Racing vet Dan Wheldon dies at Vegas IndyCar race

[Night_stalker]

(CNN) -- Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died Sunday after he was involved in a multi-car wreck at an IndyCar race in Las Vegas, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said.
The race was stopped and the remaining drivers, many of whom were visibly emotional after emerging from a meeting with IndyCar officials, will do a five-lap salute in Wheldon's honor, Bernard told reporters.
More than a dozen cars were involved in the fiery crash. Video of the accident showed cars spinning out of control, bursting into flames, and shooting smoke and debris into the air.
Championship contender Will Power and Rookie of the Year candidate J.R. Hildebrand were also involved in the crash, according to the official Twitter page of the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Wheldon, 33, was in line to win $5 million if he captured the checkered flag at Sunday's race.
After his second Indy 500 victory, Wheldon talked with CNN's "American Morning" about the intensity of the race track.
"We're doing speeds in excess of 225 miles per hour. With this race, you never know what can happen. It's about staying focused and you really don't ever let off the power unless you have to," he said.
CNN's Jason Durand contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/16/us/indyca ... ?hpt=hp_t1

[Meest]

Not a fan of ovals for open or closed wheeled racing, don't get the appeal just do a 3 hour endurance road track. Says died of unsurvivable injuries never seen that used before. Guessing it was the fence and debris that got him those driver cockpits are built like tanks but doesn't help when getting tangled in fencing soft walls or not.

[Sea Skimmer]

Ovals are dumb, racing with identical cars on an oval is even stupider and ensures you'll get massive accidents like this by ensuring the cars are bunched up for the entire race.

[Broomstick]

Says died of unsurvivable injuries never seen that used before.

That phrase struck me, too. It's an unusual phrasing. It makes it sound like he made it to the hospital still alive, but with something wrecked that, while not immediate fatal, precluded long term survival. Massive head trauma? They usually say "head injuries". Destroyed liver? That's fatal in about a day if you can't find a donor. Something else?

Well, driving cars very fast has certain inherent dangers you can't entirely eliminate. It's unfortunate this man died. How are the other people who were injured doing? I heard two were released from the hospital today, but no details.

[Phantasee]

His roll bar broke off and his car flipped around a bunch before hitting the fence. I imagine it was just everything.

It was a gruesome accident, I couldn't watch the replay. I don't even know where it started, it just went from "going in circles" to "everyone is in the wall".

JR Hildebrand was being held overnight. Pippa Mann had burns to her hand. Will Power had some back pain and got checked out and released. That's about it for other (reported/treated) injuries.

Ovals are fucking stupid. Just earlier this very year there was a car that lost a piece of wing or suspension or something and just took off up into the air and hit the wall during practice or quali at Indianapolis, Simona de Silvestro had burns all over her hands.

You don't really see so much fire in Formula 1, either. I wonder if Indy should be beefing up their fuel cells?

[Broomstick]

Latest TV news is that the official cause of death for Wheldon is "blunt force head trauma". Wouldn't surprise me if he had blunt force trauma to the rest of his body, too.

[Meest]

You don't really see so much fire in Formula 1, either. I wonder if Indy should be beefing up their fuel cells?

Indy car seems to be a bit behind to Formula 1 in safety which is just silly. It's sad that this driver was testing the new 2012 which has much needed safety updates, it even has something that would have prevented his death. Rear bumpers behind the rear wheels so car behind aren't being sent airborne.

New Indycar Safety specifically mentions getting closer to FIA standards.

[Thanas]

Hmmm. I'd say the tracks are to blame. In F1, you got wide spaces damaged cars can roll into and huge crash zones that serve to absorb impact shock. You can't have either on an oval.

[Alferd Packer]

Unfortunately, it sometimes takes a death like this to force the governing bodies of these racing organizations to do something. Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001 was the impetus for NASCAR implementing numerous safety improvements, both in the tracks they race on and the cars driven.

[Julhelm]

Hmmm. I'd say the tracks are to blame. In F1, you got wide spaces damaged cars can roll into and huge crash zones that serve to absorb impact shock. You can't have either on an oval.

I agree. If anything Indycars have tended to be heavier and tougher built than F1 cars since they race at almost twice the average speed. I only remember one Indy driver who was killed on a road circuit, and that was Jeff Krosnoff at Toronto back in 94 IIRC. Seen lots of guys get killed or maimed on ovals. Greg Moore and Alex Zanardi in particular were gruesome accidents.