2018 IndyCar race winners

Jim Ayello | IndyStar

Photo provided by IndyCar

INDIANAPOLIS — You can almost hear the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course fans whispering now:

Who's that kid with a cane, and why is he hobbling toward an Indy car?

A fair question.

IndyCar fans haven't seen 22-year-old Dale Coyne Racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi on track for a race since early-April at Phoenix, and Mid-Ohio fans might just see him clutching a cane this weekend because doctors only just recently cleared him to walk.

The grandson of two-time Formula One world champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi is still recovering from a gruesome crash during an early-May qualifying session at the World Endurance Championship's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Fittipaldi was left with fractured legs. The accident and surgery cost the young Fittipaldi his 500 debut and put his promising career on pause.

But after two months of non-stop rehab, Fittipaldi is ready to climb back into an Indy car cockpit and resume his rightful place as one of the series' most tantalizing young talents. On Sunday, he'll have that chance as he pilots the No 19 DCR car at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

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There will still be pain Sunday, Fittipaldi admitted shortly after his return to Indy car at DCR's July 17 test at the Lexington, Ohio, road course. There will still be discomfort, but nothing that compares to the pain and discomfort of the months spent away from the one place he wants to be: inside an Indy car.

"The cane makes me feel like an old man," Fittipaldi told IndyStar with a laugh. "But in the car, I feel great, and to me, that’s all that matters."

Fittipaldi's road to recovery has been filled with pain, mental and physical.

After his surgery in Belgium, Fittipaldi flew back to the U.S. to begin the early torments of rehabilitation. The young Brazilian-American described the massages of his bruised and swollen legs as among the most agonizing experiences of his life.

"That was a just week after surgery," Fittipaldi said. "That was painful. So painful. They gave me this little rubber ball to squeeze while they were doing it, and it was so painful. We did that for about an hour or hour and a half every day. That first week when everything was bruised and swollen, that was when it was the worst."

And that was only half of Fittipaldi's battle. The other half was the mental hurdles he had to clear after suffering the first serious injury of his life.

Among the most torturous was not only being in Indianapolis during the wild month of May but being at Indianapolis Motor Speedway every day. Fittipaldi chose to live in a motorhome on the IMS infield, mostly to work with Dr. Terry Trammell, an IndyCar safety consultant and longtime member of the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team. That meant every day, he woke up in a place that should have been home to the biggest race of his young life but was instead simply an oversized rehab facility.

That was difficult, Fittipaldi confessed. But he channeled that frustration into motivation. Every time he saw cars on track, and every time the roar of an engine woke him in the morning, he used it as motivation.

"Hearing those cars just inspired me to get up and go to rehab," Fittipaldi said.

In all, he spent more than six weeks living in a motorhome at IMS and attending daily physical therapy sessions. Along with those sessions, he also frequently swam in Trammell's personal pool as part of his rehabilitation and made daily pit stops at PitFit Training, the now-famous northwest side Indianapolis workout facility that caters almost exclusively to racing drivers.

PitFit's trainers crafted a unique program for Fittipaldi that allowed him to strengthen his upper body and maintain his cardiovascular fitness without the use of his legs.

Alex Wanee, performance director at PitFit and the trainer who worked most closely with Fittipaldi, said he was floored not only by the young driver's work ethic but by his unyielding optimism.

Clark Wade/IndyStar

"The first impression for me was him coming in during the middle of May and having to miss out on what would have arguably been the biggest race of his life," Wanee said. "But there was no negativity. He was all about, 'How can I get back in car as fast as possible?' Within five minutes of working with the kid, I knew he was going to surpass everyone’s expectations and recover way ahead of the timeline."

Even on the days when his doctors didn't give him good news about his injuries and recovery, Wanee said, Fittpaldi would arrive at PitFit that much more determined to beat the odds.

"He was doing every little thing he could do to get himself prepared for this coming weekend," Wanee told IndyStar on Tuesday. "Our attitude from Day 1 was that while his legs won’t be back to 100 percent, the rest of him was going to be in the best racing condition of his life."

While it remains to be seen what kind of condition Fittipaldi will be in after Sunday's race, if the Mid-Ohio test was any indication, he'll be just fine.

The race consists of 90 laps, and Fittipaldi turned just under 100 at the test. He confessed to being "worn out" physically at the end, but mentally, he was as strong as ever.

"The first time I got out of the pits and was on track, I don't know if you can put this in your story, I was (expletive) yeah! I was so happy to be back," Fittpaldi laughed. "It's been two months, and there's that mental barrier. And you keep thinking, 'When can I get back?' Working everyday and going through that painful physical therapy, to be finally back doing what I love, it was just amazing. There's no fear there. I'm just happy to be back and I can't wait to show what I can do at Mid-Ohio."

The road to Mid-Ohio

Pietro Fittipaldi had a big crash in Qualifying for tomorrow's 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. His DragonSpeed BR1 hit the tire barriers hard at Eau Rouge. #6hSpa pic.twitter.com/uZbWqNNB3K — Vincent Bruins (@VincentJBruins) May 4, 2018

🇬🇧Big thank you to everyone for all the kind messages I received over the past week. I’m in Indianapolis now working on my recovery. We will be back racing very soon! pic.twitter.com/wXrKuWDpcn — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) May 15, 2018

🇬🇧 Big thank you to @travelacebr for all the support they have given me after my accident. I’ve had international insurance with Travel Ace Assistance for over 7 years and they have been fundamental in putting me on the best plan for my recovery. Thank you!!🔝🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/16TPuFTHwt — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) May 23, 2018

🇬🇧My home for the month of May and for my rehab! Thank you @revgroupinc for making this possible and providing me with this amazing Motorhome!! 🇧🇷 Minha casa para o mês de Maio! Muito obrigado @revgroupinc por todo apoio e por esse Motorhome maravilhoso! 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/HyiVjj0YK9 — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) May 30, 2018

🇬🇧Training with some extra motivation today watching @enzofitti win his race! Awesome job dude! 🇧🇷 Treinando com uma motivação extra hoje! Assistindo o Enzo ganhar a corrida! Parabéns @enzofitti 👊🏼🔝🇧🇷🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/lWA4kdFKS2 — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) June 17, 2018

🇬🇧Training with some G-Forces today @PitFitTraining! 🇧🇷Treinando com um pouco de Força G hoje no @PitFitTraining! 😆🤙🏼 pic.twitter.com/iFWztARI0u — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) June 21, 2018

It’s been a great experience living inside @IMS for the past 6 weeks,but now it’s time to go back home. Thank you to all the doctors & professionals who were involved in my recovery plan & special thank you @IMS & @revgroupinc for giving me a great place and motorhome to live in! pic.twitter.com/z1y5TZ126V — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) June 23, 2018

🇬🇧Back doing what I love to do! 🇧🇷De volta nas pistas que é minha paixão! 📸 José Mario Dias 😁👊🏼🏎💨💨 pic.twitter.com/yLQfFwSgoD — Pietro Fittipaldi (@PiFitti) June 26, 2018