I met him years ago at Rockingham in the UK and he was a genuinely pleasant individual and a year or so later I bumped into him again with my then partner and he remembered us by name.
It is too early to question the reasoning for his death, but I hope in the fullness of time, lessons and can learned and oval racing can take steps to make the sport safer.
Earl, That is amazing. You weren't wearing a name tag were you, or dressed like a chicken on both occasions? Second meeting - a year later and he remembers your name!
I knew what was coming before sitting down to watch last night. In an odd way felt that I owed it to Dan to watch everything. He died for it. It was the least I could do. I hadn't done that since tuning into the last moments of a race in Fontana only to see that Greg Moore dies.
This one was hard. Dan always seemed so universally liked.
Quick thoughts: Watching the teams, drivers, and families pull together while waiting for the news was painful and yet it was a relief to see these people as one big family.
I gained a lot of respect for Scott Goodyear. The way he talks, he is still very much connected to the driver in him. He recalled breaking him back in Brazil and while the crash was happening he remembers wondering how they were going to fix the car so far from home. Drivers do this because they LOVE the sport. He did not back away.
Cheever bite his tongue as much as he could but he seemed to need to be angry at someone about it. Understandable.
I don't know if there is anyone to blame: drivers pushing too hard; too many cars; too big of a prize; cars bunched due to this being a spec series.
I saw Will Power's in car video and a tire that should have killed him. His crash was as close to the same crash as Wheldon's as you can get. Yet, Will walked away and Dan died.
"What a great way to go out..." were nearly the last words that Dan spoke on TV through the in car mic prior to the green flag. He sounded so happy to be in the race.
I think there is plenty of blame to go around, but mostly it lays at the feet of the series itself. But I don't even want to go there yet.
strangely, today I just want to be thankful. Thankful that drivers like Patrick Carpentier retired. Thankful that drivers like Bruno Junquiera and Christiano DaMatta couldn't get a ride in that series. Thankful that drivers like Jacques Villeneuve and Kasey Kane and several others didn't "qualify" for the $5 million dollar bonus they were offering to run that race, and then after all that being "thankful" - I'm saddened that Dan Wheldon did "qualify" for the bonus - or else he wouldn't have even been there. Just way too sad to even comprehend.
We can't go there yet and I wasn't trying to. The part about blame was actually the part I wrote last and I had to run to a meeting. I ran out of time to add the following:
I don't know if there is anyone to blame: drivers pushing too hard; too many cars; too big of a prize; cars bunched due to this being a spec series. If you watch the start of this crash it is just a run of the mill wheels lock and they slide into the wall. The carnage was when those in back like Power & Wheldon got launched by slowing traffic.
IndyCar needs to push ahead with the multiple aero packages for 2012. Spread out that field.
In no way can any blame be placed on de Silvestro for triggering the incident. I can’t imagine how all involved feel after such a crash, but any lessons that can be learned need to be put to the regulations alone.
No chicken suits Danni, I think he just had an eye – and memory – for the ladies. Like a proper race driver!
I too had to sit and watch the whole thing. I think it’s important to TRY and understand the situation and see what could have been done differently. In this case, nothing could have made a difference apart from the regs.
I thought Goodyear and also Cheever approached the crash in a different way and neither could be faulted. They covered it well, while it was great to see the five lap tribute unmolested by talk.
Like you say Danni, he was doing exactly what he loved doing and I hope that race fans remember that while IndyCar look how to make the best drivers fast, and the lesser drivers slower.
re: the cause I hope no one thinks that I was blaming de Silvestro.
re: an eye for the ladies What is it that you were wearing, Earl?
re: The coverage and commentary Everyone was very respectful in a difficult situation. It was good to see people coming at this honestly from different sides.
re: future regs ANY wreck can be a deadly wreck. Fenders or a bumper would have prevented the launch. Things didn't change after Jeff Krosnoff & Gary Avrin's deaths. I don't see a rear bumper after this death.
re: space on the ovals This was lap 11 on a 1.5 mile oval with identical cars. I remember races not too long ago at the Milwaukee Mile and at Michigan where cars started getting lapped by this time in the race. Room will be found when there is competition between makes of cars.
Should IndyCar become more of a challenge – i.e. rip off the downforce – then the front-runners will pull out a gap from the not-so-good and should two drivers make contact, then there is enough space for avoiding action.
No, no blame at all. But the series has some issues to examine especially ahead of the scheduled aero changes.
Personally, I’m not a fan of ideas such as covering the cockpit or wheels, but of course, they should be looked at with regard to yesterday’s incident.
I don't want to cover the cockpit or wheels either. Fenders would be too much, but some sort of a rear bumper could be looked at. Now that I said that about fenders I am pretty sure that I advocated the use of fenders in rain situations to reduce rooster tails. I stand by that.
Yesterday was just such a sad day for racing. It brings back all those who died before.
I Kind of look at it another way as well..... With out taking away from everyones valid point
Dan was so liked by everyone (BTW. and the pull away shot from the telecast to the crash was from Dans Car) Everyone is talking about the drivers and the effect the accident has on them. Being a marshal (retired) at events lets also think about the people that had to help out in the recovery of the vehicles and transport to hospital. This will be something that sits with them for life.
Been sitting on this for a while. Was at the MotoGP on the weekend and didn't see nor hear of this for a couple of days. Blew me away when I heard it. When I saw the footage on YouTube, you knew what happened and that there was no hope. You don't expect it to happen to the big guys.
Racing is racing though and this is no one's fault. Only a couple weeks ago a sportscar driver was killed in a road car accident. We have to move forward and so does the sport. I doubt that Dan would want his legacy to be the demise of the sport, or the series or open wheeler racing.
Same here
ReplyDeleteGod Speed
What a huge lose to Indy car and an Awsome person. Could not Believe it when someone mentioned it at work today
ReplyDeleteGod Speed...
Shocked, appalled, you name it.
ReplyDeleteGod Speed Dan
It is very very sad news.
ReplyDeleteI met him years ago at Rockingham in the UK and he was a genuinely pleasant individual and a year or so later I bumped into him again with my then partner and he remembered us by name.
It is too early to question the reasoning for his death, but I hope in the fullness of time, lessons and can learned and oval racing can take steps to make the sport safer.
Earl, That is amazing. You weren't wearing a name tag were you, or dressed like a chicken on both occasions? Second meeting - a year later and he remembers your name!
ReplyDeleteI knew what was coming before sitting down to watch last night. In an odd way felt that I owed it to Dan to watch everything. He died for it. It was the least I could do. I hadn't done that since tuning into the last moments of a race in Fontana only to see that Greg Moore dies.
This one was hard. Dan always seemed so universally liked.
Quick thoughts:
Watching the teams, drivers, and families pull together while waiting for the news was painful and yet it was a relief to see these people as one big family.
I gained a lot of respect for Scott Goodyear. The way he talks, he is still very much connected to the driver in him. He recalled breaking him back in Brazil and while the crash was happening he remembers wondering how they were going to fix the car so far from home. Drivers do this because they LOVE the sport. He did not back away.
Cheever bite his tongue as much as he could but he seemed to need to be angry at someone about it. Understandable.
I don't know if there is anyone to blame: drivers pushing too hard; too many cars; too big of a prize; cars bunched due to this being a spec series.
I saw Will Power's in car video and a tire that should have killed him. His crash was as close to the same crash as Wheldon's as you can get. Yet, Will walked away and Dan died.
"What a great way to go out..." were nearly the last words that Dan spoke on TV through the in car mic prior to the green flag. He sounded so happy to be in the race.
God speed, Dan.
I think there is plenty of blame to go around, but mostly it lays at the feet of the series itself. But I don't even want to go there yet.
ReplyDeletestrangely, today I just want to be thankful. Thankful that drivers like Patrick Carpentier retired. Thankful that drivers like Bruno Junquiera and Christiano DaMatta couldn't get a ride in that series. Thankful that drivers like Jacques Villeneuve and Kasey Kane and several others didn't "qualify" for the $5 million dollar bonus they were offering to run that race, and then after all that being "thankful" - I'm saddened that Dan Wheldon did "qualify" for the bonus - or else he wouldn't have even been there. Just way too sad to even comprehend.
We can't go there yet and I wasn't trying to. The part about blame was actually the part I wrote last and I had to run to a meeting. I ran out of time to add the following:
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there is anyone to blame: drivers pushing too hard; too many cars; too big of a prize; cars bunched due to this being a spec series. If you watch the start of this crash it is just a run of the mill wheels lock and they slide into the wall. The carnage was when those in back like Power & Wheldon got launched by slowing traffic.
IndyCar needs to push ahead with the multiple aero packages for 2012. Spread out that field.
In no way can any blame be placed on de Silvestro for triggering the incident. I can’t imagine how all involved feel after such a crash, but any lessons that can be learned need to be put to the regulations alone.
ReplyDeleteNo chicken suits Danni, I think he just had an eye – and memory – for the ladies. Like a proper race driver!
I too had to sit and watch the whole thing. I think it’s important to TRY and understand the situation and see what could have been done differently. In this case, nothing could have made a difference apart from the regs.
I thought Goodyear and also Cheever approached the crash in a different way and neither could be faulted. They covered it well, while it was great to see the five lap tribute unmolested by talk.
Like you say Danni, he was doing exactly what he loved doing and I hope that race fans remember that while IndyCar look how to make the best drivers fast, and the lesser drivers slower.
We - well they - need some space on the ovals...
re: the cause
ReplyDeleteI hope no one thinks that I was blaming de Silvestro.
re: an eye for the ladies
What is it that you were wearing, Earl?
re: The coverage and commentary
Everyone was very respectful in a difficult situation. It was good to see people coming at this honestly from different sides.
re: future regs
ANY wreck can be a deadly wreck. Fenders or a bumper would have prevented the launch. Things didn't change after Jeff Krosnoff & Gary Avrin's deaths. I don't see a rear bumper after this death.
re: space on the ovals
This was lap 11 on a 1.5 mile oval with identical cars. I remember races not too long ago at the Milwaukee Mile and at Michigan where cars started getting lapped by this time in the race. Room will be found when there is competition between makes of cars.
I think we agree Danni,
ReplyDeleteShould IndyCar become more of a challenge – i.e. rip off the downforce – then the front-runners will pull out a gap from the not-so-good and should two drivers make contact, then there is enough space for avoiding action.
No, no blame at all. But the series has some issues to examine especially ahead of the scheduled aero changes.
Personally, I’m not a fan of ideas such as covering the cockpit or wheels, but of course, they should be looked at with regard to yesterday’s incident.
I don't want to cover the cockpit or wheels either. Fenders would be too much, but some sort of a rear bumper could be looked at. Now that I said that about fenders I am pretty sure that I advocated the use of fenders in rain situations to reduce rooster tails. I stand by that.
ReplyDeleteYesterday was just such a sad day for racing. It brings back all those who died before.
I Kind of look at it another way as well..... With out taking away from everyones valid point
ReplyDeleteDan was so liked by everyone (BTW. and the pull away shot from the telecast to the crash was from Dans Car) Everyone is talking about the drivers and the effect the accident has on them. Being a marshal (retired) at events lets also think about the people that had to help out in the recovery of the vehicles and transport to hospital. This will be something that sits with them for life.
Said it before..... God Speed
Been sitting on this for a while. Was at the MotoGP on the weekend and didn't see nor hear of this for a couple of days. Blew me away when I heard it. When I saw the footage on YouTube, you knew what happened and that there was no hope. You don't expect it to happen to the big guys.
ReplyDeleteRacing is racing though and this is no one's fault. Only a couple weeks ago a sportscar driver was killed in a road car accident. We have to move forward and so does the sport. I doubt that Dan would want his legacy to be the demise of the sport, or the series or open wheeler racing.
Always so sad.