DAYTONA BEACH, Florida.

Robert Wickens worked for more than three years to get back into a race car and resume the cut short racing career during his IndyCar rookie season.

His reward was a podium finish at Daytona International Speedway.

And a face full of champagne.

Wickens and Mark Wilkins teamed up for a third-place finish Friday in the season opener of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge touring car class. It was the first race for Wickens since suffering a spinal cord injury in 2018 in a spectacular crash at Pocono.

Wickens was in his wheelchair for the podium celebration when the champagne was handed out for the usual celebratory spray. But he had the brakes on – “rookie motion”, he said – and was using both hands to hold his own bottle. So he couldn’t pull away when the other five riders on the podium went on the attack.

“I was so excited to spray champagne, I just felt like celebrating,” Wickens said. “But then I realized ‘I can’t move because both my hands are on the champagne bottle’ and that’s not fair. But I wasn’t complaining. And I got quite a bit of it.”

The Canadian was enjoying a rookie season in IndyCar before his crash in Race 14 of 2018. Although he can stand with some support, he cannot walk and uses a wheelchair. Bryan Herta Autosport has made his comeback possible with a custom manual control system that Wickens uses to accelerate and brake.

The team uses the same system in a second car for paralyzed driver Michael Johnson and Herta was determined to make Wickens a race car driver again. Herta called hiring Wickens full-time for this year’s Michelin Pilot Challenge series “for me personally, one of the most important things we’ve done in racing.”

Wickens qualified the car seventh – disappointing for his personal expectations – and started Friday’s four-hour race. His aim was to either gain a position or hold on to seventh place at the start – “I didn’t want to lose places”, he said – and drove the car to third place during his two-hour stint at the wheel.

The car was in contention for victory at one point, but eventually fell to third place overall. Roy Block and Tim Lewis won the TCR class for KMW Motorsports, while defending class champions Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler finished second in another of Herta’s cars.

The end result was something Wickens never thought possible for so much of his recovery.

“I think this is just the beginning,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities that we can still improve and become stronger.”

Wickens, who remains a consultant for Arrow McLaren SP in IndyCar, said the support he has received since his crash has been humbling. He also thanked his wife, Karli, for helping him back into a car. The couple announced last week that they are expecting their first child.

“Every time I feel down…it gives me goosebumps every time I walk around a paddock and people give me a thumbs up,” he said. “Everyone takes the time to come and say ‘Hi’ and that means a lot to me. I never became a racing driver thinking that would happen.

“I drive race cars because I like that feeling of pushing something to the absolute limit and competing at a really high level. And I happened to be pretty good at it at a young age. J ‘ve always loved all aspects of the sport but never really thought about what people would think of me and it’s been a really fun ride so far.

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