Shane Hmiel spent four years sorting out his life and the mistakes he had made with it – the issues with drugs, the squandered opportunities, the lifetime ban from NASCAR. This last year had been spent putting his life back in order – a different order, but one that had made him a better man, both personally and professionally.
Now, the 30-year-old faces the task of his life in recovering from a devastating crash in a USAC Silver Crown car in Terre Haute, Ind. Already having undergone surgeries to repair injuries to his neck and back, Hmiel will have a procedure on Friday at Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis to address a torn artery that resulted from the heavy impact into the concrete barrier at the dirt track.