Indy 500: Ed Carpenter confronts Takuma Sato following heavy crash

American driver Ed Carpenter angrily confronted Takuma Sato on the track after crashing out of the Indianapolis 500 following a collision with the two-time winner.

The team owner’s race ended abruptly on lap 27 when he became the third driver to be eliminated from the prestigious oval event.

Replays showed the former Formula 1 driver drifting down the banking and squeezing into his rival’s racing line, which caused a heavy spin into the outside wall.

Trackside confrontation

Despite climbing out of his stricken vehicle unharmed, the 43-year-old refused to immediately follow safety marshals off the circuit.

He instead stood his ground near the racing line to wait for the field to cycle back around under caution conditions.

When the Japanese racer’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing machine approached, the furious driver visibly swore and gestured aggressively at his competitor.

‘Unwise’ move from a veteran

After receiving medical clearance from the infield care centre, the veteran driver bluntly expressed his frustration to reporters.

“I was in the middle of a gaggle of cars, following Marcus Armstrong into turn one on the outside, and Takuma tried to make it three-wide into turn one on the restart, which was unwise,” he explained.

“Not only did he do that, he tried to squeeze me down like I was not going to be there, so that’s really disappointing, so early in the race.”

“For a veteran like that, a two-time champion, I would expect way more out of him.”

The race had already seen early drama with the eliminations of 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and British driver Katherine Legge.

Legge was unfortunate to strike the barrier after taking evasive action to avoid Hunter-Reay’s spinning car.