Dismore Injured in Fiery Crash in Indianapolis Practice Session

Indy-car rookie Mark Dismore was seriously injured in a fiery crash Friday during a practice session for the May 26 Indianapolis 500.

Dismore, 34, from Greenfield, Ind., was removed from his shattered 1988 Penske race car and airlifted to Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis.

Speedway officials said he was “awake, alert and stable.”

A report from the hospital described his injuries as a broken neck, multiple injuries to his right foot, right knee and right wrist and severe multiple injuries to his left foot.

He was scheduled to undergo 4-6 hours of surgery on his feet and wrist Friday night.

Dismore was running laps of about 216 m.p.h. when he brushed the outside wall coming off the fourth turn. The car spun and slid at high speed backward into the inside fence, the engine compartment exploding into flame. The race car then rebounded head-on into the end of the retaining wall dividing pit road and the track, with more flame spouting from the disintegrating car.

The driver’s compartment remained intact but wound up upside down near the entrance to pit lane.

The crash strewed debris for about a quarter-mile and U.S. Auto Club officials closed the track for the day, about 30 minutes before the scheduled end of practice.