Sad day for the Racing community

Nick399 wrote:

I just burst into tears after looking at this:

http://twitter.com/#!/danwheldon

...I'm simply speechless. This...is one of the most saddening things my eyes have ever laid contact with.

Nick399 wrote:

I just burst into tears after looking at this:

http://twitter.com/#!/danwheldon

Hard to believe, probably not a half an hour later, he was flying into the catchfence.

I bet Penske is cringing at what to become of this. It's a crash like this that killed Greg Moore at Cali in 1999 during the CART FedEx finale, and one that severely injured Kenny Brack at Texas in 2003. It's not all that often nowadays to see a fatal racing accident. It doesn't matter if it's NHRA, NASCAR, or this. You just gotta wonder, "How can IndyCar recover from this and what must be done to make these cars safer, yet again?" I mean, clearly the HANS didn't do Dan Wheldon a bit of good to save him. Sorry. As good as that device is, it didn't do diddle to save him. And that's sad for such a prosperous product as IndyCar. I hope IndyCar quickly gets this resolved and does something to not ever let this crash happen again.

A young star's light has been dimmed too soon.


Rest in Peace
Dan Wheldon
1978-2011

Falcon_88 wrote:

I bet Penske is cringing at what to become of this. It's a crash like this that killed Greg Moore at Cali in 1999 during the CART FedEx finale, and one that severely injured Kenny Brack at Texas in 2003. It's not all that often nowadays to see a fatal racing accident. It doesn't matter if it's NHRA, NASCAR, or this. You just gotta wonder, "How can IndyCar recover from this and what must be done to make these cars safer, yet again?" I mean, clearly the HANS didn't do Dan Wheldon a bit of good to save him. Sorry. As good as that device is, it didn't do diddle to save him. And that's sad for such a prosperous product as IndyCar. I hope IndyCar quickly gets this resolved and does something to not ever let this crash happen again.

A young star's light has been dimmed too soon.


Rest in Peace
Dan Wheldon
1978-2011

The HANS is used to protect driver's from whiplash, not catch fences. And as to what the're gonna do, I'm guessing closed-canopy cars.

Falcon_88 wrote:

I bet Penske is cringing at what to become of this. It's a crash like this that killed Greg Moore at Cali in 1999 during the CART FedEx finale, and one that severely injured Kenny Brack at Texas in 2003. It's not all that often nowadays to see a fatal racing accident. It doesn't matter if it's NHRA, NASCAR, or this. You just gotta wonder, "How can IndyCar recover from this and what must be done to make these cars safer, yet again?" I mean, clearly the HANS didn't do Dan Wheldon a bit of good to save him. Sorry. As good as that device is, it didn't do diddle to save him. And that's sad for such a prosperous product as IndyCar. I hope IndyCar quickly gets this resolved and does something to not ever let this crash happen again.

A young star's light has been dimmed too soon.


Rest in Peace
Dan Wheldon
1978-2011

Why would Penske be cringing anymore than anyone else who owns a team?

As for the HANS device, you clearly dont know what one is supposed to do if you think it should save you when your head hits a metal fence at 180 mph...

They won't go to closed canopy, the cost is too great at the moment, F1 looked at using jet fighter like canopy's, and they were too expensive...for f1....The new Dalara will have bodywork behind the rear wheels to prevent launching, as well as improver airbox strength.

Do you think the back "head-rest" if you can call it that protects the drivers from flips when they're skidding on the ground do anything to save Dan?

Chives5150 wrote:

Do you think the back "head-rest" if you can call it that protects the drivers from flips when they're skidding on the ground do anything to save Dan?

Well it could have, but the problem is his car hit the fence with the top, and it ripped that head-reast (called an airbox) off the car, leaving his head exposed to hit the fence.