http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Wheldon

10/16/2011 6:07:10 PM

damn

i was watching the coverage earlier but they didn't show the whole crash so i stopped watching and didn't see the severity of it

10/16/2011 6:14:03 PM

wow

that's a huge loss for the sport

kinda like Kobe, Pujols or Rodgers dying on the field/court

10/16/2011 6:16:52 PM

Damn, defending Indy winner

10/16/2011 6:17:47 PM

I don't really watch Indy Car, but I did happen to see him win the Indy 500 a few months back. What a terrible way to go out.

RIP Dan.

10/16/2011 6:18:04 PM

So i was reading on another website and the first reply was... I wonder if this will bump ratings like dale sr's death did for nascar...

i reamed him for being a sociopath... i don't follow indycar at all because personally o couldn't care less about a sport that is essentially the unholy offspring of nascar and F1 but the loss of anyone's life is a sad event.

10/16/2011 6:19:41 PM

I only started following because my gfs brother works with penske racing. Got hooked after going to my first race. Really sad day for IndyCar.

10/16/2011 6:22:15 PM

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:25:01 PM

Not a racing fan...but still, very sad to hear

RIP

10/16/2011 6:26:17 PM

more like dan welldone, amirite?

10/16/2011 6:26:37 PM

NASCAR just wishes they could have crashes this cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpgx1MHHVMM&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_809745

Quote :

"This is the crash that we all hoped would ... occur."

They'll make so much money just licensing this clip to news agencies.

I think I count 4 cars in the air simultaneously.

Yup, this'll put Indycar on the map.

It looks like they cancelled the race. That's a bad business move, they might have to pay refunds to angry spectators. Maybe they'll just give them rainchecks.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:35 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:29:20 PM

man, I know nothing about this sport but watching that video made my heart sink. Sucky way to die.

10/16/2011 6:30:49 PM

^^No they don't

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:31 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:31:24 PM

Yeah, I posted it in CB a few minutes before this.
I'm seriously pissed off, but not for reasons related to his death, just other bullshit concerning the future and the "fan's" general attitude.

They just finished a 5 lap salute to Dan. It's just very sad. When I saw the crash, I knew someone had died (I was watching it live). I just knew someone died. 4 cars went up into the air and a few into the catch fence (I think Dan's is the 2nd car to get airborne and go completely into the catch fence). When Dan's car came to a rest, his car had no roll hoop (think about a Nascar car having no roof, that's how bad it is). His helmet looked as though it had hit the catch fence from the black marks on it, the the structural integrity of the helmet looked fine.

He was going for 5 million dollars today. He did 5 or so race broadcasts for Versus (a hell of an announcer). He raced two weeks ago at Kentucky.

It's just a sad day for the IndyCar.

And smc, be lucky you're not around me right now, because I would stab you in the fucking gut and laugh as you die. You're a horrible fucking human and I hope you die a horrible painful death. Please fucking die. And no, they didn't finish the race out of respect for Dan, something you have none of. Fuck you. Please die.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:35 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:33:37 PM

$5 million is worth a death or two a year. They ain't giving them that money because they look good in a race suit. If you were watching you were responsible for his death. Might as well be watching dog fights. Nah, dog fighting is more humane.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:38 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:37:45 PM

don't know if it will show, but if not, then here:

http://i.usatoday.net/sports/_photos/2011/10/16/Dan-Wheldon-dies-in-huge-IndyCar-crash-6PFRORM-x-large.jpg

shows his car lifting up (77)- it is not hard to imagine how this happened, it just sucks that it did... but then again, they are flirting with death every time they get in there. It is more surprising that incidents like this don't occur more often, which is even greater a credit to all the drivers.

10/16/2011 6:38:12 PM

The fuck? Where do you live? Really. Please tell me. I don't give a shit if you're just trolling me right now. I'm pissed off and I'm willing to draw some blood right now. Sounds like you're volunteering you worthless cunt.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:40 PM. Reason : ^ What really sucks is the new car for next year was going to have a rear bumper.]

10/16/2011 6:39:22 PM

Any word on the other drivers who had to go to the hospital?

10/16/2011 6:41:31 PM

Did he burn to death?

10/16/2011 6:41:39 PM

Quote :

"Did he burn to death?"

I think his head went into the fence.

10/16/2011 6:43:28 PM

His head hit the fence from the picture I saw. Probably broke his neck.

Will Power got out of the car and went to the hospital after complaining of back problems. The problem with this car is it has the tendency to break the driver's back in hard impacts. The break isn't "serious." It has something to do with a fracture of a lower vertebrae.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 6:46 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:45:06 PM

I'm the worthless cunt? You're the one that supports a sport that kills it's participants on a regular basis. You can pretend to be horrified, but deep down you're just thrilled to have witnessed history in the making. If you really cared anything about its' participants you would be calling for the sport to be banned.

Bumpers? I doubt they help much when the chassis themselves disintegrate.

10/16/2011 6:47:04 PM

It looks as though the steering wheel is on the left, so that means his neck is bent waaaaaaay back (broken).

10/16/2011 6:47:35 PM

I've never understood why they still allow those tiny little mousetrap hoops. Even amateur racing requires a full roll cage.

10/16/2011 6:50:43 PM

Taking everything in, that might be the worst open-wheel crash I've ever seen. There are more severe individual accidents involving one or two cars, but as a whole, that's the worst.

RIP Dan Wheldon.

10/16/2011 6:55:46 PM

I don't see anything especially out of the ordinary with that picture except for the appearance of scratches on his helmet. His head angle/placement looks to be normal.

10/16/2011 6:57:13 PM

Meh, the 1955 LeMans killed 80 people.

The sport will always unveil some fancy new seatbelt or neck restraint, call the problem fixed, and be back to racing next week.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 7:00 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 6:58:30 PM

i was at the last irl race in charlotte where 3 people died in the stands. these cars are too dangerous for ovals, need to keep them on road courses.

10/16/2011 6:58:33 PM

Quote :

"I don't see anything especially out of the ordinary with that picture except for the appearance of scratches on his helmet. His head angle/placement looks to be normal."

10/16/2011 7:00:23 PM

^^^ Not an open wheel race. Also, only a two car crash. One driver was killed, the rest were spectators.

Racing is inherently dangerous, and everyone involved knows that. You can make it as safe as possible, but people are always going to die doing dangerous things. Same goes for free climbing, boxing, etc.

10/16/2011 7:01:23 PM

Same shit, different century. Auto racing will never change, it'll just get outlawed.

10/16/2011 7:02:30 PM

Quote :

"I'm the worthless cunt? You're the one that supports a sport that kills it's participants on a regular basis. You can pretend to be horrified, but deep down you're just thrilled to have witnessed history in the making. If you really cared anything about its' participants you would be calling for the sport to be banned. Bumpers? I doubt they help much when the chassis themselves disintegrate."

A "regular" basis? Are you fucking serious? The last death was in 2006 was Paul Dana. Stop speaking out of your ass. You have no right, NO FUCKING RIGHT to tell me how I fucking feel!

Why would I call for the sport to be banned? How about we ban all fucking sports? My mother's cousin died when he was like 16 during a football game! Football claims more lives and injures more people than IndyCar racing! Ever since this year when they unveiled the car and showed it had a bumper, I was immediately for it and I wish it could be implemented now!

And surely you're trolling with the last fucking post, or you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Dan died because he car launched off the rear tire of the car in front of him and went into the catch fence. A rear bumper would prevent wheel to wheel contact or nose to rear wheel contact that has sent cars in the past into the air.

But how about we ban all sports? People die all of the fucking time. I'm not angry that he died. I am very sad that he died. It fucking sucks. What I'm pissed off about is that many of the fans have been bitching this year over next year's car having a rear bumper, with many of them wanting to maintain the same likelyhood and risk that we've had for the past 100 years. They balk at it and call it ugly and say it doesn't belong. That fucking pisses me off. That is what disgusts me. But now today happened and they are NO WHERE to be found as they're hanging their heads in shame after witnessing not one but four cars getting airborne after making wheel to wheel contact!

But 10 years ago I didn't see anyone ask that Nascar be banned after 4 drivers died in a 2 year span (Kenny Irwin Jr. Adam Petty, Tony Roper and Dale Earnhard). Nobody said a fucking word about ending it. So fuck you and die.

10/16/2011 7:02:37 PM

Quote :

"Same shit, different century."

Open wheel cars have always been open wheel cars. The cars at Le Mans in '55 were not.

10/16/2011 7:04:12 PM

merbig is super serious about indycar

10/16/2011 7:05:37 PM

I'm all for banning professional sports. It's a waste of money and encourages kids to hurt themselves in the hopes they "make it big". Football in particular.

Same thing here. For every one death in professional racing, there are countless kids maiming themselves in carts.

Children are groomed from the age of 5 to play tennis. FIFA just recruited an 8 year old. It's out of hand.

Sports are all a big, nasty, money machine. Disgusting at a base level. Are we so desperate for community and a uniting cause that we'll pay $100/seat to watch it be created for us?

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 7:09 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 7:07:54 PM

Quote :

"I don't see anything especially out of the ordinary with that picture except for the appearance of scratches on his helmet. His head angle/placement looks to be normal."

The roll hope is gone. His head probably scraped up against the wall.

Quote :

"i was at the last irl race in charlotte where 3 people died in the stands. these cars are too dangerous for ovals, need to keep them on road courses."

And the year before a few people died at Michigan in a CART race. After the IRL race in Charlotte, they added wheel tethers, and re-engineered the catch fences in the past 10 years (starting with making them taller after the accident, and in recent years adding re-enforcement after Carl Edwards ended up in the catch fence at Talledega). Catch fences in the past 10 years have been GREATLY improved with full stock cars going to the fence with people in the stands coming out with a few cuts from debris.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 7:09 PM. Reason : ^ We should ban roads too. Make everyone walk or use segways. ]

10/16/2011 7:08:20 PM

We won't have to. In 20 years traffic congestion will be so bad that mass transit is the only real option for most people. The problem will take care of itself.

Same with auto racing, incidentally. As land grows more valuable and neighbors complain about the noise it will become too expensive to operate tracks. It's the reason Raleigh doesn't have a NASCAR track any more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Speedway

Hmm, the top speed at that track was 90mph. The beltline runs faster than that today, haha.

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 7:16 PM. Reason : .]

10/16/2011 7:11:53 PM

^lol

10/16/2011 7:14:30 PM

He's probably running around as a freejack 20 years in the future.

10/16/2011 7:29:14 PM

If the congestion gets so bad that literally everyone uses mass transit, that means the roads will be clear and I'll have them all to myself!

In other words, WTF are you talking about. Just because more people use mass transit doesn't mean there won't be roads, and my hometown of 2000 people will never have mass transit OR congestion

[Edited on October 16, 2011 at 7:35 PM. Reason : ]

10/16/2011 7:34:08 PM

roll hoop is damaged in that pic, and his helmet had to have gotten caught in the fence for a few yards at 200mph---that is what did it.

I would not be surprised if IndyCar was no longer to go to high bank super speedways. Just Indy and flat or short tracks, plus road and street circuits.

Also my gallery has a pic I took in 2004 of him after winning at Richmond.

and to anyone trolling this thread, I got merbig's back

10/16/2011 7:36:22 PM

Wreck photos

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/photos-dan-wheldon-dies-in-indycar-crash/#name here

10/16/2011 7:37:03 PM

Glad you agree with me that the sport should be governed to keep speeds lower.

10/16/2011 7:38:15 PM

anyone complaining about the ugliness of the 2012 car having rear shrouds should realize it may have prevented this accident but alas, it will never be safe

Its part of the sport, to have a sense of danger.

10/16/2011 7:39:12 PM

^I did a search and found this. It looks pretty cool!

10/16/2011 7:48:22 PM

Quote :

"Shortly thereafter, the Raleigh Speedway closed due to noise complaints from residents of nearby neighborhoods."

Shit never changes

10/16/2011 7:51:18 PM

^^ Dan Wheldon is driving that car. He was the test driver.

10/16/2011 7:54:19 PM

note the area behind the rear wheels is covered to prevent wheels interlocking on super speedways. I hope this works

raleigh speedway would have died eventually 'cause nascar had too many tracks

10/16/2011 7:57:13 PM

smc for troll of the year?

10/16/2011 8:05:49 PM

nein

10/16/2011 8:10:42 PM