USA TODAY International Edition
IndyCar’s Aleshin has more than pole to celebrate
LONG POND, PA. Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series rainout at Pocono Raceway gave Mikhail Aleshin another day to celebrate an official milestone in his comeback — his first pole in this series. Actually, every day is a blessing for the 29- year- old Russian driver.
Before the ABC Supply 500 was postponed to Monday ( noon, NBC Sports Network), a reporter new to covering IndyCar watched the video of Aleshin’s horrific crash in 2014 at Auto Club Speedway. The man’s jaw dropped, his face full of the obvious question: How could Aleshin have survived being hit by Charlie Kimball’s car and then slamming into the oval track’s wall and fence?
Aleshin certainly suffered extensively, diagnosed with a concussion from the centrifugal force of his car spinning so rapidly so many times. Likely during the contact with the fence, which got ripped apart, he suffered broken ribs, a broken right collarbone and chest injuries that were more severe than anyone confirmed.
“Like almost not here ( today),” Aleshin said of the heart damage.
Aleshin missed most of last season, but it wasn’t because of the injuries. His inability to get sponsorship money transferred from his country to the USA kept him out of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ No. 7 car until the season- ending race at Sonoma Raceway. But he wasted no time showing his worth.
Aleshin finished 10th in that race, setting the stage for what has been a solid second full sea- son. The results aren’t impressive ( three top- 10s in 12 starts), but he has made steady progress.
Josef Newgarden called him “super legitimate.”
“He’s a great driver, pretty daring, particularly on ovals,” Newgarden said. “There’s not a lot that spooks him, which can be unnerving when you think about it. At the same time, it’s very good for being able to get the most out of a race car.
“He gets better and better the more seat time he has.”
Aleshin insists the seat time he didn’t get last year is more relevant than the injuries that set him back. But both have impacted his perspective on life and racing.
To Aleshin, the pole he won here Saturday was a brief reflection point in the journey; he has more to accomplish.
“Obviously, yesterday was a big day for me, a big day for the team, but that was yesterday,” he said. “I woke up today already with a fresh mind — today we have a completely different mind, a completely different story.”
Rain notwithstanding, of course.
After the accident, he could have said no thanks to this dangerous endeavor.
“I would have never said that,” he said. “I could have, yes, but I think my first question when I got conscious in the hospital was, ‘ Can I still do this?’
“I was laying there with tubes in my body — and I didn’t realize all that — but the first question was ( about) racing again. That explains my psychology.”
Aleshin expects to return next year, and team owner Sam Schmidt recently said he expected another season pairing him with James Hinchcliffe.
Aleshin notes his progress of late, starting with four consecutive top- 10 starts ( five in the past six events). In the past three races, Aleshin has finished fifth at Iowa Speedway ( a short oval) and sixth in Toronto ( a street circuit) and was leading at the Mid- Ohio Sports Car Course ( a permanent road course) when the crew released him from the pit box into Newgarden’s path. Their contact took both drivers out of contention, and Aleshin finished 17th.
Aleshin led 33 laps at MidOhio, but his best performance came after the pit road incident. Instead of placing blame, he accepted what happened as part of competition.
“( The crewmember) is already under pressure; he knows what he did,” Aleshin said. “I came to the guy after the race and said, ‘ Forget about it, just do your favorite job as your favorite job.’ I’ve been there; I’m not a machine. I do mistakes as well.”
A day is not something to be wasted; a milestone either.
“I have a lot to ( celebrate),” he said. “Life and a pole.”