Christian Rasmussen describes 'hottest ambient' conditions at Indy 500 practice 

Ed Carpenter Racing driver Christian Rasmussen recently took part in the practice session that was held as a part of the preparation for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500. He spun around during his lap but managed to save it from a crash.

The 24-year-old drives the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing car powered by Chevrolet. He recently opened up about the 'hottest ambient' conditions at the track that caused his incident during the Indy 500 practice session.

On Friday, May 16, Bob Pockrass uploaded a clip of Christian Rasmussen where he reflected on his racing incident.

"It's a little, it's a little sketchy for sure. Especially right now. It's the hottest track temperature we've had. It's the hottest ambient we we've had and probably also the most wind. So it's all those things combined with me being pretty deep on tires there at the end. I think just kind of kind of gave us that result unfortunately, but it could have been a lot worse. We came out of it, okay. Yeah, I haven't seen the car yet but it looked pretty OK, so I hope that we'll make it out again today."

The Copenhagen native put in a lap at the speed of 222.816 mph and placed himself in 8th place. This will be his second entry at the Indianapolis 500.

As for Christian Rasmussen's 2025 season, it is off to an average start, as during the first race of the season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, he qualified in 24th spot and finished the race in 15th spot. During the 50th anniversary ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach held on April 13, he qualified in 18th place and took the checkered flag in 23rd place.

At the recently held Sonsio Grand Prix on May 10, he qualified in 19th place and finished the race in 19th place. Christian Rasmussen, along with his team, is currently gearing up for the 'Greatest Spectacle of Racing', which will take place on May 25.

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Christian Rasmussen speaks after his Indy 500 practice incident

Christian Rasmussen spoke about his incident during practice, where he lost control of his car and grazed the wall before spinning around. Luckily, the 24-year-old managed not to crash into the driver behind him, who was Kyle Larson.

The Ed Carpenter Racing driver jumped out of his car and was taken to the medical center for a checkup, following which he was released. While speaking to IndyCar ( via X), he looked back on the incident and said,

“Yeah, I have been getting understeer through [Turn] 2 all day, especially with where the wind direction is right now. I was a little surprised by getting loose there. I just got loose in the middle of [Turn] 2 and was just kind of walking the car up.” (0:04 onwards)

Christian Rasmussen made an appearance at the 2024 Indianapolis 500 but missed out on the rookie of the year award as it was handed out to Arrow McLaren's Kyle Larson.