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Dan Wheldon dies

Seraphim

Active Member
On fire and backwards, after a 15 car chain reaction in the Indy Vegas race today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOsZtDyr6Ls

They did a 5 lap salute, and canceled the rest of the race.


Some of the footage of the wreck as it happened is just incredible. All you see is debris and smoke as the cars get outright ripped apart, almost tornado like conditions. Of the 34 cars that started on the track, only 19 survived.
 
Dan Wheldon, Indy 500 winner dies in race

Not sure how many people watch open wheel racing, but as an avid fan I try to watch all IZOD and F1 races televised. The last race of the IZOD series was Danica Patricks last as an Indy driver (heading to NASCAR I believe) and was to decide the IZOD champion between 2 racers.

Unfortunately early in the race was an enormous wreck that took out 15 drivers. Dan Wheldon went airborne and crashed cockpit into the wall. The picture is below, Dan was in the #77 at the far left of the image, going airborne.

wheldon-crash-airborne-lvrjpg-f6d8c1f2347918b9.jpg


Wheldon was the Indianapolis 500 winner earlier in the season, and was in line to win $2.5 million for himself and a fan had he won the race. IZOD cancelled the rest of the race and gave Dan a 5 lap tribute.

main.jpg


Dan Wheldon: 6/22/78 - 10/16/11
 
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Must have posted pretty much at the same time. As an avid open wheel fan I try to watch every race. At first I was like "Man that series of wrecks was something you don't see everyday" only to find out later that the racer had passed due to the seriousness of his crash.
 
It is really sad. Must have been a freak type collision as well, as I always thought these guys had ample protection in their cockpits.
 
Not the Indy race.

Indy cars are open cockpit- no roll cage or anything.

They have basic fire protection around their seat and controls, and wear a helmet and suit that resists fire and abrasion, but other than the standard 5 point harness these cars have no roll cage or anything above the driver.

Most of the time when one rolls over, the intake scoop of the engine bears the weight and spares the driver, but this one got flung into the air against the fence cockpit first. He had no time to duck inside the car and it would have hit so hard the scoop wouldn't have held it.

What seems to have caused it was a couple of cars up the line touched and lost control while in a close pack, triggering a chain reaction of cars colliding and spinning out at speeds in excess of 225 MPH. His was actually one of the later ones to enter the wreck, striking another car just right to go airborne as it rolled over and slammed into the fence before crashing to the ground and sliding into the infield.

Of the 34 cars that started the race, all but 19 were destroyed sufficiently to keep them from resuming the race had they opted to continue it. Instead those 19 cars participated in the salute laps, and the rest of the race was canceled.
 
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