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re: IRL Wreck at LVMS--RIP Dan Wheldon 1978-2011
Posted on 10/16/11 at 9:52 pm to castorinho
Posted on 10/16/11 at 9:52 pm to castorinho
This sucks, he was my favorite indycar driver 
1
Posted on 10/16/11 at 10:26 pm to Smokedawg
Posted on 10/16/11 at 10:36 pm to Rose City Rambler
I'm tearing up reading this thread.
RIP Dan.
RIP Dan.
Posted on 10/16/11 at 10:59 pm to TN Bhoy
Final Interview
Wheldon on Letterman
Wheldon at Disney
Wheldon also worked in the booth this season as an analyst for some of the Versus Indycar broadcasts.
My prayers go out to his family. He will certainly be missed.
RIP
Wheldon on Letterman
Wheldon at Disney
Wheldon also worked in the booth this season as an analyst for some of the Versus Indycar broadcasts.
My prayers go out to his family. He will certainly be missed.
RIP
Posted on 10/16/11 at 11:41 pm to Bho
quote:
Me too. I searched the internet for it, then realized that I probably didn't want to see it anyways
There are probably a LOT of views that won't be seen. They cut from his car cam to a view from pretty far out from the wreck. Black eye for the whole sport to have any footage released.
Another question for you big race fans. I am not a auto racing fan or a hater really. Indy car or Nascar I could care less. I have heard on more than one occasion where race tracks were "too fast". Speeds getting to great for any safety equipment or drivers getting light headed due to g-forces I guess. How can they not fix this problem? They have to know what a "safe" speed to race is at and where they cross a line.
That being said, it is still racing and people are going to die. Just curious what some actual race fans thought?
Posted on 10/16/11 at 11:50 pm to LSU alum wannabe
NASCAR has ways to limit the speeds with restrictor plates. I have to imagine IRL can also limit speeds if they want to, forcing a different gear could be a possibility, making them adjust the wings for more downforce, etc. Not to mention everything on the gear is computer controlled, they could change things on the fly really with rev limiters too.
My question is why they started so many cars on an oval...it was just a recipe for disaster. I think they started 36, normally I think its only in the 20s.
Open wheel cars, whether its Indy or sprint cars, do not do well with closed quarters situations...when wheels bang its usually bad news. Just the nature of the beast, its a ton more dangerous than stock car racing.
It kind of sucks that it takes death to force change, but I think IRL will re-evaluate things and enforce things like less cars in races, smaller gears, more downforce, etc. to help reduce speeds. IRL has a new car they are debuting in 2012 which Wheldon did the testing for tragically, and I assume it will be safer as well.
My question is why they started so many cars on an oval...it was just a recipe for disaster. I think they started 36, normally I think its only in the 20s.
Open wheel cars, whether its Indy or sprint cars, do not do well with closed quarters situations...when wheels bang its usually bad news. Just the nature of the beast, its a ton more dangerous than stock car racing.
It kind of sucks that it takes death to force change, but I think IRL will re-evaluate things and enforce things like less cars in races, smaller gears, more downforce, etc. to help reduce speeds. IRL has a new car they are debuting in 2012 which Wheldon did the testing for tragically, and I assume it will be safer as well.
This post was edited on 10/16/11 at 11:51 pm
Posted on 10/17/11 at 12:31 am to SprintFun
Good God...Rest in Peace. What a horrific crash.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 1:05 am to eVOLution
Watching Wind Tunnel on SPEED network right now and Dave Despain (sp?) is playing the on board camera from Wheldon's car.
Holy shite it is scary. It actually stays on all the way through him going airborne, crashing into the fence, and hitting the track again. It cuts out when it is consumed by fire.
Holy shite it is scary. It actually stays on all the way through him going airborne, crashing into the fence, and hitting the track again. It cuts out when it is consumed by fire.
This post was edited on 10/17/11 at 1:53 am
Posted on 10/17/11 at 1:43 am to 9Fiddy
Damn just look at his car after it lands...unreal.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 2:11 am to TBsoccer13
RIP Dan. Prayers sent to family.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 2:37 am to fightingsaint3
I don't know why this is hitting me so hard... He was only 7 years older than me.
RIP Dan
RIP Dan
Posted on 10/17/11 at 2:57 am to RileyTime
i haven't seen any footage of the actual crash and won't want to until a couple years from now, but i imagine it's like a nightmare would look or something they CGI in the movies... i seriously don't know if i'll ever watch IndyCar again because i was thinking when i had on a bit of the indy 500 "these don't look like cars: they look like rocket capsules with wheels"...
plus the fact that it happened in the last race and happened in las vegas, with the $5 million publicity stunt bonus Wheldon was going for.
plus the fact that it happened in the last race and happened in las vegas, with the $5 million publicity stunt bonus Wheldon was going for.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 6:32 am to 9Fiddy
quote:
Holy shite it is scary. It actually stays on all the way through him going airborne, crashing into the fence, and hitting the track again. It cuts out when it is consumed by fire.
This sounds like the view you got from Power's in car.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 7:08 am to Bho
Pretty spooky. I spoke to a few ladies tonight who are part of Sam Schmidt racing and they were visibly upset. They said they had an event planned at House of Blues tonight that got cancelled, but there's a golf tournament they had planned for tomorrow that is still taking place. I dont see how you can go out and play golf a day after this happens. They said Sam is pretty broken up also.
Wheldon had literally signed a new contract this morning and had done 2 of 3 parts of a raceweek blog for some website. He was supposed to do the third part after the race.
Wheldon had literally signed a new contract this morning and had done 2 of 3 parts of a raceweek blog for some website. He was supposed to do the third part after the race.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 8:57 am to RileyTime
quote:
I don't know why this is hitting me so hard... He was only 7 years older than me.
Same here.
He's 3 years older than me, but I think it's the fact that he had two young sons. I have a 2 year old son, so that part of all this really bothers me.
RIP
Posted on 10/17/11 at 10:24 am to USLttarP
I wish Indycar would go to only road courses (outside of the 500). The most underrated racecourse in America, Road America in Wisconsin, is America's answer to Spa in Belgium, and it isn't on their calendar. Same with Laguna Seca, which is another uniquely American track. Thank god Long Beach is still there.
Oval courses with too much banking are just way too dangerous.
Oval courses with too much banking are just way too dangerous.
This post was edited on 10/17/11 at 10:26 am
Posted on 10/17/11 at 4:15 pm to LuckySo-n-So
R.I.P. DW.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 7:36 pm to crimsonsaint
Yikes
that's his car airborne and upside down
that's his car airborne and upside down
This post was edited on 10/17/11 at 7:37 pm
Posted on 10/17/11 at 7:40 pm to SPEEDY
I take it that then came down on his head.
Posted on 10/17/11 at 7:45 pm to hg
I think his head was caught in the catch fence. That's what did the most damage if I had to guess
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