Australian stunt rider Matt Mingay lost part of his jaw and his bottom teeth in a nearly fatal crash last June, but he wasn’t going to let the injuries and after-shock cost him his life’s passion.

Mingay, 39, returns to the track this weekend at the Clipsal 500 in Australia, where he will ride motorcycles and drift cars in five shows at the Supercar motor racing event.

“People never expected me to head back in such a short time, in nine months,” he told The Advertiser Monday.

While Mingay has no recollection of the moment right after he lost control of his truck on the third lap of a 10-lap race at the Stadium Super Truck Series in Detroit last summer, his wife, Sheena, will have a hard time getting the image out of her mind, admitting she’ll be “shaking” as she watches him this weekend.

“I’m excited for him to get back on track, he’s worked so hard to be here this weekend, through all the blood, sweat and tears,” she said. “I’m fully behind him. [The lure of resuming his career has] helped him to get where he is today.”

The veteran action-sport athlete has a blunt way of describing the horrific, truck-flipping crash: He “died on the spot,” he says, before being rushed to a Detroit hospital, where he spent three weeks overall, including five days in a coma.

“I had brain surgery, and who knows how many jaw surgeries I’ve had,” Mingay said. “I still have no bottom teeth. Hopefully I’ll get some in June. I can’t wait to have a steak.”

Mingay’s speech took the biggest hit — there are words he has removed from his vocabulary because he cannot articulate them properly — but conversing is the least of his worries with his upcoming event and a potential return to truck driving on the horizon.

“I can’t wait to get back out there, to get back in front of the crowd,” he said. “Without their support and inspiration, I wouldn’t be here today. The social media messages certainly don’t go unnoticed.”