Indianapolis ? The driving status of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk was uncertain after he came away from a hard crash in practice Friday with an aching back.

Luyendyk climbed from the car on his own, but complained of back pain. He was examined at Methodist Hospital and released. He will be re-examined at Indianapolis Motor Speedway today, when his status will be determined.

Qualifying for the May 25 Indy race begins today.

Luyendyk had just completed a lap at 221.206 mph when his car spun and backed hard into the outside wall of the first turn. As the car slid down the track, it hit the outside wall a second time, on the front right side.

“The car was set up in a way that was maybe too tricky for the conditions, which are different than they have been all week,” Luyendyk said. “I wasn’t pushing the car too hard at the time. It just swapped ends.”

The crash happened on the third lap of the day for Luyendyk, at 49 the oldest driver entered in the race.

“I’m hurting between the shoulder blades pretty bad right now,” Luyendyk said after returning to the track Friday afternoon. “But, fortunately, nothing is broken. … The bad thing is I have to walk around with my arms folded to keep from hurting as much.”

He was surprised even to be in pain.

“It’s strange what happened,” the Flying Dutchman said. “I’ve had much harder crashes where I didn’t get hurt at all.”

Luyendyk said he will meet today with Dr. Henry Bock, the director of medical services for the IRL and the speedway, to talk about when he will resume driving.

The car driven by Arie Luyendyk slams into the wall in the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500. Luyendyk wrecked Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and his status for today's qualifying is uncertain.

“My status is day-to-day,” he said. “There’s no telling when I’m going to be cleared to drive. The doctor says it’s totally up to me, when I feel comfortable doing what I have to do to drive my race car.

“We’ll see how I feel tomorrow and work with Dr. Bock on deciding when it makes sense to get back in the car. There’s no sense getting back into the car if I’m hurt to the point where it’s going to affect my driving. I’ll be back in the car sooner or later, though. This is too much fun.”

The crash of Luyendyk, the 1990 and 1997 Indy winner, was the third in practice this week.

Japan’s Shigeaki Hattori sustained a concussion and broke the little finger on his left hand when his car hit the wall Tuesday.

Hattori had surgery on the finger Wednesday and was released from the hospital Thursday, but has not been cleared to drive.

A.J. Foyt IV, grandson of the four-time Indy winner, was not injured when he hit the wall Thursday.

The pole position will be determined today, but qualifying will continue Sunday and again the following Sunday.

Luyendyk has started from the pole three times at Indy. He holds speedway records set in 1996 for the fastest lap in qualifying, 237.498, and the fastest four-lap qualifying speed, 236.986.