Stefan Wilson has eyes set on 2024 Indy 500 amid recovery: 'I’m counting down the days'

Less than three weeks after he was on a stretcher, Stefan Wilson is back on his feet, standing on the very track of the crash that caused him to miss the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

It's Wednesday afternoon and Wilson is standing near the brick start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Alongside him are IMS President Doug Boles and IndyCar President Jay Frye for a special presentation. Wilson is wearing a brace that stretches up his torso, a reminder of why he wasn’t crossing that start/finish line in a car on race day this year. 

“First of all, we know how much the Indy 500 means to you, your family and how hard you worked to get here and how hard that qualifying effort was,” Boles said, “and you deserved to start the race.”

Frye then hands Wilson a Starter Ring for the 2023 Indy 500.

“This means a great deal to me,” Wilson says later, “thank you so much.”

Wilson did, in fact, qualify for the 2023 Indianapolis 500 with a four-lap average of 231.648 mph. This was the very track where he nearly made history in 2018. He led that year’s Indianapolis 500 with just a few laps to go, but went into the pits and ultimately finished 15th. He hasn't recorded a finish better at the Indianapolis 500 since then.

The 2023 Indy 500 was set up to be another chance for Wilson. But that changed on the Monday after qualifications.

During practice, Katherine Legge rammed into the back of Wilson’s car. Legge’s car avoided a head-on collision with the SAFER barrier on a turn. Wilson’s, though, did not.

“I remember getting hit from behind halfway through the corner,” Wilson said Wednesday. “Really kind of bizarre. You don’t expect that to happen right there. Unusual to get hit at the speed we were doing in that kind of position on the track.”

Wilson felt a sharp pain in his back. He was stretchered away but gave a thumbs-up sign multiple times. He went to the hospital, where he said the initial X-rays were encouraging. But then he had an MRI that revealed a more severe situation. He suffered a 12th thoracic vertebrae fracture and wouldn’t be able to race in the 2023 Indy 500.

“The most painful experience of it all,” Wilson said, “was getting that news.”

Wilson underwent surgery. A man who had just been zooming at more than 200 miles per hour now needed his wife to help do small tasks. Being able to run and lift weights seemed so far away. He was visited by James Hinchcliffe and Romain Grosjean, who has each endured serious injuries due to a crash. The day before the race, Wilson posted a video on Twitter of him gingerly standing up, then slowly walking. The caption: “I’m back.”

“You look at what you had before the incident, the mobility and the function you had — and that’s just lost,” Wilson said. “And so the first couple of days was just tough. It felt like an impossible mountain to climb and every day just getting a little bit better, a little bit stronger, a little bit back to normal, that’s given me a lot of positivity over the last week. Just to see that progress that I’m making. And now it doesn’t seem like such an impossible mountain to climb.”

Wilson watched the 2023 Indy 500 on TV. “It was a wild race,” Wilson said. “I just wish I was out there.” Wednesday’s presentation doesn’t change that, however, the ring does give him a piece of the pageantry. Wilson had actually sent a text to Graham Rahal, who took Wilson’s spot in the race, jokingly saying he wanted a Starter Ring. It was especially notable to Wilson because of the average speed of his four-lap qualification time.

But it did come to fruition Wednesday. The 33-year-old’s humility was evident when he admitted he didn’t expect there to be media for the presentation.

“I didn’t expect to have all this fanfare around me picking up a ring — a qualifying ring,” Wilson said. “So I’m really humbled of the support that I’ve received from the fanbase, the IndyCar fanbase and the IndyCar community as a whole has been overwhelming and just truly humbling for myself.”

Wilson is now focusing his attention on recovering for next year’s Indy 500. He is scheduled to be in the brace for three months before he can start working out with more intensity and getting strength back to where it was. At a minimum, he is expected to be six months away from returning. His goal is to be back for the 2024 Indy 500.

“I’m counting down the days each day,” Wilson says standing near the start/finish line on Wednesday. 

“I want one that’s a little faster,” he says pointing at the ring with a laugh.