andretti. Per IndyCar Rule 4.3.2.9.7, Andretti — who retired after last year’s race — would need to complete a refresher test, but the other three drivers wouldn’t because they have driven on an IndyCar oval since last year’s Indy 500. Ilott has been at IMS throughout the month, including Monday, however a source tells IndyStar that Ilott’s team, Prema Racing, would need to grant him permission to drive for another team while Prema’s IndyCar program is on pause.

Rossi will look to heal in the next six days and be on track for the Indy 500. Rossi is a decade removed from winning the Indy 500 as a rookie in 2016, and should he drive and start on the front row, he could be in contention for his second victory.

Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.