RIP Dan Wheldon age 33 Indy cars

[tater1977]

Dan died in a 15 car fiery crash at Las Vegas Racetrack. Drivers cancelled race. Doing a 5 lap salute to him .

[ebake02]

That was a nasty nasty wreck.

[Ehwmatt]

What an idiotic "sport."

[Babyblue]

Dan died in a 15 car fiery crash at Las Vegas Racetrack. Drivers cancelled race. Doing a 5 lap salute to him .

Sad he will be missed.

[Behshad]

Dan died in a 15 car fiery crash at Las Vegas Racetrack. Drivers cancelled race. Doing a 5 lap salute to him .

Sad he will be missed.

You follow Indy ?!

[Enigma869]

What an idiotic "sport."

Couldn't agree more, dude. People would be calling for football to be banned if it had half the deaths that auto racing has had over the years. Much to my chagrin, my little boy loves auto racing. I TiVo every race and check ESPN.com before I let him watch the race (for this very reason). I don't want to have to explain to my 5 year old boy why someone died doing this.

[Hollywood]

What an idiotic "sport."

Couldn't agree more, dude. People would be calling for football to be banned if it had half the deaths that auto racing has had over the years. Much to my chagrin, my little boy loves auto racing. I TiVo every race and check ESPN.com before I let him watch the race (for this very reason). I don't want to have to explain to my 5 year old boy why someone died doing this.

Football players die on the field yearly, it just hasn't happened at the higher level in a few years. Secondly, a lot of football players die shortly after they leave the game as a result of the punishment they took on the field.

Very sad day in Las Vegas today.

[Ehwmatt]

What an idiotic "sport."

Couldn't agree more, dude. People would be calling for football to be banned if it had half the deaths that auto racing has had over the years. Much to my chagrin, my little boy loves auto racing. I TiVo every race and check ESPN.com before I let him watch the race (for this very reason). I don't want to have to explain to my 5 year old boy why someone died doing this.

Football players die on the field yearly, it just hasn't happened at the higher level in a few years. Secondly, a lot of football players die shortly after they leave the game as a result of the punishment they took on the field.

Very sad day in Las Vegas today.

Except football players die from collateral consequences of the game, like heat stroke during a hot summer practice. Despite all the controversy about concussions and big hits, they don't drop dead instantly on the field from such hits. Race car drivers die as a direct result of the sport itself. Big big difference.

[Enigma869]

Football players die on the field yearly

I was referring to to the professional level, and more specifically, the NFL.

it just hasn't happened at the higher level in a few years.

Hasn't happened "at the higher level in a few years"? Huh? What the hell does that even mean? No player has ever died during an NFL game, as a result of anything that happened on the field of play. Football players die all the time from other conditions, and some may even be related to their playing days, but again, I was referring to an on the field incident! There is no other "sport" or activity that compares to auto racing when it comes to the fatalities of those participating on the day of the event. Nothing comes remotely close to it, period, end of story!

[Peartree12249]

I'm a long time auto racing fan and have seen a lot of crashes over the years, but nothing compares to this one. I'm amazed that only one person actually died in the wreck. What a sad day for auto racing and Dan Wheldon's family friends and teammates. But he died doing what he loved the most.

[Hollywood]

Football players die on the field yearly

I was referring to to the professional level, and more specifically, the NFL.

it just hasn't happened at the higher level in a few years.

Hasn't happened "at the higher level in a few years"? Huh? What the hell does that even mean? No player has ever died during an NFL game, as a result of anything that happened on the field of play. Football players die all the time from other conditions, and some may even be related to their playing days, but again, I was referring to an on the field incident! There is no other "sport" or activity that compares to auto racing when it comes to the fatalities of those participating on the day of the event. Nothing comes remotely close to it, period, end of story!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog ... ool-wp7202
Holy Shit!!! All I had to do was to open my browser to my home page and the top story is.... And I wasn't even looking for anything.

[slucero]

Football players die on the field yearly

I was referring to to the professional level, and more specifically, the NFL.

it just hasn't happened at the higher level in a few years.

Hasn't happened "at the higher level in a few years"? Huh? What the hell does that even mean? No player has ever died during an NFL game, as a result of anything that happened on the field of play. Football players die all the time from other conditions, and some may even be related to their playing days, but again, I was referring to an on the field incident! There is no other "sport" or activity that compares to auto racing when it comes to the fatalities of those participating on the day of the event. Nothing comes remotely close to it, period, end of story!

Just so yer edumacated on Indy car fatalities...

Last Indy 500 fatality - 1973 Swede Savage (died in hospital, death may have been from contaminated blood transfusion rather than directly from the crash)

Indy Racing League (IRL) Fatalities:

• Scott Brayton, Indianapolis, May 1996 (in practice)
• Tony Renna, Indianapolis, October 2003 (in testing)
• Paul Dana, Homestead-Miami, March 2006 (in practice)
• Dan Wheldon, Las Vegas, October 2011 (in race - Las Vegas 300)

Last CART fatality:

• Greg Moore, October 31, 1999 , California Speedway, Marlboro 500, Forsythe Racing (Race)

Last Formula 1 fatality:

• Ayrton Senna, Brazil May 1, 1994 San Marino GP (race)

Indy racing (Nascar too) is way safer than it was 10 years ago... and I'm pretty sure you are more statistically liable to die in an auto accident than an Indy accident...

This crash was due to one problem... running an Indy car race on a stock car track.

[Enigma869]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog ... ool-wp7202
Holy Shit!!! All I had to do was to open my browser to my home page and the top story is.... And I wasn't even looking for anything.

Are you seriously this fucking stupid? What part of NFL don't you understand, fuckwad? For the 1000th time, I was referring to the professional level, moron!

[Enigma869]

Just so yer edumacated on Indy car fatalities...

Last Indy 500 fatality - 1973 Swede Savage (died in hospital, death may have been from contaminated blood transfusion rather than directly from the crash)

Indy Racing League (IRL) Fatalities:

• Scott Brayton, Indianapolis, May 1996 (in practice)
• Tony Renna, Indianapolis, October 2003 (in testing)
• Paul Dana, Homestead-Miami, March 2006 (in practice)
• Dan Wheldon, Las Vegas, October 2011 (in race - Las Vegas 300)

Last CART fatality:

• Greg Moore, October 31, 1999 , California Speedway, Marlboro 500, Forsythe Racing (Race)

Last Formula 1 fatality:

• Ayrton Senna, Brazil May 1, 1994 San Marino GP (race)

Indy racing (Nascar too) is way safer than it was 10 years ago... and I'm pretty sure you are more statistically liable to die in an auto accident than an Indy accident...

This crash was due to one problem... running an Indy car race on a stock car track.

A couple of points...I promise you that I don't need the "education" on how safe auto racing is after some guy gets killed. You should also understand that non-racing fans don't break down fatalaties by which "circuit" the driver races on. Whether it's Indy Car, NASCAR, drag racing, etc, it's all the same to non-racing fans and falls under the umbrella of auto racing. I seem to also remember a story about 3 or 4 people from the same family being killed by a tire that came off of a vehicle at an event in Wisconsin.

[slucero]

Just so yer edumacated on Indy car fatalities...

Last Indy 500 fatality - 1973 Swede Savage (died in hospital, death may have been from contaminated blood transfusion rather than directly from the crash)

Indy Racing League (IRL) Fatalities:

• Scott Brayton, Indianapolis, May 1996 (in practice)
• Tony Renna, Indianapolis, October 2003 (in testing)
• Paul Dana, Homestead-Miami, March 2006 (in practice)
• Dan Wheldon, Las Vegas, October 2011 (in race - Las Vegas 300)

Last CART fatality:

• Greg Moore, October 31, 1999 , California Speedway, Marlboro 500, Forsythe Racing (Race)

Last Formula 1 fatality:

• Ayrton Senna, Brazil May 1, 1994 San Marino GP (race)

Indy racing (Nascar too) is way safer than it was 10 years ago... and I'm pretty sure you are more statistically liable to die in an auto accident than an Indy accident...

This crash was due to one problem... running an Indy car race on a stock car track.

A couple of points...I promise you that I don't need the "education" on how safe auto racing is after some guy gets killed. You should also understand that non-racing fans don't break down fatalaties by which "circuit" the driver races on. Whether it's Indy Car, NASCAR, drag racing, etc, it's all the same to non-racing fans and falls under the umbrella of auto racing. I seem to also remember a story about 3 or 4 people from the same family being killed by a tire that came off of a vehicle at an event in Wisconsin.

you said... specifically: "No player has ever died during an NFL game, as a result of anything that happened on the field of play."

Since you did not mention non-participants, I assumed you weren't including spectators of a sport... please make up your mind what your parameters are regarding your point...

and since you are a "non-racing fan"... that explains your perspective...

I'm a non-war fan (I'll also assume you are too).. so it makes sense that so we should definitely not have our soldiers getting killed in drummed up senseless wars... even though, just like race drivers, they know the risks and volunteer to do it anyways...

[Ehwmatt]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog ... ool-wp7202
Holy Shit!!! All I had to do was to open my browser to my home page and the top story is.... And I wasn't even looking for anything.

Are you seriously this fucking stupid? What part of NFL don't you understand, fuckwad? For the 1000th time, I was referring to the professional level, moron!

Classic JFB.

[Moon Beam]

But he died doing what he loved the most.

How many of us will get to leave doing what we love most?, not many I gather.
This is sad but I'm at ease knowing he knew the risks and gambled anyway.

[bluejeangirl76]

What an idiotic "sport."

I always thought so too, just because it never really interested me that much, but racing is around me and I've discovered that it's a lot more tolerable to watch than football. I tried for years with football just because the ex watched it and I figured if was going to be around me anyway I might as well check it out, and I hated it, and I thought that was because I just didn't know the rules or the game... it wasn't. Even once I figured out what was going on it still bored me to tears. Lately I kind of don't have a choice with the racing (any more than I did with the football) and I find that I don't mind it.

I saw this yesterday, it's sad. I could tell what happened even before they announced it. As soon as I saw those drivers walking back to their cars I knew it was going to be for a tribute lap and it was still another 10 minutes or so before they announced it. You could just tell that they knew what the viewers didn't yet.

And whether some people consider it a sport or not (I'm in the middle... I'm not attached to it or a super fan, but it's there, and he watches it, so sometimes I'll watch too), it's still sad when someone dies. Sport or not, he was doping what HE enjoyed, so that's what mattered to him and what mattered to his family.

[conversationpc]

I understand the sadness people feel about this. What I don't understand is the shock. No one should ever be shocked when a race car driver dies from an accident on the track. That risk is always there. No one should be surprised.

[Enigma869]

I understand the sadness people feel about this. What I don't understand is the shock. No one should ever be shocked when a race car driver dies from an accident on the track. That risk is always there. No one should be surprised.

Perfectly stated. Of course it's said. Hell, the dude was born in a year that I actually remember! Not to mention, he has two young children. It's incredibly sad. That said, if someone hits a wall (or anything else for that matter) driving 170 to 220mph, it should be more shocking if they live to talk about it. After seeing the gory crash on the news, I'm actually stunned that only one person died.

[jestor92]

It's a sad thing that it happend, but it doesn't surprise me. The indy cars are basically shells of metal built around the piolet of the car. Those things are ripping around the track at over 200 mph and to go from over 200 to almost nothing it doesn't surprise me when that kind of shit happens. I'm not saying that Nascar is totally safe, which it isn't, but between the full bodied stock cars and the Indy car's just looking at the two of them you could tell which one is safer (Although Nascar has had more death's recently). An indy car when it connects tires with another car the car is basically out of the race. Those cars aren't flexible.

[bluejeangirl76]

I understand the sadness people feel about this. What I don't understand is the shock. No one should ever be shocked when a race car driver dies from an accident on the track. That risk is always there. No one should be surprised.

Perfectly stated. Of course it's said. Hell, the dude was born in a year that I actually remember! Not to mention, he has two young children. It's incredibly sad. That said, if someone hits a wall (or anything else for that matter) driving 170 to 220mph, it should be more shocking if they live to talk about it. After seeing the gory crash on the news, I'm actually stunned that only one person died.

I agree with both of you... sadness yes... shock, not so much. The shocking part was that the injuries weren't a lot worse based on what that wreck looked like. I say the same thing about Dale Sr.'s wreck way back when... how the hell he only put one other car into that wall and all the cars behind him escaped that is still beyond me, because they were riding so close.