Talk about rednecks, the level of ignorance in this thread disgusts me.
This is the highest pinnacle of motorsport, and the drivers must be more talented and take higher risks. Formula 1 may once have had the best drivers, but that was in an era when they drove in multiple series in many types of cars. None of the drivers who have left F1 in the last thirty years have shown exceptional talent in subsequent series. Not even the vaunted Michael Schumacher has consistently beaten his competitors in the yearly multi-disipline Race Of Champions.
Indycar is likely to be the most dangerous major motorsports series, following NHRA drag racing. As Ernest Hemingway said “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” I could easily come in here and spout untruths and ignorant jibes at NFL Football, and dozens would pipe in and tell me to go away. I ask those who don’t follow motor racing to do the same.
I don’t even know that most NASCAR fans belong in the discussion. That sport has been dumbed down so much by the current regime that it sometimes has little resemblance to the sport I watch on ABC-TV in the 1970s. There was an editorial on one of the NASCAR blogs this morning regarding the overwhelming cheers when one of the leading championship contenders hit the wall hard on Saturday night. The article looked at the event in hindsight and reflected on Dan Wheldon’s death. The author chided fans for cheering until they knew the driver was safe. The majority of the comments proudly proclaimed that they had been cheering and castigated the author for being politically correct.
As a spectator and participant, I’ve seen four fatal accidents occur directly in front of me. I’ve lived through 50 or more deaths in the sport since I became a fan as a young boy. Every “sport” is dangerous and that is a large portion of the thrill of participation. In most cases it only results in broken bones. In others, life-altering concussions or permanent disability. No sports fan should take the high and mighty approach that auto racing is stupid. I happen to think it makes more sense than chasing a ball across a field of grass.
As to the affect of this death on Indycar racing, I think it will be long-reaching. The sanctioning body rented this track and paid to put on this race. Normally, races are staged by track owners in concert with race promoters and they share the costs. Indycar needed a “destination” for their season finale in order to draw in eyeballs. Many fans attended the event free as part of a promotion that allowed ticket owners from other events to see the race.
This death obviously puts a damper on their depiction of a race as part of a party weekend. The cancellation of the race prevented the presentation of an extremely close points race coming down to the final lap as it had in several years previous, and in contrast to NASCAR championships. The NASCAR race was Saturday night, which meant that they Indycar could attract their viewers on Sunday afternoon. Given that there were less than fifteen minutes of racing, it’s doubtful that many viewers hung around the TV for the next two hours to await the fate of someone they’d never heard of. This will no doubt inspire the ire of people who want to shut down the sport for any number of reasons, or cause Indycar racing to be child-proofed as NASCAR has.
The safety precautions worked as they were supposed to. There was a series-dedicated medical team on-site within seconds. The walls absorbed the impact as they should. Fifteen drivers were involved in the crash and the only other major injuries were burns to the hands of one driver and unresolved dizziness in another.
Wheldon died because his car rode over the wheels of another and the top of the car was dragged across the catch fence. Ironically, Wheldon’s year was largely spent developing a new car for next year that includes barriers to prevent one car from over-flying another, as well as a taller cockpit that protects the driver if the car goes upside down.