Gidley escapes near head-on impact

Gidley was running eighth when he lost control of his Target/Ganassi Lola-Toyota exiting Turn 13. He corrected the slide, but the rear end regained traction, causing him to miss his entry into the left-hand Turn 14 and instead propelling him toward the concrete bridge support.

The car hit with the right front at around a 60-degree angle at a speed of about 145 mph before landing upside down a few yards away. It took several minutes for the CART Safety Team to right the car, during which Gidley spoke to his crew on the radio.

Once righted, the 'Jaws of Life' cutting equipment were used to cut Gidley out of the wreckage.

"Memo has some potential soft tissue damage to his knees," stated CART Medical Affairs Director Dr. Steve Olvey. "He was awake and alert at the scene, though he suffered a loss of consciousness during the accident.

"We sent him to St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan by ground ambulance for X-rays and a CAT scan. He's got some pain in his knees and he's going to be pretty bruised up, but it looks like he got away with it."

Team boss Chip Ganassi, whose other driver Bruno Junqueira won his first Champ Car race on a mixed day for the quadruple champion team, also noted that Gidley may have suffered a potential broken arm.