IRL to investigate accident

Reports indicate that Renna was alone on the track when his car suddenly became airborne in the short chute between the third and fourth turns. Videotape of the aftermath showed a section of debris fencing that appeared to be under repair and damage to a walkway on the grandstand outside the fence.

In May, Mario Andretti escaped injury in a spectacular airborne crash at the Speedway. Dan Wheldon was also uninjured when his car flipped during the Indy 500.

"The League will work with teams and speedway officials to see what they can learn about this crash to see if there is anything that can compare to other crashes," said Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesman Ron Green. "They'll get together and do a walk-through and try to determine its cause. Right now it's too premature to make any kind of judgments on how the crash happened and what actually happened during the crash."

Green confirmed that the fence damage was caused by wreckage from the crash: "The fence was not under repair before the test session. What you're seeing [on the videotape footage] is damage from the crash."

Just three cars were involved in the test session: Renna's Ganassi Racing entry, that Scott Dixon lapped on Tuesday at 228mph, and both Marlboro Team Penske cars of Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr. Renna's car was the only one involved in the crash.

Renna is the 67th person to be fatally injured at the Brickyard since it opened in 1909. The last driver killed there was Scott Brayton, who died in a crash during practice in 1996.