Scott Speed breaks back in rallycross landing

Subaru rallycross driver Scott Speed has suffered fractures to three vertebrae in his back following a hard landing during his opening heat race in the Nitro World Games at the Utah Motorsports Campus Friday.

Reports indicate that the 36-year-old Californian was carrying too much speed into a jump and missed the dirt landing area, causing his car to land on the tarmac.

Speed was able to complete his heat and exit his car, but was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation after complaining of pain. He would later confirm his injuries via social media.

View this post on Instagram

Sorry for a late update. After landing hard in Q1 I broke my back. Was rushed to the local hospital for checks. CT scan confirmed a destroyed t6.. then was taken to a spine specialist at University of Utah. Finally got an MRI done around 3am.. we found I have 3 fractured vertebrae. Waiting now for the surgeons to give us the game plan. Last night was easily the scariest and most painful time I can remember. Was in a pretty dark place. But I want to thank so much everyone who came and spent time with me. No way I could have made it thru alone. @peterbminnig will forever have a place in my heart for all that he did and Luckily the best cousin in the world @jekka_arellano lives here to play mama bear for me… so excited to see Amanda and dad here soon. Thanks for all the kind text messages!

A post shared by Scott Speed (@scott_speed) on Aug 17, 2019 at 8:31am PDT

“[A] CT scan confirmed a destroyed t6 then [I] was taken to a spine specialist at University of Utah,” Speed shared on social media. “Finally got an MRI done around 3 am… We found I have 3 fractured vertebrae. Waiting now for the surgeons to give us the game plan. Last night was easily the scariest and most painful time I can remember. Was in a pretty dark place.

“But I want to thank so much everyone, who came and spent time with me. No way I could have made it thru alone.

“Thanks for all the kind text messages.”

A former Formula One and NASCAR competitor, Speed has been competing in rallycross events since 2013. He won the inaugural Americas Rallycross championship last season for Andretti Autosport and currently holds a five-point lead over Tanner Foust in the ARX standings.

Due to his injuries, Speed will miss the remainder of this weekend’s event.