HVM Racing's Ernesto Viso will miss this weekend's Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway having been diagnosed with the mumps virus earlier this week.
HVM Racing management and Indy Racing League officials meet on Wednesday and have determined that in the best interest of Viso, the team and all the participants, the team will not compete this weekend.
"Our primary concern is with E.J. and the crew," team owner Keith Wiggins told
www.hvm-racing.com. "We want to see him return as healthy and quickly as possible and also have the crew checked out due to their close proximity to him.
"We have discussed several different options for this weekend, but none of them enabled us to both preserve the health and interests of E.J., PDVSA HVM Racing and its members, other competitors and teams and the Indy Racing League.
"This is the reason why, and as sad as it is, we decided not to take part in the Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville at all. Right now, our focus is getting E.J. healthy for our next event and containing any risk. There is never a dull moment with E.J. around."
HVM Racing will now continue to monitor the condition of Viso and turn their attention to next weekend's event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The Indy Racing League meanwhile has confirmed that it has notified the Indiana State Department of Health and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that a member of the IndyCar Series community has been diagnosed with mumps.
"Mumps is a viral illness affecting glands that produce saliva. It is highly contagious, but rarely serious," added a statement to the press. "Symptoms of mumps include: fever, fatigue, headache, pain below the ears, swelling and tenderness along the jaw and in front of and below the ear(s), or possible swelling of the testicles in males. People who do not have swelling may still spread the virus to others.
![Ernesto Viso - HVM Racing [pic credit: IRL/McQueeney]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/420688.jpg)
