Dreyer and Reinbold Racing General Manager Larry Curry announced that Tomas Scheckter will be filling in for Justin Wilson, behind the No. 22, in the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Scheckter has 116 IndyCar Series starts, including two victories and 44 top 10 finishes, most recently the Indianapolis 500 this year. He has made 14 starts in the past with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.
“Even though we get that extra run time there Thursday (practice day), we have to cut to the chase fast,” Curry said. “We know him and he knows us, and it will take him only two or three laps to know what he needs out of the car and how we can adjust it.
“It was more of a choice based on who was available and who we had a relationship with. That was pretty simple actually.”
Wilson will miss New Hampshire after suffering a stable burst fracture of the fifth thoracic vertebra during practice at Mid-Ohio on August 6th. Wilson was release from an Indianapolis hospital on August 9th.
“Obviously, I have a little bit of a backache, but I’m just frustrated to not be at the racetrack,” Wilson said. “I think that we just started to get our season turned around and the car was really good at Mid-Ohio and I’m disappointed about that. I know that I’m going to miss the ovals and I think we’ve found some good stuff that was going to help our oval performance.
“So I’m just disappointed to not be the car, but my back is the most important thing. I’m going to try and get that to heal and get back to 100 percent as soon as possible and get back in the car. Also, the response has been incredible and it’s really nice to see that rather it’s on Twitter from the fans, or drivers and ex-drivers. Everyone has been really supportive, so thank you to all of them.”
IndyCar medical director Dr. Michael Oliger says Wilson will be treated with a back brace and be out for at least three months. Curry said that team co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl haven’t selected a driver for the races past New Hampshire. The schedule includes three road/street courses and two ovals after New Hampshire.
“We are talking about a lot of things on how we want to approach the rest of the year with the three road courses,” Curry said. “The next time we see our trucks in Indy will be after Labor Day, and then we only have four days to have the stuff ready for Japan. So we have to make some decisions quickly for the Infineon test.”
