Andretti ready to return after shunt

Minutes after walking away from a frightening between Turns 1 and 2 while testing Tony Kanaan's Dallara-Honda while the Brazilian recovers from injury, racing legend Andretti said the crash wouldn't keep him from continuing to test cars for his son's team as Andretti Green Racing prepares for the Indianapolis 500 next month. "I'll be back in May," Mario said. "Of course."

Michael Andretti said he would meet with his father and team members to discuss his father's return, but that ultimately the decision would be Mario's.
"We're going to have to talk about it, but it's up to him," Michael said. "He was doing so well. His feedback was really good. He was helping us. It's just a shame."

Near the end of his first test session in an Indy car in nine years, Mario Andretti, 63, survived an enormous crash. His car came out of the first turn at full throttle and hit a piece of debris from Kenny Brack's spinning car. The impact lifted the nose of Andretti's car and sent it flying, flipping and spinning along the top of the catch fence. When it came to a stop, Andretti climbed from the car with just a scrape on his chin.

"It's just a freakish situation," Mario Andretti said. "It was instantaneous. Things were still moving on the track, so it's not like the accident had been there for even a second or two. It all happened simultaneously."

Michael and Mario left the speedway for their homes in Nazareth shortly after the accident. When asked if the crash would keep him from continuing to test for Michael, Mario said: "No, I don't think it will. All I saw was sky. I was thinking, 'What in the hell am I doing here?'"