INDIANAPOLIS – It may have taken slightly longer than he’d hoped, but Zeb Wise is fired up to climb back in the seat of his No. 39BC Clauson-Marshall Racing midget this weekend after a broken collarbone kept him out of action for nearly two months.

Wise will officially return to action this weekend during USAC’s Pennsylvania Midget Week, just less than two months after the injury that ended his hopes of securing Rookie of the Year honors in the P1 Insurance National Midget Series this season. He was cleared to race by doctors on Monday.

The 15-year-old from Angola, Ind., missed the entirety of Mid-America Midget Week while recovering from the collarbone break, as well as a handful of POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League races that fit into his schedule as well. Fellow rookie Cole Bodine filled in for Wise during his recovery period.

“Man, at first I wasn’t super antsy because I knew it was probably going to be six weeks or so, but having to sit and watch during the whole Mid-America Midget Week was really tough,” Wise told SPEED SPORT. “Standing there and watching the car that I usually drive go around the track without me in it wasn’t easy at all; it was a pretty weird feeling, to be honest with you.

“Regardless of all that, though, Cole Bodine did an awesome job filling in for me and now that I have the green light from the doctor (to race again), I’m more than ready to get behind the wheel again and get back to slinging dirt instead of slinging my arm into a sling!” he joked.

Wise was competing in a POWRi-sanctioned event at Illinois’ Jacksonville Speedway on June 8, a race that ended up being the finale to Illinois Midget Week, when he flipped in his heat race.

The young gun noted that he knew “something was probably up” as soon as his car came to rest.

“I actually remember the entire crash. The wreck was 100 percent my fault,” Wise recalled. “I was just out front by myself and got going so fast around the top side (of the race track) that eventually, it bit me pretty good.

“If you go back and watch the wreck, it really wasn’t anything spectacular, but apparently it was hard enough to break a collarbone,” noted Wise. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s racing sometimes and we’ll come back stronger now that we’re ready to go again!”

Bodine nearly took Wise’s car to victory lane on July 15, starting from the pole and dominating the Mid-America Midget Week finale at Sweet Springs (Mo.) Motorsports Complex, leading 28 of 40 laps during the feature before being passed by Logan Seavey with four to go and finishing a close second.

That particular performance has Wise fired up that he can be the one to take his Clauson-Marshall Racing crew to victory lane now that he’s back to business in the No. 39BC.

“That race of Cole’s was a huge motivator for all of us,” said Wise. “It really shows how well the CMR midgets go around the track, that the team can take a rookie that’s only run a midget a handful of times and nearly win a USAC show with him. It for sure gives me confidence in our race cars and, I think, proves that we can contend for wins from here on out.”

Just because he’s been out of real-life action, Wise has still been getting plenty of seat time through the iRacing online simulation service.

“I’ve been jumping on there quite a bit lately!” Wise laughed. “I did it one-armed for a while, which was pretty tough, but I managed it as well as I could. I’d be good until about 10 (laps) to go, because that’s when my arm would start getting tired! It’s been fun though, as fun as it can be.”

While Wise wants to ‘park it’ in victory lane in honor of his late mentor Bryan Clauson as quickly as he can, he’s also realistic about his goals for these first few races back from injury.

“My plan for these first few races back is just to get comfortable with the car again,” Wise pointed out. “Whether that’s one practice, one race or five races … I just want to get back in the rhythm again before I start worrying about wins.

“Once I’m comfortable again and back where I feel like I need to be, though, getting that first National win is definitely a goal I’ll be chasing, for sure.”