RIP Dan Wheldon

[PAUL PRICE]

Was killed today at Las Vegas

[ricochet112]

Such a sad note to end the season on...

RIP Dan.

I'm not sure that Dan would have wanted them to not finish the race, the 5 memorial laps were a nice touch though.

[Racerkyle20]

Race In Peace

Seen too much of this, this year....ironic He's been testing the series' newer safer car for the future. My first thought in any type of safety overhaul for open wheels is capsules. Or a full roll cage around the driver. Seems they are just not protected at all, especially at 225mph. I"m sure Bob Wartinger could touch on the subject...

[HRTV]

Seen too much of this, this year....ironic He's been testing the series' newer safer car for the future. My first thought in any type of safety overhaul for open wheels is capsules. Or a full roll cage around the driver. Seems they are just not protected at all, especially at 225mph. I"m sure Bob Wartinger could touch on the subject...

A true tragedy indeed and a major lost. They are actually sitting in capsules or what is better known in the open wheel ranks as the "tub"

In most cases the car can be completely destroyed and the "tub" will remain intact without any damage at all. Sadly the driver is often found dead inside of the tub due to internal body damage as a result of physical force and pressure on the human body. The amount of pressure on the human body during a crash at 225 mph is hard to comprehend.
May he rest in peace.

[Holden 34-V]

R.i.p.

[Racerkyle20]

Dan- I realized I should have said enclosed cockpits. But as you said the force on the body at 225 mph is enormous and maybe even being enclosed would not matter. Maybe slowing down to 200 or less would help too.

[daveracerdsh]

Dan

He is enclosed to a certain point..but maybe debris from the wreck killed him...unlimited drivers go azz over teak kettle at 200 mph and seem to fare ok...just some thoughts.

[EKorpe]

Danger

It is to bad those things happen, but it wont be the last time either! We all know the risk of motorsports! I understand the risk's watching 9-17 yr old's go out for a heat ! Oh and a wire fence will never be a good outcome! most times not even for the fan's.

[22W]

Please keep in mind that fences and fence poles are attached to the top of the barriers at Vegas. You don't find many fence poles in the middle of boat race courses. As tragic as losing anyone in the racing community is, you can never make any type of racing completely safe. I race boats, fly airplanes for a living, and drive a vehicle to get to the grocery store. Statistically, I am most likely to be hurt in the car. However, I exponentially increase my risk by following the other endeavors. I certainly know that there is a real risk in that behavior. I take that risk knowing full well that I would not be myself and would not feel as fulfilled in my life if I did not follow my heart. I miss everyone lost from our boat racing community as a family member. But my family would not be so great if we were not a part of this greater racing family.

[F-111]

Wheldon's autopsy said he died from blunt trauma to the head. To me that would mean a piece of debris hit him or maybe his head hit the wall or fence somehow. An enclosed canopy might have prevented that, it's hard to say. There's been alot of "what ifs" the last couple of days. What does bother me is all the armchair quarterbacks on TV and radio who don't know **** about racing, much less Indycar (aside from the Indy 500, or anything involving Danica), throwing their 2 cents in and assigning blame here and there. Where were you "experts" the rest of the season? Ridiculous! I guess it's not surprising though, we go through pretty much the same thing with what we do.

Anyhow, he was an incredible talent, a great ambassador for Indycar, and seemed like a cool guy. RIP

Ryan summed it up perfectly, well said.

[Geezeracer]

I don't see an enclosed cockpit or a cage as viable in a situation like Wheldon's. Getting caught up in the catch-fence shreds the car like a cheese-grater, and the fence support poles just layer up another element

Getting into the fence works in NASCAR because the expanse of bodywork and cage protects the driver from a fence that's ripping it up while scrubbing down energy. In open-wheel a canopy's small size will probably see it scrubbed off pretty quickly, and then, even with a good cage, I'd imagine load forces will stretch the driver out into fence contact.

If the car tumbles across the fence or slides on the bottom or side-pods the driver's got a chance, though the results will likely be pretty grim as with the situations of Kenny Brack and Davey Hamilton. If the car scrubs the cockpit on the fence there's almost no chance for the driver...Before Dan Wheldon IRL cockpit to fence encounters took out Tony Renna and Paul Dana.

Structurally open-wheel cars are pretty sound. Here's Kubica's 27-G F-1 crush at Montreal...Rattled pretty hard but OK...Note how much of the driver is exposed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtrzvwayniM&NR=1

I think part of the fault lies in ISC's banked cookie-cutter tracks but I'd say most of the trouble is fallout from IRL's fix on pack-racing. IRL's pretty much bet the farm on selling formation flying in 200 mph laps like a can of live sardines. That's OK in NASCAR, where bodywork allows a bit of contact, but wheel to wheel contact is just asking for it. In this case a couple racers messing up in a tight pack set the stage for an open-wheel Talladega "big-one".

Think back to CART and recall their engines as a lot more powerful than those of IRL. 900 hp made racers to think a little instead of relying on downforce, and aerodynamic toys like the Hanford device helped to spread cars out a bit...Drivers could suck up into the hole punched by a Hanford wing to pass and get separation, and overtaken drivers could re-take a position, but cars were unstable in a wheel to wheel pack. Fewer cars packed together means fewer opportunities for one car and driver to be launched off another.

I'd kinda hoped that Mr Brainfart's dopey re-start call at Louden would clear him off, but I guess with just a couple races left Indycar thought it better to keep him aboard until the season curtain fell...Too bad because Tony Cotman, the guy with the skills and smarts to fix things is lurking just off stage.

John