Stephen Wilson is officially out of the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. Wilson suffered a fractured vertebra in the middle of his back after tangled with Catherine Legg in Turns 1 and 2 during Monday’s practice session.
With the teams running the race simulation in a large pack, the cars ahead of Legge and Wilson slowed, causing a chain reaction. Legge, although she got off the throttle and downshifted, could not slow her car enough and ran into the back of Wilson, sending both of them into the wall.
Wilson gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was placed on a backboard before being taken to the infield medical center, while Legge exited his car under his own power. Track medical personnel said Wilson was communicative, in good spirits and was transferred to an area hospital for advanced imaging.
Wilson, driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, was competing in his fifth Indianapolis 500 and qualified 25th. His best qualifying (23rd) and race result (15th) at the speedway came in 2018 while driving for Andretti Autosport.
Legge, driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, safely qualified for his third Indy 500 on Saturday, the 30th, while his three teammates had to sweat it out in Sunday’s last-chance qualifying. That session ended with a dramatic, last-gasp collision by RLL’s Jack Harvey with Graham Rahal, son of team co-owner and 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal.
RLL said it would not run its backup car, which is already set up for the next series tour to Detroit Street Circuit, opting instead to fix the oval car for Friday’s “Carb Day” final practice session. Is.
Dreyer & Reinbold has not yet announced what it will do with the damaged car or who will replace Wilson. Rahal would be an obvious choice as he ran the entire first week of practice and both days of qualifying, but earlier on Monday he indicated he wanted to earn his way into the field rather than come the other way. JR Hildebrand, who has 68 IndyCar Series starts including seven at Indianapolis, has been at the speedway all month despite not having arranged a ride for this season.
