indycar Dan Wheldon dies from injuries

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Wheldon dies from injuries

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon has died from his injuries sustained in a crash at the IndyCar Series finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it has been confirmed. He was 33.

Wheldon was moving his way through the 34-car field after starting from the back of the field, which was part of his $5 million challenge to win the race. His was one of the last cars to get involved in the crash, and was sent flying from the bottom of the racetrack into the wall on the outside.

Wheldon's Sam Schmidt Motorsports car suffered severe damage to the topside, including its rollhoop structure, and once he was extracted and other drivers were treated at the scene, his car was quickly covered with tarpaulin.

Wheldon was airlifted from the circuit's infield care centre to University Medical Centre in Las Vegas, but all medical efforts were to no avail.

Series chief Randy Bernard confirmed the news at 3pm, local time, and said: "IndyCar is very sad to announce Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. IndyCar, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race."

The race was red-flagged on lap 12 and was abandoned some two hours later. The drivers instead returned to their cars and performed a five-lap salute in Wheldon's honour.

Source: Autosport

R.I.P.

[rajputwarrior]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcAZ7I_lk7M

RIP :(

[Tender Foot]

R.I.P

I just turned the race on just after the wreck

[jafoman]

RIP. So sad.

[P!P]

Here's his blog about today's race: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/indycar/story/2011-10-15/Dan-Wheldon-frustrated-with-car-in-Las-Vegas/50786654/1 . I don't watch racing much but it's still sad to hear. Apparently some drivers were concerned about the speed of track.

[Ghost5525]

I remember him winning the Indy 500 this year... Its a shame he died. I actually had a ton of respect for the guy. He was an excellent driver and had a bright career ahead of him. One thing is for sure they will not be driving 225 at that track anymore. I wouldn't be suprised if they capped it at 180...That was too fast for such a small track to be honest and the drivers had every reason to worry. I'm not sure if all the prevention in terms of padding for the wall and fence would have helped in this situation. At least 3 cars went airborne out of the 15 that crashed from what i saw.

[Tender Foot]

Correct things will change for sure at the track and maybe overall at all tracks etc (rules,safety) I don't know much about the new car they will driving next year, hopefully it's safer than what they have now.

[sharpy2k4]

RIP

[DocM]

RIP :(

Racing's a tough sport with little margin for error - been there.

Thing is Michigan International can be even faster than Homestead-Miami Speedway - the record at MIS is a 234.949 mph (378.1138 kph) lap.

Side note: this was Danica Patrick's last Indy race - she's moving on to NASCAR.

[Ghost5525]

RIP :(

Racing's a tough sport with little margin for error - been there.

Thing is Michigan International can be even faster than Homestead-Miami Speedway - the record at MIS is a 234.949 mph (378.1138 kph) lap.

Back in the day, they'd hit 235 and 240 at Indy...they've slowed down in recent years but that was in the 90s. Still it's sad and these things do happen, i think the lesson to be learned here is that if the drivers have concerns about going 225+ on a 1 mile track than maybe the IRL should have considered maybe restricting the speeds on the engines to no more than 200 .

[coth]

Back in the day, they'd hit 235 and 240 at Indy...they've slowed down in recent years but that was in the 90s. Still it's sad and these things do happen, i think the lesson to be learned here is that if the drivers have concerns about going 225+ on a 1 mile track than maybe the IRL should have considered maybe restricting the speeds on the engines to no more than 200 .

there is no really big difference between 200 and 235

[DocM]

About 18%, just shy of the difference between 45 and 55 mph. Enough to miss someone if things go wonky. The difference between a collision and a scrape or near miss.

I've long thought there should be a lower turbocharger pressure allowed according to the length of the track. It's just crazy to be going that fast on a 1.0 - 1.5 mi straight oval track, but perfectly reasonable at a 2.0 mi (3.2 km) tri-oval like MIS.

[coth]

percents are not matter. 200mph is still 90 meters per second speed with no room for reaction. it won't help unless you limit speeds to 100mph or just forbid ovals.

you can't do anything no matter if it's 90 meters per second or 110 meters per second. 160kmph would give you a one second to react, so you can slow down to 100kmph, which would be relatively safe for impact.

but would it be racing then?

[Ryoken]

The biggest problem isn't the speed, though that is, of course, a factor, it's also a race.

Indy, by design, is just dangerous.. It's fragile cars racing in generally large numbers at high speeds.. ****'s gonna happen every now and again..

F1 is similar, but generally there are fewer cars in such a small area, just by the nature of F1 races..

Nascar on the other hand has their safety come from the car, it can take a beating, also just touching Indy cars together does serous damage, not as much in Nascar, unless you send them into a wall.

Not saying there aren't things that could be done, safer barriers like Nascar is adding to most if not all the tracks they race on, and the like.. But racing cars is and will always be Dangerous.. Personally I'd get the drivers together and ask them what they think needs to be changed at the track/in general.. Did they feel the speed was okay, but this was just a freak accident, or did they feel unsafe from the beginning, etc.

[Ghost5525]

there is no really big difference between 200 and 235

Actually theres a huge different - Nascar on its fastest tracks can hit 196 easily...tack on another 40mph and you're now at indy car speeds.

The biggest problem isn't the speed, though that is, of course, a factor, it's also a race.

Indy, by design, is just dangerous.. It's fragile cars racing in generally large numbers at high speeds.. ****'s gonna happen every now and again..

F1 is similar, but generally there are fewer cars in such a small area, just by the nature of F1 races..

Nascar on the other hand has their safety come from the car, it can take a beating, also just touching Indy cars together does serous damage, not as much in Nascar, unless you send them into a wall.

Not saying there aren't things that could be done, safer barriers like Nascar is adding to most if not all the tracks they race on, and the like.. But racing cars is and will always be Dangerous.. Personally I'd get the drivers together and ask them what they think needs to be changed at the track/in general.. Did they feel the speed was okay, but this was just a freak accident, or did they feel unsafe from the beginning, etc.

So what do yo want... a 50 foot high wall so they don't die? Or maybe you'd prefer them to drive 60 around the track. Nascar isn't that much safer...ask Dale Earnhardt Sr. or Davy Allison who both died from wreaks that looked far less fatal than the one today. Dan Wheldon died because his car got launched into the fence cockpit first and impacted the fence...no safer barrier in the world could have saved him from that. It's a freak accident but it happens when you have a car get launched 20+feet in the air going at 200mph. What you fail to realize is these people know the risk they take...they do it anyway because they love doing it. It's rare moments like this that you never see coming.