MONTEREY, Calif. (Aug. 27, 1996) — With just over 30 minutes remaining in Tuesday's second and final day of testing at Laguna Seca, 1991 PPG Cup Champion Michael Andretti spun off course and backed hard into the tire barrier at Turn 9 in his Kmart/Texaco-Havoline Lola Ford. Turn 9 is the fast, down-hill left turn just after the Laguna Seca corkscrew.

After being examined trackside at the IndyCar Medical Center by Dr. Nicholas Bonfilio of the IndyCar Safety Team, Andretti was taken by passenger car to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula for precautionary X-rays and further examination. According to Dr. Bonfilio, Andretti was complaining of chest and shoulder pain.

Michael's father, Mario Andretti, drove him to the Hospital and they were also accompanied by Dr. Bonfilio. At the accident site, Andretti's Newman-Haas teammate Christian Fittipaldi also stopped his car on course and rushed to assist track corner workers and IndyCar Medical Team members who were at the scene.

"Something broke and I went in hard," said Andretti. "I was going into the corkscrew and I thought I went in too hot. After the corkscrew, I spun right out. Either a tire or something broke. My shoulder and sternum hurt a little."

According to Dr. Bonfilio, X-rays revealed a soft tissue injury to Andretti's thoracic spine. He was released early Tuesday evening and departed for Los Angeles with team members for a visit to Swift Engineering. He will compete in this weekend's Molson Indy Vancouver.