Felix Rosenqvist suffers violent crash in opening practice at Phoenix

The Swede lost control of his MSR Honda just 20 minutes into the session

Felix Rosenqvist’s race weekend got off to a rough start after crashing in opening practice for the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.

The 34-year-old Swedish native was rolling around the 1-mile tri-oval when his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda snapped midway through the corner of Turn 3 and backed hard into the outside wall. He had logged six laps, with a best of 167.250mph, prior to the incident, which happened roughly 20 minutes into the one-hour session and brought out a red flag. Fortunately, he was able to get out of the wrecked car under his own power, and was seen and released from the IndyCar Medical Unit.

“I just lost it in Turn 2 on exit,” Rosenqvist said, referring to the former corner layout of the track.

“I got a little loose in the middle, kind of recovered and then it snapped again and I just couldn't catch it. Yeah, super, super bummed.

“Very early in the practice, I was still kind of getting up to speed. It's a tough one to save. Big, big hit, so I hope we can get it together.

“Yeah, super bummed for everyone in the team. The car felt pretty good up to there, just a little loose. See what we can do from here.”

As the session drew to a close, a representative with Meyer Shank Racing confirmed to Motorsport.com the team is still evaluating if a backup car will be needed as qualifying approaches this afternoon at 2pm ET.

The session ended with Team Penske’s David Malukas on top with a flying lap at 175.605mph. Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist’s teammate in the #66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, was 16th overall with a best lap of 172.600mph.