Motorsports are exciting, gripping, and dangerous, all because of the high speeds that their sports are involved in. The danger aspect sometimes can be overlooked and ignored. It's at these times when we are reminded of how fatal it can actually be.
It was the Season Finale for the IndyCar season as the racers came to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Attention was given as to who the champion was going to be and also to how well Danica Patrick would do in presumably her last IndyCar race. To others, it was for one last prize before the season ended. In lap 11 of the event, a horrific crash involving 15 cars unfolded that would claim a driver's life. Dan Wheldon, Indy 500 Winner from Emberton, England, was airlifted to a hospital nearby but to no avail. He passed away due to "unsurvivable injuries." He was 33 years young.
The race was offically called off due to the tragedy but the racers had a 5 lap salute in Dan Wheldon's honor. Most of the drivers around the track were very emotional afterword like Dario Franchitti who said of Dan "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer." Wheldon, himself, became a racer at an early age and would move to the US to further that dream. He started to race in IndyCar in 2002 nearly ten years ago. The highlights of his IndyCar career were winning the Indy 500 twice; once in 2005 and then again just this last spring.
Dan Wheldon's death now plagues the IndyCar world as a reminder that the worst can happen at anytime at any race. No doubt the racing world has lost a great driver, a great star, a great friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.