UPDATE: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has confirmed that, after staying overnight in the hospital and having numerous tests done, Stefan Wilson will be undergoing surgery on his fractured vertebra on Wednesday, May 24 to stabilize the fractured area.

“The Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports team will have more information in due course,” a statement from the team read.

Original story below.

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SPEEDWAY, Ind. — IndyCar driver Stefan Wilson will not be able to compete Sunday in the Indianapolis 500 after fracturing a vertebra in a collision during a practice session on Monday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Wilson was taken by ambulance to the hospital Monday afternoon after a heavy crash with Katherine Legge in practice for the Indy 500, which the Associated Press said was the first wreck of the two-week build-up to the 107th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Legge made initial contact from behind Wilson in turn one before both cars went into the wall. Wilson needed to be extracted from his car, was loaded onto a stretcher with a neck brace, and was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital via ambulance for advanced medical evaluation.

In a statement sent around 7:45 p.m. Monday by Wilson’s driving team, Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports/CareKeepers Chevrolet, that he has suffered a fracture of the 12th thoracic vertebrae and will stay overnight at IU Methodist for further tests and observation. 

This, the team said, means Wilson will not race Sunday.

“Based on this type of injury, Wilson will not be allowed to compete in this Sunday’s 107th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race,” the team’s statement read. “The Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports team will have more information in due course.”

The crash that injured Wilson occurred around 2: 15 p.m. while he was driving the No. 24 car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports/CareKeepers Chevrolet and was pointed nearly head-on when he made contact with the SAFER barrier.

For more information on the crash, click here.

Early Tuesday, it was announced that Graham Rahal will replace Wilson as a driver in the 500.