IndyCar driver Robert Wickens was breathing without medical assistance and began speaking with his family for the first time since his harrowing wreck at Pocono Raceway.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports made the announcement shortly before the start of the IndyCar race at Gateway Motorsports Park.
The team is only fielding James Hinchcliffe's car for Saturday night's race, though a back-up No.6 car that Wickens had driven this season was parked outside the team's transport trucks.
Many drivers, crew members and fans were wearing "RW6" hats and T-shirts as they signed a "Get Well" sign in the paddock, and cars were carrying stickers that read "Better Stronger Faster."
"The team has a very strong character, a very strong culture. Everybody rallies around and rallies through it," Schmidt Peterson general manager Piers Phillips.
"The general spirit was been awesome and that's something here at SPM we've always tried to build from the start of the season."
Wickens crashed early in last Sunday's race at Pocono, touching Ryan Hunter-Reay and hurtling into the catch fence.
The Canadian driver's car was shredded and debris scattered across the track in a wreck that involved five cars but only left Wickens with serious injuries.
He was airlifted to a hospital and has undergone a series of surgeries, including a procedure to insert titanium rods and screws to stabilise his fractured spin.
Wickens also had surgery late in the week on his extremities, and will require additional surgery and rehabilitation.
IndyCar President Jay Frye has praised the way the new generation of car handled the impact of Wickens' wreck.
But he also acknowledged that improvements could be made not only to the car but also to the fencing at tracks and the way information is relayed to the public after major incidents.
The series was criticised for the time it took to announce Wickens was alive and alert.
"This new kit has the driver-side impact pieces that we think was an important element to the way the car held up," Frye said this weekend.
"There were also five or six other things that we've done to the car over the past few months, safety updates, and again they did their job.
"But as I say, we're never satisfied. Driver safety is our No.1 priority."
