Mansell Will Undergo Back Surgery : Auto racing: Rookie orientation at Indianapolis delayed for Formula One champion, who still expects to drive.

Nigel Mansell, the Formula One champion turned Indy car racer, was to have begun rookie orientation Thursday for the Indianapolis 500. Instead, he will undergo back surgery today in Florida for an injury he suffered in a crash April 3 during practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

Mansell, 39, said he still expects to drive in the race May 30, despite missing the United States Auto Club’s mandatory rookie program. If all goes well, the British driver who left Formula One last year to drive for Carl Haas and Paul Newman will make his first appearance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway sometime next week.

At the request of his team, USAC officials have waived Mansell’s appearance this weekend with 10 other rookie drivers, but said he will have to take a similar test when he is fit to drive. The orientation was to have been particularly important to Mansell because he had never seen the flat, 2 1/2-mile rectangular oval track.

Pole qualifying is May 15.

George Morris will perform the surgery at Morton Plant Hospital, near Mansell’s home in Clearwater, Fla. He will be assisted by Terry Trammell, an orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis. Trammell has a long history of treating race drivers.

The surgery will involve soft tissues in the lower back--not muscle or bone--according to Trammell. He said the fat beneath the skin separated from the underlying muscle tissue, creating a space that continues to fill with blood and fluids. That area will be cleaned and the cavity sewn together.

Mansell was injured when he lost control of his Lola-Chevy and the car slammed backward into a concrete wall at about 180 m.p.h. The impact knocked a three-foot hole in the barrier and threw chunks of concrete more than 100 feet.

He was hospitalized overnight in Phoenix because of a mild concussion, then went home the next morning. He underwent rehabilitation as an outpatient for two weeks before driving in the Long Beach Grand Prix, where he qualified on the pole and finished third, despite obvious back pain.

“I have been in considerable discomfort since Phoenix,” Mansell said.

“I am relieved that my latest set of X-rays have identified the exact problem, and we are going to correct it properly.”