Despite a massive crash that left him with fractures in both his collarbone and hand, Verizon IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden isn’t going to sit out—a mere two weeks after the wreck, Newgarden is back in the car at Road America. Not surprisingly, he said he “feel[s] the pain in the hands everywhere.”
He’ll start 20th in the Kohler Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, as he received penalties on his fastest two laps for causing a red flag during qualifying. But hey, that’s better than not starting the race at all—that’s a pretty impressive feat in itself.
The crash at Texas Motor Speedway that left Newgarden with a fractured clavicle and hand came when Conor Daly ran up the track and into his car, sending them both toward the wall. Newgarden stood up after the wreck with help from the safety crew, but fell back down soon afterward.
Advertisement
Newgarden flew to a nearby hospital for treatment, and the race itself got rained out and postponed until late August. Here’s a video from the incident:
As for how the racing is coming along for Newgarden this weekend, here’s what he had to say via Autoweek:
Sponsored
“Both hands hurt overall,” Newgarden said after the first practice, “but I think the clavicle will hold up. It’s a little sore, but I think it will be OK for the weekend. …
… “I’m more optimistic than yesterday,” said the Hendersonville, Tennessee, native. “I’m happy I was able to run today and see how I can get into the car. I think we have some more work over the weekend trying to get the performance where we need to from a car standpoint.
Newgarden added that he thinks he “can manage the pain over the weekend,” and is more concerned with the race car. Newgarden’s made it through the weekend practice sessions and qualifying, and even topped the charts at one point during the third practice.
All he’s got left is the race itself, which starts at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
