MIPS: Road to recovery leads to Indy for Wood.

Veteran racer Tom Wood's painful 14-month rehabilitation programme has been rewarded with a drive in the Futaba Freedom 100 at Indianapolis with crack team Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

Wood, who suffered multiple injuries in a crash at the Kentucky Speedway in 2003, will form part of a four car Schmidt assault on the May 27th event, which is the highlight of the Menards Infiniti Pro Series season.

In August, 2003, Wood was running second and preparing to make a move for the lead at Kentucky when another car clipped him, sending him into the wall at more than 175 miles per hour and fracturing his spine, hand, knee, both legs, ankles and feet. Officials said the G-forces of the crash were the most severe recorded of a non-fatal accident.

Almost as soon as he regained consciousness, "Everything I thought about was getting back into a race car," Wood said.

He will be driving for Schmidt, an inspiration during his recovery period. Schmidt, a quadriplegic following his own racing crash in January 2000, will also be fielding cars for points leader Travis Gregg, Chris Festa and Jaime Camara, who was quickest at a recent test on the 2.5-mile oval.

"Sam Schmidt was my inspiration. From his wheelchair, Sam works harder than anyone I know and he doesn't know the word 'quit,'" Wood said. "I was determined to get out of this medical jigsaw puzzle and get behind the wheel of a race car again."

After 14 surgeries, an incredibly painful rehabilitation process and a continued daily workout programme, Wood will realise that opportunity at the world's most famous oval. He tested last year, participated in the Indianapolis test earlier this week and has plans to race other Menards Infiniti Pro Series events after the Futaba 100.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to racing," Wood said. "Right now, I just want to get the Futaba 100 and the month of May behind me. This deal came together fairly quickly, so we're just working on developing the programme and team chemistry right now. Once we're able to settle down, we'll get going a little better with the whole programme."

For Schmidt, whose Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation was begun on the premise of helping others with life-altering injuries, as well as research into spinal cord injuries, Wood's comeback is a major achievement.

"I don't know of anyone with more courage and tenacity than Tom Wood," Schmidt said. "I know what he has sacrificed over the past 18 months to get here, and I also know he is a talented driver. This is more than helping someone come back from injury. It's helping set him back on a very promising career path, and I feel confident Tom will be right back where he was as a driver."