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

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

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 will probably be no automobile on the within of Row 3 for the beginning of the race.

“There’s no place I’d moderately be than on the market driving in the present day, particularly from P5, considered one of my finest beginning positions of the season,” Siegel mentioned in a press release. “I do know I’m in good palms with the INDYCAR medical staff 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 evening with hopes we’d be racing in the present day. They need to be on the market combating for podium, and we’ll be again quickly to do exactly that.”

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

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

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

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

“It was a tricky choice to park the automobile, however we’ve been by way of this earlier than. We simply discovered this morning he’s not cleared, and we determined the very best factor for the staff 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 staff will work on a contingency plan for Toronto in case Siegel will not be cleared. Final 12 months, the staff 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 many years overlaying motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seaside) Information-Journal. Comply with him on Twitter @bobpockrass.