Memo Gidley, who was injured in a at the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the beginning of this year, had some promising words to say to : "Without a doubt, in my mind, 100 percent I will be back into a race car."

Gidley suffered a broken back and a severe cerebral concussion, along with knee, heel and elbow injuries. His Daytona Prototype looked like a peeled-back tin of sardines after the accident. It's been a long and arduous recovery, with more surgery time needed to put him back together.

"I did have two knee surgeries recently to clear up some fragments in one knee and to remove hardware in another knee," Gidley explained. "I have one more surgery planned for my elbow in about two weeks, but I will definitely be back driving. It's just a matter of when I'm totally healed and strong like I want to be."

Still, the fact that he spoke with Mike Pryson before heading off to visit fellow racers at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill was extremely promising news.

"Four months ago, I wasn't driving more than 10-15 minutes before I would have to get out of the car," explained Gidley. "Today, I'm going to drive a couple hours up to Thunderhill. That's almost a stint, I think!"

Autoweek's full profile is , and definitely worth the read. While Memo still has quite a bit to go before he's fully recovered, off all of pain medications from his various surgeries, and back in shape enough to get back in racing, hearing that he's well on his way is uplifting news.

Never give up, Memo. Here's hoping the rest of your recovery is over with soon.