Story of perseverence source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski Through five-plus years of physical pain, emotional turmoil and mental angst incurred from his 2001 crash, Davey Hamilton has had an over-arching goal. "I didn't want to end my career in Texas on a fence," he says. He won't have to. The Idaho native will attempt to qualify the No. 02 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, carrying primary sponsorship from HP, in the 91st Indianapolis 500 on May 27. Hamilton will participate in the refresher period at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 6-7 before joining in for full-scale practice the next day. Hamilton, who was second in the IndyCar Series championship standings in the 1996-97 and 1998 seasons, will attempt to make his seventh start in the 500-Mile Race. His best finish is fourth in 1998 (started eighth). He has 22 top-10 finishes in 48 IndyCar Series events. "I'm really excited; I've been trying to do this for the past two years," said Hamilton, who turns 45 on Jun 13. "I've been ready physically to get back in a race car, but it's been difficult to get back rolling again. It was really three years before I couldn't even think about getting back in a car. But once I started feeling good, I still had that drive to do it. "I'm a racer and that's what I do. It's taken a lot of time to put this together, but now that it's here I'm fired up. It's like I'm a rookie again." In the past few years, Hamilton has driven the Indy Racing Experience two-seater during IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series event weekends, and has driven the IndyCar Series street-legal two-seater during publicity functions across the nation. It's been a long haul for Hamilton, whose injuries to both feet and ankles required more than 25 surgeries. But Hamilton perseveres with the occasional winces of pain and is grateful for this opportunity. Earlier in the week, he visited Indy Pro Series driver Pablo Perez, who suffered similar injuries in the season-opening race, in an Indianapolis hospital to give the younger Argentine hope. "(Support) definitely helped my drive," Hamilton said. "You don't know how many fans and how many supporters you have until something bad happens. As a racer, I raced two to three times a week, 60 times a year and never really looked back to see how many supporters I had and how many fans I truly had. "When I needed them, they were there. From the doctors who put me back together to the series to all those fans that supported me through all this, it helps. It makes the drive more intense to get back to doing what I love and give them something back."
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