Passion drives IndyCar’s Meira

 

By Jim Franz
jfranz@beloitdailynews.com

Published: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:44 AM CDT

His outlook pleases Foyt, ABC Supply

No matter how much success Vitor Meira has on the track, to many racing fans he’s still going to be the guy with the car on fire in the YouTube video.

As soon as the flames were extinguished in the pit accident during the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Meira roared right back onto the track — and later fractured two vertebrae in his back in a horrific crash.

“That was a bad day, I tell you what,” Meira said with a chuckle.

He can laugh about it now.

Meira, 33, has put that nasty day behind him. The back injury ended his 2009 IRL season after just four races, but he has returned this season with no scars — emotional or physical. In his second season driving for A.J. Foyt Racing and the ABC Supply team and 15th in the current standings, he visited his sponsor’s headquarters in Beloit Thursday.

“A day or two after the accident A.J. came to me and told me, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’ll have your seat next season. Just heal properly and we’ll be back together,’” Meira said. “That changed everything because then I didn’t have to hurry to heal. I didn’t even need surgery.”

Meira followed doctor’s orders, but never had a day of physical therapy conducted by a doctor. He slowly got back to his own workout regimen. Considering he is a trained triathlete ready to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in Clearwater, Fla., his work in the gym is pretty intense.

“If you’re in good condition to start with, if you get in a crash you’re more likely to be able to come back faster,” Meira said. “I’m fine now. The triathlon hobby is becoming very un-hobbylike.”

Considering the Indy crash was his “fourth serious one that really hurt.” he knew he had to get back behind the wheel to truly put the latest incident behind him.

“Before you get behind the wheel you have to decide whether you want to do this or not,” he said. “There’s a lot of work done by ABC Supply as sponsor, by AJ, the mechanics and the league itself. You have to give it 100 percent.”

That’s the sort of thinking that had Meira pulling out of the pits moments after his car’s fire was extinguished in 2009.

“That’s what A.J. appreciates about Vitor,” Foyt public relations assistant Anne Fornoro said. “It’s that never-give-up attitude in a race car.”

“Racing is very instinctive,” said the native Brazilian who now lives in Miami with his wife, Adriana, and daughter Luiza. “You don’t have a lot of time to process things and then make a decision. It’s a lot of instinct.”

Meira is in his ninth season in IndyCar racing, with his four team.

He is often referred to as the best driver on the circuit yet to win. He does, however, have seven second-place finishes, including a pair in the Indy 500 (2005 to Dan Wheldon and 2008 to Scott Dixon). His best near-miss was losing by five thousandths of a second to teammate Buddy Rice in 2004 at Kansas Speedway.

“When I hear stuff about how I’m not psychologically ready to win, man, that’s just bull,” he said. “I’ve had very good cars, but because of a restart, or a pit stop, or a flat tire, whatever, I haven’t won. Those things happen. If you can take 100 percent out of yourself and the car and the rest of the things you can’t control go your way, then you might win.

“I’ve had many races before IndyCar and I’ve had many wins. I’m going to have wins in IndyCar, too. It’s just a matter of putting it together.”

While NASCAR’s boom seems to have quelled a bit due to the struggling economy, Meira is optimistic about the growth of IndyCar racing.

“We just came from Sonoma, Calif., and of all the races there, we were the only one in which the attendance was up,” he said.