Team Penske's David Malukas has been cleared to return to the track for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix after a heavy crash in opening practice at Nashville Superspeedway.
The 24-year-old driver from Chicago missed qualifying while being examined at a local hospital, but returned in time for the high-line and final practice session on Saturday evening.
The accident happened roughly 20 minutes into opening practice on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. Malukas lost control of his #12 Team Penske Chevrolet in Turn 2, half-spun and went hard rear-first into the outside wall. The force of the crash was so severe that his knee struck the steering wheel and knocked it off the steering column.
The impact also damaged the SAFER Barrier, requiring a lengthy stoppage while track marshals carried out repairs. Track crews spent more than 20 minutes repairing the wall, prompting IndyCar officials to extend the session by 10 minutes.
Malukas was helped from the car by the AMR Safety Team and walked away under his own power before being transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. Medical examinations revealed no major injuries; Malukas suffered only heavy bruising to his knee.
David Malukas, Team Penske
Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
“Everything is good,” said Malukas, who will now start from the back of the field in a backup car. “I want to take this moment to hugely thank the AMR safety team and everyone involved from IndyCar and the hospital I went to. There was so much going on. I can't remember the name of the hospital, but shout-out to Sam there. Everyone was just so on top of it and made sure we could get these results, because everyone knew we were under time pressure.
“Fortunately, everything came back clean. Nothing is broken, nothing is torn, which was pretty impressive because I literally took the steering wheel off with my knee. I couldn't believe that. So it's just badly bruised, but you know, we have good people around me and they massaged it a bit.
“So we can go.”
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Source: Motorsport