Horrendous Indy car crash in Vegas -- Update: RIP Dan Wheldon

[Johnny Dangerously]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/indycar/story/2011-10-15/Dan-Wheldon-frustrated-with-car-in-Las-Vegas/50786654/1

Editor's note: This is the second of three installments from driver Dan Wheldon on his bid for $5 million in Sunday's Izod IndyCar World Championships. The final contribution will recap the race day.

Chilling.

 

[Wenders]

Now if they could've done something about that track PA announcer ...

Really!

I was watching the five-lap tribute with "Amazing Grace" playing in the background, and all I could hear was some guy droning on over the PA trying to put his two cent stamp on the occasion.

I had the same problem. JUST SHUT UP ALREADY.

The roommate and I were discussing whether or not we would have even been able to make it the five-lap tribute in the state those drivers were in. I can't imagine that any of them would have been in any sort of mental state to go much more than that.

 

[SportsGuyBCK]

Now if they could've done something about that track PA announcer ...

Really!

I was watching the five-lap tribute with "Amazing Grace" playing in the background, and all I could hear was some guy droning on over the PA trying to put his two cent stamp on the occasion.

Bad enough that the guy is droning on and on about upcoming events at LVMS -- I can understand why, since no one knew what was going on save for the wreck and that some drivers were hurt -- but to open your yap during the tribute is ... well, I've met my share of track PA announcers over the years (both big and small tracks) and I've questioned the intelligence of many of them ... however, the guy at LVMS just was at a whole different level, and not a good one ...

 

[bbnews60]

Love Auto Racing. Hate This. RIP Dan Wheldon

 

[apeman33]

We don't know if some higher-up was on the PA guy's ass to say something. But if I were him, I would have told the higher-up that I was going to say only two things: "We now begin the 5-lap tribute to Dan Wheldon" and "Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes the 5-lap tribute to Dan Wheldon. Please keep his family in your prayers and please be careful on your way home. Thank you."

Also, I'd heard one report that Danica Patrick thought things were "getting crazy" and backed off.

 

[Beef03]

So sad. RIP Dan Wheldon.

 

[Clerk Typist]

Guess I should have said "a moddy." Thanks. And regarding the blog 2MCM cited: I'm not sure what could have prevented this death. Not sure how you make a catch fence safer for a driver without making it more risky for hundreds of fans.

It really can't. Any driver will tell you the catch fence is there to protect the spectators. It is only good fortune if a driver survives with only minor injuries after going above the wall (SAFER, these days) and tangles with the fence. I only hope Dan never knew what was coming.

 

[playthrough]

Whenever I see something like this, remember the day Greg Moore died. Met another Canadian driver, Lee Bentham, at the Toronto airport to get clip that night. Bentham asked for a ride home.

It was the eeriest 40-minutes of my life. Didn't know if I should say anything or just keep quiet.

When I heard that they choppered Wheldon out, this was immediately what I thought of: they did the same with Greg Moore at Fontana. And it ended just as horribly.

This was the worst wreck I've ever seen. Simply horrible. Who was the car that had the other car go airborne right over him?

Indy Car is a client of ours and my boss spent the last two weeks trying to get interviews for Dan Wheldon. It wasn't an easy sell, especially for sports talk-radio stations that operate on the beat-one-topic-into-the-ground-for-four-hours theory. And Dan was an engaging, good interview.

RIP to someone who was a better human being than driver.

He really was. Every Indy 500 winner is an icon in Indianapolis, but he was an especially well-liked guy. My wife ran into him at a coffee shop on Monument Circle once, just a completely normal guy. A great ambassador for a sport that just doesn't have many left, sadly.

As for Danica...yeah, all I can think is, on some level, she's gotta be even more glad to put this series behind her. She, like many of the vets, knew that this race was going to be seriously dicey.

 

[Clerk Typist]

Did any NFL game broadcast mention this?

Just mentioned on the NBC pregame show. Showed him drinking milk at the 500 in slow-mo.

 

[TigerVols]

One of the saddest things to me is what the ABC announcer was saying moments before the wreck, that Wheldon had more or less said he feared the track and the number of cars was a dangerous combination.

 

[Clerk Typist]

Whenever I see something like this, remember the day Greg Moore died. Met another Canadian driver, Lee Bentham, at the Toronto airport to get clip that night. Bentham asked for a ride home.

It was the eeriest 40-minutes of my life. Didn't know if I should say anything or just keep quiet.

When I heard that they choppered Wheldon out, this was immediately what I thought of: they did the same with Greg Moore at Fontana. And it ended just as horribly.

This was the worst wreck I've ever seen. Simply horrible. Who was the car that had the other car go airborne right over him?

Indy Car is a client of ours and my boss spent the last two weeks trying to get interviews for Dan Wheldon. It wasn't an easy sell, especially for sports talk-radio stations that operate on the beat-one-topic-into-the-ground-for-four-hours theory. And Dan was an engaging, good interview.

RIP to someone who was a better human being than driver.

A very good interview, and respected in the paddock as well. Had a dust-up or two along the way, but all drivers do. Drove smart races. Was test driver for the new Dallara that debuts next year. Maybe it can be named the DW77 or something in his honor. (And I don't know if that car, even with semi-enclosed rear wheels, would have prevented this accident, given that four cars, including Power and Wheldon, ran up and over cars from behind within three seconds.)

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

From Wheldon's guest piece Saturday for USA Today, linked above:

This is going to be an amazing show. The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out.

We all know what this team can do, and I know what I can do. At the end of the day, I have every confidence I them. We should be good in the race. They've worked hard at this, and they'll figure it out.

As long as I can find some speed and keep up with the pack, I'll do everything I can to put on a show.