IndyCar’s Veekay on comeback trail after nasty bicycle accident
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Rinus Veekay’s quest to become IndyCar’s youngest season champion was gaining momentum following an impressive May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A first career IndyCar victory at the GMR Grand Prix. A second consecutive flawless qualifying run placed the 20-year-old inside the youngest front row in Indianapolis 500 history.
The season points chase? The Ed Carpenter Racing star was right where he wanted to be.
The doubleheader weekend at Detroit started with a runner-up finish.
All systems still a go.
Then following Race 2, Veekay and his trainer Raun Grobben made a pit spot in Chicago.
A laid back training ride on the bike then changed the trajectory of his season.
“I was just cycling with my personal trainer around. We were taking it easy, 100 kilometers like 60 miles on a trail like the Monon” Trail, Veekay said. “No people were on the trail. I don’t know what caused me to flip over the bike, but I landed on my left shoulder. I felt around and I felt my bone sticking out, still under the skin, but I felt that it was broken.”
“I was really counting down the seconds before the surgery, just with all of the pain that I had.”
Grobben sprung to action finding a nearby cycler who kept Veekay calm while he guided an ambulance to the scene.
The verdict? A broken collarbone.
With the help of IndyCar’s medical network he was able to undergo surgery the next day and the race to get back on track was underway.
One of Veekay’s rehab regimens over the past two plus weeks? Three hours per day inside a Florida-based hyperbaric chamber previously made famous by LeBron James.
On Wednesday, Veekay was officially by doctors to return for this Sunday’s July 4 race at Mid-Ohio.
“Anything above my head is painful, but turning a steering wheel is below my head so it is fine,” Veekay said. “I was just in the car, everything feels fine, just like old times.”
You won’t see Veekay on the Monon Trail in or around Indianapolis anytime soon.
His doctors have outlawed bike workouts for the remainder of the IndyCar season. The recommendation instead, stay in the championship chase as he currently sits in sixth place with seven races to go
“I just look to win every race,” Veekay. “I think that is going to be winning Mid-Ohio. Team has a great car there.”
In lightning quick fashion — Rinus returns.