Former NASCAR star and current American Rallycross driver Scott Speed may have to hang up his helmet for a while after a hard landing at this weekend’s American RallyCross Championship Nitro World Games landed him in a Utah hospital with a broken back.
During Friday’s qualifying session Speed had a hard landing on a jump, which ended up jarring the lower back of this driver so hard that it broke three vertebrae – although the 36-year-old California native remained in his Subaru USA car to finish the qualifying session before he climbed out and was immediately sent to a Salt Lake City hospital.
A CT scan and follow-up MRI confirmed that this all-around race car driver had fractured three vertebrae in his back. Despite this news, Speed has a positive outlook, stating that he and his surgeons are working to come up with the best game plan for his recovery and return to racing.
“This weekend was easily the scariest and most painful time I can remember, and it left me in a pretty dark place,” said Speed. “I want to thank so much everyone who came and spent time with me. No way I could have made it through all this alone.”
Speed has also followed up this statement in telling fans that he is currently undergoing physical therapy and is hoping that this will alleviate both the pain and the risk for major surgery. We wish Speed a swift recovery and can’t wait to see him back behind the wheel soon. Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com as we continue to follow-up on this story.
Good luck Scott. You’re in our prayers.
You can beat this, dude. Thumbs up right back at you.
I have had three surgeries on my neck and know what you’re going through and just please give yourself time to heal as its NO fun the second and third time. God bless and you’re in our prayers. miss you in Cup