Charlie Kimball on Aleshin crash: 'I had nowhere to go'

FONTANA, Calif. -- Charlie Kimball had nowhere to go to avoid Mikhail Aleshin's spinning race car in the seconds before the two cars collided Friday night in an IndyCar practice crash.

"I saw the tire smoke and thought my only chance was that as he comes up (the track), he'll come in behind me," Kimball told USA TODAY Sports before Saturday's MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway. "But as the car rotated and came up the hill toward the wall, I had nowhere to go to avoid it. It was just wrong place, wrong time."

The impact launched Aleshin's car over the SAFER barrier and into the catchfence, where it pirouetted violently several times before landing back on the track. Debris flew everywhere and a gaping hole was left in the Turn 4 fence.

Aleshin was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center -- about 13 miles east of the track -- where he was treated for a concussion, broken right clavicle, broken ribs and undisclosed chest injuries.

Three hours before the start of Saturday's series finale, Aleshin's condition was upgraded to stable and he had undergone surgery for an unspecified chest injury.

Aleshin, a 27-year-old rookie from Moscow, appeared to brush Scott Dixon's car in Turn 3 before losing control and spinning up the 14-degree banking in front of Kimball's car.

One of two drivers on IndyCar's safety committee, Kimball said he's confident IndyCar officials will address issues of fencing and barrier height that may have contributed to the ferocity of the crash at the 2-mile oval, where banking is 14 degrees in the turns and 11 on the straightaways.

There are no fans seats behind this area of catchfence. The grandstand at this track, opened in 1997 and built by Roger Penske, runs from just after the Turn 4 exit to the beginning of the Turn 1 entry.

"It's a reminder of how far safety has come in the fact that the injuries Mikhail sustained weren't more serious," Kimball said. "Not to mention the fact that I'm getting ready to race tonight in a backup car. The cars did their job. That's how far safety has come."

Kimball, a 29-year-old native of Camarillo, Calif., is finishing his fourth season behind the wheel of the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Ganassi Racing Honda. He cautioned participants and fans to let the emotions of a frightening crash pass before seeking solutions.

"You have to balance working quickly with making snap decisions," Kimball said. "You have to work through the emotion of what an incident like that creates within the whole family of IndyCar racing. You have to get past that before you go to work making it better. Anytime something happens, there's this reaction. You have to get past that reaction before you go to work and make longstanding, legitimate improvements."

Kimball also credited the late Dan Wheldon for his developmental work on the Dallara DW12 chassis, in use by IndyCar since 2012.

Wheldon was killed in a 15-car crash when his car flew into a catchfence during a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2011. Wheldon died of blunt force trauma.

Las Vegas is a 1.5-mile oval with 18-20 degree banking in the turns. IndyCar did not return to the venue after the 2011 race was aborted.

Wheldon was working on a safer driver tub through most of the 2011 season.

"You can't ignore Dan's input, and you can't ignore Dan's testing of the car," Kimball said. "Some of the data from the safety committee shows that the car is performing as they had planned and intended. They know that they can still make it better, and there are ways they want to make it better. For me as a driver, knowing that they're continuing to work forward and make it better is the biggest thing."

Fontana is known for its treacherous speeds. In qualifying earlier Friday, Helio Castroneves took the pole with an average speed of 218.540 mph.

During last year's finale, Justin Wilson broke his pelvis and suffered a pulmonary contusion in a five-car accident.

In 1999, Greg Moore was killed here in a crash on the 10th lap of what was then the CART series finale.

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