Nolan Siegel won't drive in Farm to Finish 275 after crash in IndyCar's first race at Iowa

Indianapolis Star

13-07-2025

NEWTON, Iowa — Nolan Siegel has not been cleared to compete in Sunday afternoon's IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway by the series' medical team after the 20-year-old Arrow McLaren driver weathered a hard single-car crash on Lap 248 of Saturday afternoon's kickoff to the doubleheader weekend, the team announced Sunday morning.
Arrow McLaren has elected not to run the No. 6 Chevy entry that Siegel qualified fifth, trimming the field to 26 cars. Siegel "will continue to be evaluated" and the team said it will "stay in close contact with the (IndyCar) medical team as he recovers."
IndyCar heads to the streets of Toronto five days later for Friday afternoon's opening practice, meaning depending on the severity of Siegel's injury, which the team did not specify, they may need to seek a temporary replacement if he's not cleared to return to the cockpit later this week. It's routine for IndyCar's medical team to put drivers who've undergone an especially severe hit (measured by the G forces sensed either in the car or the driver's helmet) to perform follow-up checks for concussion-like symptoms, though it's not immediately clear if Siegel is in that protocol.
Siegel's crash on Lap 248 in Turn 4 led to an initial yellow flag, followed 10 laps later by a red flag to repair the SAFER barriers in the outer wall at the point of impact.
"There's no place I'd rather be than out there driving today, especially from (fifth on the grid), one of my best starting positions of the season," Siegel said. "I know I'm in good hands with the IndyCar medical team and thank them for the great care they provide us drivers.
"Most of all, I feel for the No. 6 car crew. They gave me a rocket this weekend and put in a ton of work last night with hopes we'd be racing today. They deserve to be out there fighting for a podium, and we'll be back soon to do just that."
Among those on the ground at Iowa Speedway this weekend who could've been able to fill-in are ex-Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist, last year's IndyCar Rookie of the Year who snagged a pole and a pair of podiums in 2024, but who was a victim of IndyCar's charter system that forced CGR to trim back to three full-time cars in a process that left him the odd man out and without opportunities elsewhere. A year ago, then-Dale Coyne Racing driver Jack Harvey was attempting to manage severe back pain and was debating pulling out of Saturday's race following qualifying.
Live updates: IndyCar Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway race updates, leaderboard, crashes, stream, TV
But IndyCar would not allow for a substitute driver because no other driver not already in the field had participated on track. Because of that, Harvey and Coyne opted to have the veteran driver start the race, though he retired 28 laps into the race when he could no longer bear the pain. Sunday morning of that doubleheader weekend, substitute driver Conor Daly was allowed to step into the car to run what amounted to an handful of install check-like laps to get his bearings, and he started Race No. 2 in the No. 18 Honda in place of Harvey. Rookie Hunter McElrea raced in place of Harvey at Toronto, and the British driver was back in the car for the next race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Last year at Toronto, Arrow McLaren also had to jump through hoops after then-driver Alexander Rossi broke his wrist in a Friday practice crash, and the team made last-minute arrangements for Theo Pourchaire, who had filled in for an injured David Malukas earlier in the year, to fly in from Europe overnight and make it into the No. 7 Chevy just in time for qualifying.
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"I've been there. I know how Nolan feels not racing today. It's the worst feeling int he world," Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan said. "The most important thing, though, is that he's fit to race, and unfortunately that's not the case today. It was a tough decision to park the car, but we've ben through this before.
"We just found out this morning he's not cleared, and we decided the best thing for the team is to not rush into switching drivers this weekend. It's too much of a shuffle and unnecessary stress when we're right back to racing in Toronto in a week. After today, we'll have to make a contingency plan in case Nolan's not cleared to race in Toronto, but today, this is the best for the team."