INDIANAPOLIS – Rinus VeeKay suffered the first crash of the day during Saturday’s Indianapolis 500 qualifications.

As VeeKay was making Turn 3 in his first qualifying lap, he lost control of his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. The two wheels on the left side of the car were dislodged, and VeeKay exited the car with a bit of a limp.

VeeKay said the car had understeer as he did his warmup qualifying lap. He claimed there were no concerns about his car coming into the day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Everything was fine and then I just got a huge snap,” VeeKay said. “I’ve never been close to having a snap like that here at the Speedway.”

VeeKay is looking to qualify for his fifth consecutive Indy 500. The 2021 GMR Grand Prix winner qualified in the top four in each of the past four races. VeeKay’s best finish was eighth in 2021. He placed 10th in the race last year after qualifying second.

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Now, the focus is for VeeKay to complete a qualifying attempt later today with a repaired car. He’s not fixated on qualifying as high as he has in the past, or with being fast enough for Sunday’s Fast 12 qualifying with the cars that had the top-12 speeds on Saturday.

“The car is not likely to be as fast as it was,” VeeKay said. “It’s important that we get out there today and if we don’t get into the Fast 12, it doesn’t matter. We need to be on the grid. Josef (Newgarden) won from outside of the Fast 12 last year, so I think we’re gonna be alright.”

While VeeKay limped out of his car, he claimed to be fine after a quick meeting with doctors. He has a slight pain in his right knee, but he described it as “nothing crazy.”

VeeKay and his Ed Carpenter Racing team are now focused on getting his car in the right condition for another qualifying attempt later today. He wants to raise his team's morale to try again later in the day.

“Mentally, for the team, we need to get the spirits up and move forward from this,” VeeKay said. “But it definitely sucks at a time like this where it really counts.”

VeeKay's car is expected to return to the track by 3:30 p.m. EST, according to a member of his ECR team on the broadcast.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Rinus VeeKay suffers crash at Indy 500 qualifications