Fisher checked over after practice shunt
Sarah Fisher was checked and released from Memorial Regional Medical Center after complaining of neck pains following a crash in Indy Racing League practice at Richmond International Raceway on Thursday afternoon.

The 20-year-old Indy Racing League driver crashed in the second-turn wall and twisted her neck. Fisher uses the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device and, according to her mother, her neck twisted in a peculiar manner because of the impact.
The HANS device helps prevent severe injury on a forward motion impact, but Fisher's crash was a side impact with the rear corner of the car making contact with the wall.
Prior to the crash, Fisher had completed a lap at 157.481 miles per hour in her Dallara-Oldsmobile Aurora as the IRL teams practiced for Saturday night's SunTrust Indy Challenge.
Fisher returned to the track late on Thursday night during the second practice session, but must be cleared by Dr Henry Bock, the IRL's director of medical services, before she can attempt to practice and qualify on Friday.
"I'm all right, I'm just a little sore," Fisher said as she walked into her transporter after returning to the track. "They just took some precautionary x-rays to make sure there wasn't anything beyond a bruise. There's nothing there. I just felt a little sore at the first stoppage, and I'm perfectly fine.
"Richmond is awesome. We're really looking forward to the race. We just had a lot of push (understeer) dialed into the car, and when you have that and you hit some bumps, you get a snap-oversteer kind of feeling, and that's what happened.
"It overshot and came around on me in an instant," she added. "Fortunately, we didn't tear up anything too major and it will allow us to get on the track tomorrow - same car, same everything. We're just going to start up where we left off, which was a pretty good spot."
This is the first time the IRL has attempted to compete at the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway short track. It's the first time the IRL cars have raced at a track under one-mile in length.
Donnie Beechler, who drives one of two entries for A.J. Foyt, also crashed in the second practice session when he hit the outside retaining wall in the fourth turn. Beechler was treated and released from the infield care centre without injury and is cleared to drive.
"I really don't know what happened," Beechler said. "The car was tight through the corner. The back end just came around. The race car was comfortable the whole time. The track gets faster with the sun down. It has cooled off. We hope to get this back together and will practice Friday. It should be a great race."

Richmond practice: Boat floats to top
Ray doubtful after qualifying crash

Latest news
Ellis named as replacement for injured Auer in Bathurst 12 Hour
DTM race-winner Philip Ellis will make his Bathurst 12 Hour debut this week as a stand-in for the injured Lucas Auer.
Winning MSR Acura "super lucky" with Daytona 24 gearbox scare
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura team was "super lucky" to win the Daytona 24 Hours despite its malfunctioning gearbox for most of the race, according to team boss Michael Shank.
Bourdais “surprised” Cadillac was beaten on pace in Daytona 24 Hours
Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais said he was surprised that the victorious Acura ARX-06 outperformed his new V-LMDh in the Daytona 24 Hours IMSA SportsCar Championship season opener.
Daytona 24: MSR Acura opens GTP era with win, Proton snatches LMP2 by 0.016s
Meyer Shank Racing scored its second consecutive victory in the Daytona 24 Hours in the first race for the IMSA SportsCar Championship's new GTP regulations, leading an Acura 1-2 finish.
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.