"He carried way too much speed in and wasn't aware of what was going on around him," driver Buddy Lazier, who was passed by Dana just before the crash, told reporters.

Dana, a St Louis native and Indianapolis resident, had raced in just three IRL events as a rookie last year before suffering a season-ending back injury during the first week of practice for the Indy 500.

Rahal said later he was not aware of any communications problem between his driver and the pits. "The spotter made clear the incident," he said.

It was the third fatal crash involving an IRL driver since 1996 following the 2003 death of Tony Renna and 1996 death of Scott Brayton, and was the 11th overall in major racing over the last 10 years including five fatalities in NASCAR and three in CART.

Indy Racing League officials on Monday had no further comment on the accident.