INDYCAR Driver Nolan Siegel Not Medically Cleared For Sunday’s Race At Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa — INDYCAR driver Nolan Siegel will miss the second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader weekend after a hard crash in the opener on Saturday.

Siegel was not cleared by the INDYCAR medical staff to race. His injuries were not disclosed. The Arrow McLaren No. 6 car will not compete in the 275-lap event which airs at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.

After he exited the medical center on Saturday, Siegel indicated he planned to race today despite the hard hit, which caused the race to be stopped briefly so the wall could be repaired.

“Yeah, it’s a big hit, but yeah, I’m fine, I think,” Siegel said Saturday. “We’ll be good. I’m excited for tomorrow, starting fifth. It will be a good day. It was a good day today [until the wreck].”

However after being re-evaluated Sunday morning, Siegel was not cleared. Nobody else adjustments place as there can be no automobile on the within of Row 3 for the beginning of the race.

“There’s no place I’d slightly be than on the market driving in the present day, particularly from P5, certainly one of my finest beginning positions of the season,” Siegel mentioned in a press release. “I do know I’m in good arms with the INDYCAR medical group and thank them for the good care they supply us drivers.

“Most of all, I really feel for [my] crew. They gave me a rocket this weekend and put in a ton of labor final night time with hopes we’d be racing in the present day. They need to be on the market preventing for podium, and we’ll be again quickly to just do that.”

Siegel mentioned Saturday that the dealing with of his automobile modified late within the race. 

“It was a little bit bizarre from the time I left pit lane and hadn’t had a whole lot of oversteer up till then,” Siegel mentioned. “After which I simply misplaced it in the course of [turns] 3 and 4. I used to be pushing arduous. … There’s not far more to it.”

The group opted to not scramble to discover a driver to place within the automobile for the race in the present day, contemplating they solely received just a few hours of discover. Siegel, who’s twenty first within the sequence standings, will earn three factors as a substitute of the standard 5 for a Twenty seventh-place end since he isn’t beginning the race. 

“I’ve been there, I understand how Nolan feels not racing in the present day,” group principal Tony Kanaan mentioned in a press release. “It’s the worst feeling on this planet. A very powerful factor, although, is that he’s match to race, and sadly that’s not the case in the present day.

“It was a troublesome choice to park the automobile, however we’ve been by this earlier than. We simply discovered this morning he’s not cleared, and we determined the most effective factor for the group is to not rush into switching drivers this weekend. It’s an excessive amount of of a shuffle and pointless stress once we’re proper again to racing in Toronto in every week.”

Kanaan mentioned the group will work on a contingency plan for Toronto in case Siegel just isn’t cleared. Final 12 months, the group used a few substitute drivers when David Malukas broke his wrist mountain biking previous to the season.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent a long time protecting motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Comply with him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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