Big crashes mar Phoenix event

De Vries appeared to lose control through the dog leg on the backstretch and veered between the gap in the barriers on the inside of the track. He then impacted the catch fencing on the inside of the following corner, glancing the posts that hold the debris fencing in place.

"The car was real loose and suddenly I was going on a real ride," said de Vries. "It was scary. I didn't know where I was at, and I was going head-on into the wall."

At the resultant restart, a five-car shunt at Turn 1 was triggered by Jeff Ward and Billy Boat, which took out the following Felipe Giaffone, Robby McGehee and George Mack. The latter, who graduated to the IRL directly from karting, was taken to the infield care centre but was also given the all-clear.

"It was a shame, Buddy Lazier hit me on the inside and someone else was on the outside," said Giaffone.

Another multiple accident was caused a few laps later when Anthony Lazzaro spun, taking out Eddie Cheever and Scott Sharp.

"Lazzaro and somebody spun in front of me, I had nowhere to go," said Sharp.