Honda to Assist Wilson Children’s Fund at Sonoma
The Wilson Children's Fund was established this week to benefit the surviving daughters of Honda Indy Car driver Justin Wilson, who died on Monday as a result of injuries sustained last weekend in a racing accident at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania.
American Honda and HPD will contribute $50 per lap completed at Sonoma by each of the 13 Honda entries at this weekend's race for a possible donation of just over $55,000 to the Wilson Childrens' Fund.
“Justin was a valuable member of our racing program, but he also was our friend, and all of us at American Honda and HPD grieve together at his loss," said Art St. Cyr, president of Honda Performance Development. “We're hoping to honor his memory with this pledge, and hope that Justin's many fans and friends can also assist the family at this tragic time."
IndyCar Series veteran Oriol Servia, Wilson's close friend, will now have the responsibility of driving the #25 Andretti Autosport entry, formerly piloted by Wilson, at Sonoma.
"This is the most difficult quote I have ever had to make," Servia said. “The situation is so difficult, on so many levels for obvious reasons, that it's hard for the words to come out the right way. I have known and raced Justin for more than 10 years. I have an enormous amount of respect for him as a racer, but his qualities as a human were definitely an inspiration to anyone who ever met him. As I said earlier this week, I truly feel he was one of these souls who has evolved a lot more than the rest of us, and it is something you could feel immediately during your first exchange with him. He will be greatly missed as we all try to emulate his spirit. I am honored and emotional with the opportunity of driving his car this weekend. I want to thank my friends at Andretti Autosport for the opportunity, and I want to express how deeply touched I am by the desire of Julia, Stefan and all the Wilson family to have me driving the No. 25. "
“As a family, we can not imagine a better person to race in Justin's honor than Oriol," said Stefan Wilson, brother to Justin. “His path and Justin's crossed in many different ways through the years. As a competitor, and also as a person, he carries Justin's spirit well, and we know that Justin would approve."
“Justin was a true racer and advocate to our sport," said Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti. “The entire Andretti Autosport family will have the Wilson family and friends in our hearts as we look to honor him in the way he'd want us to, which is doing what we love – racing."
A new Wilson Children's Fund account has been established at Forum Credit Union of Indianapolis, and all donations previously sent to INDYCAR will be forwarded to the new account. All donations will be kept confidential, and an electronic option will soon be available for those wishing to contribute on-line or internationally.
Those wishing to contribute may do so by mailing a donation to:
Wilson Children's Fund
c/o Forum Credit Union
PO Box 50738
Indianapolis, IN 46250-0738
Phone: (317) 558-6000
Additionally, commemorative decals and T-shirts honoring Wilson, with all proceeds going directly to the Wilson Children's Fund, are now available from:
http://shop.ims.com/indycar/drivers/justin-wilson/
The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.