RIP Dan Wheldon

[BudSooner]

Died from injuries from a horrific accident on lap 12 at Las Vegas Speedway, RIP Dan.:upset:

[JLEW1818]

i saw the video.. omg

[BudSooner]

33yrs old, so sad.

[olevetonahill]

i saw the video.. omg
This?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YcAZ7I_lk7M

[BudSooner]

Thats it Vet, I just could not bring myself to post the video, his car went up into the catch fence driver compartment first(helmet exposed since the airbox/rollbar were ripped away from contact with another car went over his...or from impact from the soft wall barrier)into the fence.
Little could have helped him other than more protection, not racing at this track where the cars NEVER lift due to the high banked turns....they were 220 exiting that turn upon impact.
I believe the video may show a tire going into his driver compartment after seeing it again, I hate to analyze that thing anymore....it won't bring the young man back.
Racing will never be safe, but the decision to race on these 1 1/2 mile high banked tracks was just beyond stupid.

[Soonerfan88]

Just read the news, absolutely horrible.

RIP Dan and prayers to your family.

[BudSooner]

After winning the Indy 500 this year. :(

2477

[Soonerus]

Horrible...

[OUHOMER]

Sad deal.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Simply horrible

[Breadburner]

Nobody forced him to race.....

[lexsooner]

Nobody forced him to race.....

So if a U.S. service person is killed in Afghanistan, you would only say "Nobody forced him/her to enlist", correct?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

bad situation..RIP

[OULenexaman]

way too many cars in the field for that track....

[Boomer.....]

:(

RIP

[soonerboomer93]

Bad news all around. Apparently he was involved in designing the cars for next year, which have a rear wheel protection. This is being done to prevent cars from being launched, like his was.

[starclassic tama]

Nobody forced him to race.....
nobody forced you to make that idiotic post either, but that didn't stop you

[GrapevineSooner]

And the drivers expressed serious reservations about pack racing on a track with high banks that lent itself to speeds in excess of 220 MPH.

Bud's right. The decision to race on such a track where the drivers never lift off the throttle was stupid.

Gut wrenching to know he's leaving behind a 2 year old son, another child, and his wife behind.

[sooneron]

IRL drops the ball again. This time it was huge and a horrible loss. I'll be amazed if that circuit is still around 10 years from now...

[BudSooner]

IRL drops the ball again. This time it was huge and a horrible loss. I'll be amazed if that circuit is still around 10 years from now...If it is left up to Barnard then yeah it will be a short run, but it was no better off when Tony George was running the show.

Honestly, some may laugh at this notion but I feel the best person to run the series is none other than......Roger Penske, he's seen many aspects of many forms of racing and has been a promoter long ago but he is a business man and a team owner. I wish he would, finally the series would gain some credibility that is much needed, that and he is an innovator.
Never again should these cars(and next years cars are going to be turbocharged)be on an oval under two miles of lenght and a field exceeding 26 cars, and while I understand there are alot of underfunded teams wanting to race we don't need to have a moving roadblock at 220mph.



But at least they try to race in Indycar unlike Nascar where start-n-park is the norm for the little teams.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

If you got young kids, just don't.

[8timechamps]

This was a tragic ordeal. I'm a race fan, but only a passing IRL fan. I happened to be watching the race when the wreck occurred. I've seen so many terrible looking wrecks, that I just assumed everyone was okay. I figured a broken bone or some other "light" injuries, but not a death.

As mentioned, these cars should never have been on that track. Tony Kanaan expressed his concerns even before the race started. I also remember hearing that this field was the biggest in IRL history (or some type of record for the number of cars entered). Not a good combination.

Open wheel racing (especially on an oval) is extremely dangerous. One wheel rub, and a major wreck occurs. The IRL needs to seriously consider moving to road courses exclusively (barring the Indy 500, which isn't a true oval). I hope good can come from this horrific event.

RIP Dan Wheldon.

[Sooner24]

Sooner04 my oldest son and I were at TMS when Kenny Brack had his wreak. I told them he's dead no one could survive that. I'm glad I was wrong but Dan wasn't as lucky. Prayers to his family.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVpux5JxqEk

[8timechamps]

Sooner04 my oldest son and I were at TMS when Kenny Brack had his wreak. I told them he's dead no one could survive that. I'm glad I was wrong but Dan wasn't as lucky. Prayers to his family.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVpux5JxqEk

It's accidents like the Kenny Brack accident that have helped make us viewers feel a false sense of safety for the drivers. There have been numerous NASCAR accidents in recent years that I thought would result in a death, but only a few minor injuries resulted. Unfortunately, the open cockpit was the fatal design in Wheldon's wreck (although, I don't think the IRL, F1 or any other open wheel series will/should close the cockpit).

[BudSooner]

Sooner04 my oldest son and I were at TMS when Kenny Brack had his wreak. I told them he's dead no one could survive that. I'm glad I was wrong but Dan wasn't as lucky. Prayers to his family.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVpux5JxqEkTo this day when that video is played it just gives me chills, thing is that this wreck looked alot worse than Dan Wheldons but it looked like the front of Bracks car caught the fence and spun it around where Dans car hung up on the safer barrier head first ripping away the airbox/rollbar.


If you have not looked at it, the new car for 2012 DW01(in his memory)has the airbox inlets on each side of the drivers head and an exposed rollbar.....it looks less safe than the current car but I don't have the specs on the diameter of the tubing but it must be pretty ****ing hefty.



Side note, Jimmie Johnson came out on twitter(I always knew he would come out of the closet...lol)and said indy cars have NO business on a high speed oval other than Indy, AJ Foyt/Mario Andretti both replied that he has no idea what he is talking about and that todays cars are WAY safer than when they drove them. But Tony Kanaan/Dario backed up what JJ had said, many of the drivers said that track was unsafe.
Tony Stewart commented when Bruton Smith redid Vegas that it was a deathtrap for Nascar series cars, let alone open wheelers...that must have stung Tony when his hero AJ said it was all BS.

[8timechamps]

To this day when that video is played it just gives me chills, thing is that this wreck looked alot worse than Dan Wheldons but it looked like the front of Bracks car caught the fence and spun it around where Dans car hung up on the safer barrier head first ripping away the airbox/rollbar.


If you have not looked at it, the new car for 2012 DW01(in his memory)has the airbox inlets on each side of the drivers head and an exposed rollbar.....it looks less safe than the current car but I don't have the specs on the diameter of the tubing but it must be pretty ****ing hefty.



Side note, Jimmie Johnson came out on twitter(I always knew he would come out of the closet...lol)and said indy cars have NO business on a high speed oval other than Indy, AJ Foyt/Mario Andretti both replied that he has no idea what he is talking about and that todays cars are WAY safer than when they drove them. But Tony Kanaan/Dario backed up what JJ had said, many of the drivers said that track was unsafe.
Tony Stewart commented when Bruton Smith redid Vegas that it was a deathtrap for Nascar series cars, let alone open wheelers...that must have stung Tony when his hero AJ said it was all BS.

I loved AJ, but I think the guy is fading. Mario still seems to have a lot going on upstairs, so I can give his comments a little credence. I'd agree that the cars are safer, but there is no way you can tell me that with the advancement in technology, and manufacturers pushing the envelope of speed, that it's that much safer. I don't remember any car AJ (or Mario for that matter) drove, flying into the catch fencing.

Today's Indy cars are like wingless aircraft. And the speeds attained at places like Las Vegas make it a breeding ground for these kinds of wrecks. While Jimmy Johnson may not be an authority on Indy cars, I'd say he knows a hell of a lot more about racing the Las Vegas oval than AJ or Mario.