Hand Has “Shot of Rejuvenation” in Comeback From Injury

Photo: Bob Chapman/Ford Racing

Joey Hand said he feels like he has a “shot of rejuvenation” after being forced to sit on the sidelines the last six-plus weeks due to sustaining a pelvic fracture.

The Ford Racing factory driver missed last month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in Gradient Racing’s Ford Mustang GT3 EVO due to his injury, which was sustained at the Sonoma Raceway karting track as part of his normal training program.

Hand, who has been cleared to race in this weekend’s fourth round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season, revealed that he’s been walking unaided for the last ten days and feels “good to go” for Sunday’s Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America.

“I was in the Ford Racing simulator [on Wednesday] with no problems,” he told Sportscar365. “I have a little hitch in my giddy-up still, getting used to walking again.

“I think it will help that I won’t have to go in and out [of the car during the race]. I think the fact that I’ll just get in once at the end, I think that helps for sure.

“From a fatigue standpoint in the car, I really don’t see a problem, because it’s my right leg. I don’t have any issue with load. Externally, nothing ever hurt.

“The big thing is that they don’t want me to jump off the pit wall, or run, it’s just better that I can just go once in. And even [if it’s slower], it’s not that big of a deal.

“I jump off the pit wall and run to the car and I wait for my guy getting out. I might as well just get off softly and walk around briskly. That’s really the only thing.”

Recalling the “20 mph” accident, the 47-year-old Californian revealed that the weight of the kart, which landed on him upside down, resulted in the non-displaced fracture to his right pelvis.

The fracture, however, did not require surgery.

“In a go-kart, they say the worst wrecks are the slow wrecks because you don’t get ejected,” he explained. “At a faster speed, it looks bad but you get spaced away from the kart. This one I didn’t.

“Once I found out it was fractured, because they didn’t see it on the x-rays; I did an MRI and they found it.

“I called to Terry Trammel because he helped me with my broken back in the early 2000s. He actually became a friend just because of all that.

“I called him and said, ‘Hey Doc, I got a situation here.’ He’s the one that talked me through it, from a distance.

“Then I went through my normal doctors in town to do all the other stuff, PT and that. But he was the one I listened to and he was like, ‘The big thing is to not walk on it for six or seven weeks.’

“He said people would go three or four weeks, feel good, and then step on it. And where I broke it, every step I make, the load goes there.

“That’s what I did, no walking at all. I used crutches. My hand’s got calluses from crutches and everything.

“He also said to do a lot of pool work and when I came back for my big check at the end of six weeks, they said my mobility was really good and they started adding in some walking with crutches, then a cane.”

Despite still walking with a slight limp, Hand said he feels happy to be back at the track.

“I don’t love missing a race and I felt bad for it,” he said. “It’s one of those things. I love karting and everybody thinks I was maybe out there for the first time ever in 30 years.

“No, I drive multiple times a month. It was just a fluke deal.

“I really believe in karting. I like it for my son, I like it for me, the training aspect.

“Other than the simulator, we can’t go out and shoot a basketball like a basketball player and we can’t run plays or throw the ball like a baseball player.

“The best thing for me is to drive karts. My son was racing that weekend and I always like to size myself up against everybody, so I was out in the group.

“It just was an odd situation. Nobody’s fault. It just went wrong unfortunately.”

While the injury paled in comparison to his Toyota Atlantic testing accident at the Milwaukee Mile in 2002, where he sustained compression fractures to his T-11, T-12, and L-1 vertebrae, among other injuries that forced him out for six races, Hand said time spent on the sideline has fueled his racing desire even more.

“It always gives you a shot of rejuvenation,” he said. “It reminds you how much you love racing when you have to miss one and watch your car on TV.

“It was a good one to say, “OK, I’m getting back after it.’

“A lot of people have asked me, ‘So no more karting for you?’ I’m like absolutely yes I’ll be karting. That’s what I do. I’ll always be karting.

“I’m good to go here.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John