Indy 500: 3 possible replacements for Stefan Wilson
By Asher Fair
Stefan Wilson will not be competing in the 107th running of the Indy 500 after suffering a fractured vertebra in a practice crash on Monday afternoon.
Going into turn one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 107th running of the Indy 500 on Monday afternoon, Stefan Wilson was run into from behind by Katherine Legge.
Both drivers lost control of their cars, causing a massive accident. Prior to this contact, there had been no significant incidents of any kind leading up to this year’s Indy 500.
Unfortunately for Wilson, he will not be able to compete in this coming Sunday’s 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval.
He suffered a fractured vertebra as a result of the accident, meaning that his No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet will need a new driver for race day.
Here are three possibilities.
Possible Stefan Wilson Indy 500 replacements: No. 1 – J.R. Hildebrand
Before Graham Rahal’s failure to qualify for this year’s Indy 500, no driver who was not set to compete in the race had competed in it for more consecutive years entering 2023 than J.R. Hildebrand. He competed in the race each year from 2011 to 2022 and was one of only nine drivers to compete in all 12 events during that span.
Hildebrand, who competed for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” from 2018 to 2020, is seen as the early favorite to replace Wilson, and we’ve seen what he is capable of at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, finishing higher than he has started every year since 2018.
In addition to his career-best yet infamous runner-up finish as a rookie, he has three other top 10 finishes in his Indy 500 career, including a sixth place finish in 2016 that came after he led laps late. Let’s also not forget that he was a top five contender all race in 2017 before a late penalty knocked him well down the order.