Indy 500: Heartbreak For Stefan Wilson, He is Out- Replacement will be Seated
DRR/Cusick Motorsports To Name New Indy 500 Driver at 10 a.m. Today
In practice on Monday, driver Stefan Wilson will be removed from his starting position after sustaining a back injury in a crash.
Charles Bradley reported for AutoSport about the details:
Wilson will miss this weekend’s race due to suffering a fractured vertebra. The crash occurred in the final hour of running when cars were practising racing moves in the draft.
Santino Ferrucci had just passed Devlin DeFrancesco on the front stretch, which led to Wilson apparently backing off in reaction to DeFrancesco’s slower car entering Turn 1.
The following Legge failed to slow in time, and her front-left wheel rear-ended Wilson’s rear-right corner, causing them both to spin and hit the wall.
Legge explained: “The cars in front were all checking up, I lifted as much as I could and downshifted, hit the brakes, but it wasn’t enough as they were checking up.”
Andretti will start his 17th Indy 500 from 24th on the grid – one spot ahead of where Wilson had qualified. He said the crash happened just behind him but wasn’t surprised after a near miss of his own just a lap earlier.
“It was in my mirror, but what's funny, before that happened – not funny – but literally a lap before that happened, we were in this string of cars, and I'm like, I can't believe how slow the pack is going,” he said. “It caught me out in [Turn] 3. I was way on the brakes, and I couldn't believe how slow they were going.
“So, I think from the looks of it, I only saw it from sitting in the race car, it looked like she just got caught out by how slow they were going.”
Here is the team's statement:
Officials from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Cusick Motorsports will announce a driver to replace the injured Stefan Wilson in the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at a news conference at 10 a.m. ET today on the fourth floor of the DEX Imaging Media Center at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. DRR owner Dennis Reinbold, Cusick Motorsports owner Don Cusick and the new driver will participate in the availability.
British veteran driver Wilson was ruled out of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Monday evening after suffering a vertebrae fracture in a two-car crash during practice Monday afternoon in the No. 24 DRR Cusick CareKeepers Chevrolet.
WHAT: DRR/Cusick Motorsports Indianapolis 500 Replacement Driver Announcement WHO: Dennis Reinbold, Owner, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Don Cusick, Owner, Cusick Motorsports Team Replacement Driver