Dan Wheldon RIP

[steff]

15 car pile up....Dan Wheldon's car smashed into the catch fence. He's been airlifted to the hospital in critical condition. 3 other drivers transferred to the hospital by ambulance. ABC is no longer showing the replays & all drivers have been called to the IRL trailer...... that's NOT a good sign.

[Artemis Windsong]

[steff]

IRL drivers were complaining all weekend that they were going way too fast for this track. They were hitting 225 mph in practice. Even Nascar realized that over 200 mph on an oval is NOT safe. A safer barrier/soft wall isn't going to help you if you are airborne and go into the catch fence. Which is what happened to Wheldon.

Reporters have been told to set up camera for a statement.....

[steff]

IRL=Indy Racing League..... it's the cars that run the Indy 500 they generally run in the 200 - 225 mph depending on the track.....the Vegas track has high banking & increases speeds & instability in the cars. Higher banking=higher speeds in places where cars normally would slow down a bit.

Open wheel cars (like IRL & Formula 1) tend to "take off" & launch into the air when they wreck. They are also much lighter cars than what Nascar runs.

[steff]

Dan Wheldon, winner of this years Indy 500 has died.



1978-2011 RIP

[steff]

Race has been cancelled. Drivers have asked for and will do 5 laps in memory of him.

[Artemis Windsong]

[chiver78]

[NoNamePerson]

I just saw this on highlights. What a shame

They also said that some of the racers were concerned about the number of cars in the race. To sad.......

[chiver78]

a friend just posted this on FB. I thought people here might like to watch as well. this gave me the chills.
unfortunately, it's not a YouTube video, so it can't be embedded. it is SpeedTV's coverage of the 5-lap tribute.

www.speedtv.com/video/auto-racing/indycar-dan-wheldon-tribute-laps-2011-1221660902001/1#_vtop

[steff]

I wasn't interested in watching the Falcons game today, so I decided to watch the IRL race instead. The wreck was horrifying to see. Once they put the tarp over the car, I knew it wasn't good. That's always a very bad sign. Then when they showed Danica crying in the garage, another very bad sign.

I watched the 5 lap tribute....very touching, but hard to watch. Wheldon's crew standing out alone beside the track was very very sad.



IRL needs to stay away from the high banked 1.5 mile tracks....the cars go too fast, pull too many g's, and it's just not safe for the drivers or the fans. There's a reason IRL doesn't race at Daytona, high banking + 220 mph does NOT work and is NOT safe!

Dan Wheldon was to replace Danica next year in the GoDaddy car when she leaves for Nascar.....

[flopsy]

Dan is/was a neighbor of my mother's. he leaves behind a wife and two small children

[Forever Sunshine]

My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends.

[jeep108]

RIP>