Mears Injured in Crash : Indy 500: He suffers broken foot and sprained wrist in 213-m.p.h. accident. His status for driving in race will be evaluated daily.

Rick Mears, the four-time and defending Indianapolis 500 champion, escaped serious injury in a horrifying crash Wednesday during practice for the race.

Mears, who never lost consciousness, was taken by ambulance to nearby Methodist Hospital, where his injuries were diagnosed as a broken left foot and a sprained right wrist. Temporary splints were put on both injuries and Mears was released.

He was not immediately cleared to drive, however, and Henry Bock, the speedway medical director, said that Mears’ driving capabilities will be evaluated daily. Qualifying will begin Saturday for the race on May 24.

Mears was shaking down one of Roger Penske’s 1991 Penske-Chevrolet-A backup cars. He had just completed a lap at 213.310 m.p.h. when smoke spewed from the engine compartment.

As Mears drove through Turn 2 of the 2.5-mile oval, the rear of the car, running over water from a broken line in the engine according to a team spokesman, slipped and began sliding. It spun nearly 180 degrees, slamming into the concrete wall.

Pieces flew in every direction as the tub, the compartment carrying the 40-year-old Mears, momentarily turned upside down, then slid 730 feet down the track on its side.

The three-time national Indy car champion still limps from serious foot and ankle injuries he suffered in a crash in September of 1984, the year of his second Indianapolis victory.

In that crash, during practice at Sanair Speedway near Montreal, Mears suffered multiple breaks of both feet when the car hit nose first and became wedged under a guard rail. He needed microsurgery and skin grafts and spent a total of three months in several hospitals.

Because his feet failed to heal as quickly as hoped, he missed much of the 1985 season. He was unable to drive in road races, which require constant foot use for braking and throttling, and drove in only five oval track events, winning the Pocono 500.

He returned to full-time driving in ’86 and eventually resumed his elite status, enjoying particular success here, where he won again in 1988 and a year ago.