IRL Rookie Paul Dana killed in practice crash

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=1&id=2384873

Driver Paul Dana died after a two-car crash Sunday during the warmup for the season-opening IRL IndyCar Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The other driver, Ed Carpenter, was awake and alert at a Miami hospital, IRL officials said.

The race will start as scheduled, officials announced.

Dana, 30, a former motorsports journalist with a degree from Northwestern, competed in three IRL races for Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing last year with a best finish of 10th in the race at Homestead.

Paul Dana died after suffering injuries in a horrific practice crash Sunday.

Carpenter, the stepson of Indy Racing League founder Tony George, spun his Vision Racing car exiting Turn 2 of the 1.5- mile Homestead-Miami Speedway oval and hugged the outside wall before slowly creeping back onto the racing surface. It was nearly stopped when it was hit in the left-rear corner at nearly full speed by Dana's car.

Dana started three IndyCar Series races in 2005 for Hemelgarn Racing before breaking his back in a practice crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Dana qualified a career-best ninth for Sunday's race, which would have been his first with the Rahal-Letterman team.

Vision Racing team manager Larry Curry was more optimistic about Carpenter's condition. "I've been told he is awake and alert and is going to be fine," Curry said. "They want to check him out at the hospital, but he should be fine."

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm not surprised after seeing the crash on ESPN a few hours ago. Very sad. :(

[Young Drachma]

gosh. how sad.

[Dutch]

That sucks.

[kingfc22]

Just saw the crash. :(

[waltwal]

i have always wondered about the disappointment when someone is killed in a speedway car crash. it seems that deaths would be an expected part of the sport. i have heard that the reason for auto racing is to develop better cars but wouldn't it be possible to do everything the same but install robot drivers in the cars. if i went to a boxing match and one of the fighters was killed i would be very surprised and saddened but if i went to the big indy and no driver was killed or at least seriously injured i think i would ask for a refund. i know it sounds harsh but hardly illogical.

it seems incongruous that in a country that is doing everything it can do to discourage smoking because it causes cancer allows people to drive legally at speeds that approach or exceed 200 mph.

[SFL Cat]

Just our version of Bread and Circuses

[Greyroofoo]

sad thing is that somebody was probably cheering when the crash happened

[CraigSca]

i have always wondered about the disappointment when someone is killed in a speedway car crash. it seems that deaths would be an expected part of the sport. i have heard that the reason for auto racing is to develop better cars but wouldn't it be possible to do everything the same but install robot drivers in the cars. if i went to a boxing match and one of the fighters was killed i would be very surprised and saddened but if i went to the big indy and no driver was killed or at least seriously injured i think i would ask for a refund. i know it sounds harsh but hardly illogical.

it seems incongruous that in a country that is doing everything it can do to discourage smoking because it causes cancer allows people to drive legally at speeds that approach or exceed 200 mph.

The cancer vs. car racing argument makes no sense, for a multitude of reasons.

[Doug5984]

Just saw the crash on the news...wow, very sad :(

[waltwal]

yeah you have a point - how about let's just ban car racing!

no wait i have a better idea. how about we allow it but set up these qualifications for drivers

1. you must be over 21
2. you must be a convicted child sex offender
3. you must be a judge that does not give jail time to sex offenders (special exemption to judge in deb lafave case- she should be released in my custody)
4. you must be a democratic senator

[Dutch]

yeah you have a point - how about let's just ban car racing!

no wait i have a better idea. how about we allow it but set up these qualifications for drivers

1. you must be over 21
2. you must be a convicted child sex offender
3. you must be a judge that does not give jail time to sex offenders (special exemption to judge in deb lafave case- she should be released in my custody)
4. you must be a democratic senator

What are you thoughts on riding a bicycle?

[waltwal]

if it is capable of speeds approaching 200 mph i would have the same qualifications

[Dutch]

if it is capable of speeds approaching 200 mph i would have the same qualifications

But 10,000 people have died riding bicycles since 1994. The speed wasn't a factor in the dangers that activity presents. Should we ban it?

[waltwal]

of course not- just as we should not ban autos where many more people have been killed. but we do ban drunk driving, dueling and gladatorial contests. the reason why we ban these things is because they are inherently dangerous and many times result in death. by the way can you think of a sport that would outdraw lions killing christiams but i don't think it is on the fast track towards legalization.

i happen to be a big boxing fan- i get incensed every time i hear someone wanting to ban the sport and not mentioning auto racing. yes i think human auto racing should be banned because while it might be entertaining to many it is the one really popular sport that can easily result in death. personally when a boxer or football player is killed i register surprise but when an auto racer is killed it seems just a part of the sport.

[Greyroofoo]

lets just ban all activities so nobody can die

[waltwal]

no lets just continue to ban activities where dying is a major possibility and add human auto racing to the list. seriously would you feel cheated if a robot was driving the car. it seems to me the only person offended would be the driver who is being deprived of risking his or her life for a lot of money.

by the way i know that most athletes can buy insurance policies against future injuries. i wonder if race car drivers can buy insurance against death while engaged in the actual race and if so how expensive would it be.

[Dutch]

of course not- just as we should not ban autos where many more people have been killed. but we do ban drunk driving, dueling and gladatorial contests. the reason why we ban these things is because they are inherently dangerous and many times result in death. by the way can you think of a sport that would outdraw lions killing christiams but i don't think it is on the fast track towards legalization.

i happen to be a big boxing fan- i get incensed every time i hear someone wanting to ban the sport and not mentioning auto racing. yes i think human auto racing should be banned because while it might be entertaining to many it is the one really popular sport that can easily result in death. personally when a boxer or football player is killed i register surprise but when an auto racer is killed it seems just a part of the sport.

People have died playing basketball. Football. Baseball. Jogging. The aforementioned cycling. I'm not sure what your point is? You make is sound like people only die in boxing and auto-racing. That is untrue.

[MJ4H]

I hear robots can play chess now.

[st.cronin]

I'm stunned the race wasn't cancelled.

[Glengoyne]

Sad to hear about Paul Dana. I honestly don't know enough about car racing to know if they would typically cancel a race if something like this happens before it.

To feed the debate about car racing, I'll note that the difference between Car racing and boxing is that someone dies in a car race when something goes badly wrong. Someone dies in a boxing match when someone does something fundamentally correctly.

[Galaxy]

no lets just continue to ban activities where dying is a major possibility and add human auto racing to the list. seriously would you feel cheated if a robot was driving the car. it seems to me the only person offended would be the driver who is being deprived of risking his or her life for a lot of money.

by the way i know that most athletes can buy insurance policies against future injuries. i wonder if race car drivers can buy insurance against death while engaged in the actual race and if so how expensive would it be.


Pretty dumb statement. Race car drivers *assume* the small risk of facing death. They choose to do what they do, because many of them love what they do. They aren't being forced or deprived of anything. Everything in life is a risk. Should be ban flying because the possibility of crashing? Should we ban driving in general?

[JeeberD]

What a horrific crash... :(

[RendeR]

Walt, your entire argument is ignorant. You obviously know so little about auto racing that you are severely unqualified to anylize it.

Ban it? sure, as soon as they ban boxing, kickboxing and every other so-called sport where an unprotected human being is supposed to beat and living hell out of another.

There is an element of danger to every single major sport. People die in all of them. Should we replace our NFL players with robots? You can die or be paralized playing football. Should we replace the MLB players? You can die instantly from a 90+ mph fastball, or a line drive to the head.

If you defend boxing, you have no foot to stand on to attack any other sport for its danger factor. Boxers have NO protection but themselves, and its pretty obvious that that is not always enough.

There is danger odfdeath in every sporting activity. Just as there is in every day life. Try to at least understand your topics before posting utter idiocy like this next time.

[RendeR]

DOLA: just to bring out some realistic information regarding death.


here are the links to the two sites where we got the statistics
for deaths from Professional Boxing:
http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_a_0700.htm
and here is the source for the statistics on deaths from Toughman contests since it's
inception in 1979:
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/

The following table lists the documented deaths from
professional boxing for the period 1918-2000 inclusive.
The total is 817. For the century, 1901-2000,
the total is 936.

Table 7
Year deaths year deaths year deaths year deaths
1918 5 1939 3 1960 12 1981 7
1919 5 1940 5 1961 11 1982 7
1920 3 1941 6 1962 16 1983 10
1921 9 1942 8 1963 16 1984 6
1922 19 1943 5 1964 17 1985 7
1923 15 1944 7 1965 13 1986 3
1924 16 1945 10 1966 12 1987 5
1925 13 1946 18 1967 6 1988 5
1926 6 1947 11 1968 6 1989 4
1927 8 1948 18 1969 6 1990 4
1928 15 1949 20 1970 9 1991 5
1929 17 1950 15 1971 11 1992 3
1930 24 1951 15 1972 12 1993 1
1931 9 1952 19 1973 5 1994 2
1932 21 1953 25 1974 11 1995 12
1933 10 1954 7 1975 12 1996 7
1934 6 1955 11 1976 6 1997 8
1935 9 1956 15 1977 9 1998 2
1936 8 1957 13 1978 10 1999 4
1937 7 1958 9 1979 11 2000 8
1938 7 1959 14 1980 5 2001 6



I'll look for information on deaths due to auto-racing, but if you even consider its going to come close to THOSE numbers, your nuts.

[SirFozzie]

Hate to start the war up again, but this disgusts me, Dana wasn't in the IRL because he was a good driver, it was because he sold enough advertising to get him a ride.

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/22748/ (commentary by Robin Miller)

With all due respect to the deceased and his family, Paul Dana was in over his head; the victim of a system where people have been buying rides at the highest level for more than 25 years.

A few weeks ago in an Indianapolis gym, Paul Dana was working out and we began talking about his return to racing and, in particular, his place in racing.

"You don't think I belong in an Indy car do you?," he asked. "I know you don't and you're entitled to your opinion but I think this is the year I'll prove to everybody that I do."

Dana will never get that chance. He lost his life here Sunday morning in an accident that more or less confirmed he was out of his depth at 200 mph. Some eight seconds after Ed Carpenter hit the wall in first minutes of practice, Dana roared onto the scene running wide open.

The replay shows five or six cars passed Carpenter's car before Dana drilled it at 176 mph with a shattering impact.

"I was hard on the brake and downshifting when I saw this blur go by me on the left," said veteran Scott Sharp, who reacted to the yellow light and his spotter's command to slow down.

Why Dana didn't slow down remained a mystery long after the Indy Racing League season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway had finished. IRL and Rahal Letterman team officials said there was no communication problem with track lights or the spotter.

The best explanation was also the coldest.

"He just didn't know what the hell he was doing," said a former Indy 500 winner.

It's harsh to critique a young man's actions a few hours after he's passed on but unfortunately Dana is an example of what's happened to open wheel racing at this level.

The 30-year-old native of St. Louis was a likeable journalism grad from Northwestern with a passion for auto racing. He began competing in small formula cars in the late '90s, when he was also covering the CART series for Autoweek.

Now think about that for just a minute, He was writing about Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. for a national magazine and, next month, he was going to be competing against them at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That kind of Walter Mitty scenario cannot happen in baseball, basketball, football, hockey or golf. You've got to earn a place on the roster, you just can't walk up and buy your way onto a foursome with Tiger Woods at Augusta.

But people have been buying rides at the highest level of American open wheel racing for more than 25 years.

In USAC's glory days of the '50s-'60s-'70s, it was damn tough to get a national big car license, as it was called. A driver had to spend a few years in midgets or sprints, then run Trenton, Phoenix and Milwaukee in an Indy car and then be "nominated" by a USAC star in order to be allowed to take his ROOKIE TEST at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was a tough screening process but it kept the field at Indy a lot closer to the 33 best drivers than it does nowadays.

Dana didn't replace Vitor Meira on Rahal's team because he was a better driver, he simply brought money in the form of sponsor Ethanol. In today's sorry economy for IRL and Champ Car, Rahal needed to bring Dana on board to keep his three-car team solvent.

Paul Dana certainly wasn't the first or the worst to ever buy his way into an Indy car. We've seen Patrick Bedard, Dale Whittington, Jack Miller, Paul Jasper, Dennis Vitolo, Randy Lewis, Lyn St, James .... there's a long list of people who were much better at marketing than they were at driving.

And, truth be told, Dana followed protocol to the letter. He spent two years in the IRL's Pro Series, won a race and a pole position and finished second in the point standings. Of course the IPS and it's wide open formula and small fields is hardly a yardstick for determining talent.

But it's the stepladder series to Indy cars and the IRL couldn't deny Dana a chance to pursue his dream of competing in the Indy 500. Not even after he crashed last May while practicing for the Indy 500. He'd worked hard and hustled a nice sponsorship in Ethanol.

The bottom line of this tragedy is that it could not have been prevented, not in today's scheme of things in open wheel. Dana, who had qualified 9th for Sunday's IRL opener, wasn't a hopeless hazard that had everybody totally terrified to run next to him.

Having said that, the majority of veterans were wary of Dana's pedigree. He lacked the miles of high speed experience necessary to drive one of those IRL missiles in close quarters. And those instincts that come with miles, like looking down the track for trouble.

The general feeling in the IRL paddock was that Paul Dana was a nice kid with a driving passion who was over the moon to be running an Indy car. And also over his head. Sadly, they both were true.

[RendeR]

You'll get no argument from me on THIS point fozzie, my beef is with the idea that walt brought up that we ought to leave "boxing" alone because people get killed in racing. His whole position is ignorant.

Just to add some statistics, from ESPN.Com there have been 18 deaths of auto racing drivers from all major divisions from F1 down through the NASCAR touring series in the last two decades. I haven't been able to find information on deaths prior to that, but in that period alone hundreds more boxers died.

I feel sorry for Dana's family, he didn't have the experience to be at that level of racing, but the IRL allowed it. I feel very strongly that open wheel racing is foolish and exceedingly dangerous to the driver. Those "tubs" they put the driver into are not safe enough. This situation shows it as clearly as any can.

Same exact situation happens in a NASCAR event, where teh driver is encaged in a much stronger safety area, both guys probably walk away from it.

Its a sad thing to lose a driver in any series.

[waltwal]

consider this tho. when 2 football players collide we do not expect death. when a boxer is koed we do not expect death. when i see a fiery crash in auto racing i expect death.

do i want those of you who enjoy the sport to be deprived of the sport-no. but as a person who does not care one iota about the sport it would make perfect sense to me to work towards robot controlled drivers. but if you enjoy watching a dangerous sport with human drivers go right ahead.

by the way i enjoy football and boxing but particularly in football i am begginning to have some reservations about the safety of players as they gain incredible strength and size. i would strongly support a size limitation in football particularly from the assumption that in a short time we will have 400 lb lineman whose size will be dangerous to themselves as well as to others. i am concerned about the fat content of many players i see in terms of their own health issues short and long term.

i think also the dangers involved in football and boxing are long-term while those in auto racing are more immediate.

i am like most people i guess- if i like a sport i tend to minimize its danger and if i don't like it or don't care about it - maximize it.

anyway i hate to be called ignorant especially over something i really don't care about- so "long live Nascar"

[clintl]

consider this tho. when 2 football players collide we do not expect death. when a boxer is koed we do not expect death. when i see a fiery crash in auto racing i expect death.



Why? There was a time when auto racing deaths were fairly common, but that was decades ago. They rarely happen now.

[Telle]

when i see a fiery crash in auto racing i expect death.

Well then I'd say you're kind of confused about the sport. When I see a fiery crash in auto racing, I expect to see the driver waving to the crowd after he climbs out of the car as everyone comments on it's amazing how safe they've made those cars these days. Maybe it's because I actually watch auto racing and thus understand the reality, whereas you're just making assumptions? Also I tend to watch NASCAR, not open-wheel.. so there could be some difference in safety there. Although even open-wheel has a pretty impressive safety record.

[watravaler]

I met Dana last fall when he was showing off his car at a Wichita gas station. Very nice guy, he just sat there and talked about his car, his career, and all that for a good 6 hours.

[MizzouRah]

RIP Paul Dana. :(

[Ryan S]

Hate to start the war up again, but this disgusts me, Dana wasn't in the IRL because he was a good driver, it was because he sold enough advertising to get him a ride.

ESPN ran a similar story yesterday. There are too many guys in all forms of motorsport who are only there because of their family name or their ability to bring money.

That is bad enough in F1, but in Indycar when you are racing side by side at over 200mph on a mile long oval, it is a recipe for disaster.

[Dutch]

ESPN ran a similar story yesterday. There are too many guys in all forms of motorsport who are only there because of their family name or their ability to bring money.

That is bad enough in F1, but in Indycar when you are racing side by side at over 200mph on a mile long oval, it is a recipe for disaster.

I always knew there was a "brat pack" mentality in open-wheel racing, but I didn't realize that some of these people had that little experience/skill. That is unbelievable that they allow that.

[Ryan S]

I always knew there was a "brat pack" mentality in open-wheel racing, but I didn't realize that some of these people had that little experience/skill. That is unbelievable that they allow that.

It has been a problem for years in F1. The top teams have no trouble getting good drivers and sponsorship, but the teams who lag at the back tend to hire the driver who can bring the most money to the team without worrying much about the driver's ability.

Most of the crappy F1 teams have been bought over by larger companies so this problem appears to be disappearing in F1.

Not all of these drivers are terrible. Niki Lauda famously paid for his first F1 drive and later went on to win three World Championships.

[Dutch]

See, I didn't know that either, I thought that F1 was top to bottom the best drivers and were fed from lower leagues. Even Jenson Button was supposedly highly recommended/recruited when he joined at (17 years of age?).

I always figured the weakest link in F1 was Jacques Villenueve and that guy won a championship too!

[TLK]

The Sad, Cold Truth

Written by: Robin Miller (http://www.speedtv.com/speed/bio/273/) Homestead, FL – 3/26/2006
With all due respect to the deceased and his family, Paul Dana was in over his head; the victim of a system where people have been buying rides at the highest level for more than 25 years.


A few weeks ago in an Indianapolis gym, Paul Dana was working out and we began talking about his return to racing and, in particular, his place in racing.

"You don't think I belong in an Indy car do you?," he asked. "I know you don't and you're entitled to your opinion but I think this is the year I'll prove to everybody that I do."

Dana will never get that chance. He lost his life here Sunday morning in an accident that more or less confirmed he was out of his depth at 200 mph. Some eight seconds after Ed Carpenter hit the wall in first minutes of practice, Dana roared onto the scene running wide open.

The replay shows five or six cars passed Carpenter's car before Dana drilled it at 176 mph with a shattering impact.

"I was hard on the brake and downshifting when I saw this blur go by me on the left," said veteran Scott Sharp, who reacted to the yellow light and his spotter's command to slow down.

Why Dana didn't slow down remained a mystery long after the Indy Racing League season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway had finished. IRL and Rahal Letterman team officials said there was no communication problem with track lights or the spotter.

The best explanation was also the coldest.

"He just didn't know what the hell he was doing," said a former Indy 500 winner.

It's harsh to critique a young man's actions a few hours after he's passed on but unfortunately Dana is an example of what's happened to open wheel racing at this level.

The 30-year-old native of St. Louis was a likeable journalism grad from Northwestern with a passion for auto racing. He began competing in small formula cars in the late '90s, when he was also covering the CART series for Autoweek.

Now think about that for just a minute, He was writing about Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. for a national magazine and, next month, he was going to be competing against them at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That kind of Walter Mitty scenario cannot happen in baseball, basketball, football, hockey or golf. You've got to earn a place on the roster, you just can't walk up and buy your way onto a foursome with Tiger Woods at Augusta.

But people have been buying rides at the highest level of American open wheel racing for more than 25 years.

In USAC's glory days of the '50s-'60s-'70s, it was damn tough to get a national big car license, as it was called. A driver had to spend a few years in midgets or sprints, then run Trenton, Phoenix and Milwaukee in an Indy car and then be "nominated" by a USAC star in order to be allowed to take his ROOKIE TEST at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was a tough screening process but it kept the field at Indy a lot closer to the 33 best drivers than it does nowadays.

Dana didn't replace Vitor Meira on Rahal's team because he was a better driver, he simply brought money in the form of sponsor Ethanol. In today's sorry economy for IRL and Champ Car, Rahal needed to bring Dana on board to keep his three-car team solvent.

Paul Dana certainly wasn't the first or the worst to ever buy his way into an Indy car. We've seen Patrick Bedard, Dale Whittington, Jack Miller, Paul Jasper, Dennis Vitolo, Randy Lewis, Lyn St, James .... there's a long list of people who were much better at marketing than they were at driving.

And, truth be told, Dana followed protocol to the letter. He spent two years in the IRL's Pro Series, won a race and a pole position and finished second in the point standings. Of course the IPS and it's wide open formula and small fields is hardly a yardstick for determining talent.

But it's the stepladder series to Indy cars and the IRL couldn't deny Dana a chance to pursue his dream of competing in the Indy 500. Not even after he crashed last May while practicing for the Indy 500. He'd worked hard and hustled a nice sponsorship in Ethanol.

The bottom line of this tragedy is that it could not have been prevented, not in today's scheme of things in open wheel. Dana, who had qualified 9th for Sunday's IRL opener, wasn't a hopeless hazard that had everybody totally terrified to run next to him.

Having said that, the majority of veterans were wary of Dana's pedigree. He lacked the miles of high speed experience necessary to drive one of those IRL missiles in close quarters. And those instincts that come with miles, like looking down the track for trouble.

The general feeling in the IRL paddock was that Paul Dana was a nice kid with a driving passion who was over the moon to be running an Indy car. And also over his head. Sadly, they both were true.
This was semi-harsh considering it was published the day Dana passed away, but the article makes a valid point. With the current state of open-wheel racing, the sport needs ride-buyers but Dana wasn't close to being qualified to be out there. The accident was his fault plain and simple. Six cars made it by Carpenter, while Dana just plowed into him. Very sad and tragic but pure driver error.

[tanglewood]

See, I didn't know that either, I thought that F1 was top to bottom the best drivers and were fed from lower leagues. Even Jenson Button was supposedly highly recommended/recruited when he joined at (17 years of age?).

I always figured the weakest link in F1 was Jacques Villenueve and that guy won a championship too!

F1 is the top drivers from around the world fed from the lower leagues. However for the smallest teams (pretty much just the bottom 2 at the back of the grid) when it comes to picking between two promising guys in F3000 or something they will probably lean to the guy who could get them more sponsorship. However, everyone in F1 is certainly a very, very capable driver, even the rookies who all have impressive records in F3000, Formula Renault, Touring Cars, Indy Cars or wherever they come from.

Edit: Also the 22 drivers on the grid are ot the best 22 driver in F1. All teams keep a third driver (very occasionally a fourth too) for testing and also a backup if needed. The third drivers for the top teams would have a shot at winning race seats for some of the mid-level teams and would easily get a drive for the smaller teams but stay with the top teams becuase they pay more and if they impress testing the car they can get a shot in a race either late in the season or next year.

[Ryan S]

See, I didn't know that either, I thought that F1 was top to bottom the best drivers and were fed from lower leagues. Even Jenson Button was supposedly highly recommended/recruited when he joined at (17 years of age?).

I always figured the weakest link in F1 was Jacques Villenueve and that guy won a championship too!

The weak links in F1 are drivers who you probably would not be able to name, even if you watched a race. I don't think that there are any unqualified drivers in the field right now, but they often creep into the field as the year progresses and the small teams run out of money.

90% of F1 drivers have excelled at junior formulas, and most drivers will have won several championships on their way up the ladder.

[tanglewood]

I'm not too knowledgeable aout Indy Cars, but hasn't it been in financial difficulty over the last few years? I would not be suprised if that has exasperated the problem.

As for motor racing being too dangerous, that is simply ridiculous. The saftey precautions and systems in the cars these days are simply out of sight to where they were 10 years ago, let alone 30 or 40 when you would get 2 or 3 deaths a year in F1. The guys all know the risks when they enter the sport, most of them revel in the entire risk element, and they are handsomely compensated for it. Comparing racing with boxing, where the explicit goal of the sport is to inflict injury, is pretty stupid.