F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

[Flamehead]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

Absolutely no reason to add extra drivers for this last race. I'm absolutely sick.

[Happy29]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

They need to stop running these things on ovals period. These cars get airborne way too easily because of the exposed wheels.

Indycar has had a pretty horrible record for safety in the last 15 years or so with a few deaths but also many guys being out for several months with serious back injuries. Most of those injuries occurred in crashes on ovals.

It's sickening that they won't just move away from these tracks. It's not like the stands are packed anyway, except for Indy itself.

Go back to the Hanford device that enabled these cars to run at these type tracks and kept the cars out of big packs like they was running in today and made passing easy to do or go to nothing but Road Courses highlighted by the Indy 500. The tracks that they are on now was built for NASCAR they have gone away from Indy type tracks like Phoenix and Milwaukee. So if they want to continue at these tracks make some changes.

[Segagendude]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

This is hauntingly like February 2001 when Nascar lost Dale Earnhardt.....when Berman and the NFL Blitz guys lead off with this story, you know it's big....

I actually hate restrictor plate racing in Nascar, but can understand they had to do something to slow the cars down after Bobby Allison went airborne at Talladega....

Perhaps IZOD needs to look into something like this. Get them down below 200+MPH. And do something to keep cars from going airborne, like the roof flaps also in Nascar.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

The reason why these cars have more fatalities than NASCAR is because a stock car encircles a driver with more restriction now more than ever. An IndyCar driver is basically a body and a wing going at 220 MPH. These cars are never going to be 100% safe, and anybody who says that is a fool and an idiot. Racing has inherent dangers, and today was just another example of it.

There are two things you can do. You can take the first road and say that there shouldn't be any ovals and close off half of your fanbase. I hope they choose the other road by looking at the new cars coming in and by limiting the field back to what it was. Always aim for the safest way to race, but always expect the worst.

[RunN1st]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

This is very sad news. Another promising young driver gone too early.

RIP - Dan Wheldon

[BurghFan]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

Indy car needs to take a long look at their cars and ways of making them safer in this off season. NASCAR vowed after Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona in 2001 that they would never loose another racecar driver in a crash, and with their new safe cars and soft walls there have been some bad crashes and the drivers have walked away (Michael McDowell at Texas, Jimmie Johnson last night). Indy needs to look into it's safety aspects weather slowing the cars down making a new safe car (the 2012 car doesn't look any safer) that protects the driver more and be as bold as NASCAR in safety innovation to be able to say we will never loose another driver in our sport due to a wreck.

Yeah, I mean one look at one of those cars and you can see just how unsafe they are relative to stock cars. They've got their wheels totally exposed and the driver is more or lest exposed and parts of the cars can act like ramps. NASCAR cars on the other hand completely enclose the driver and don't have any parts sticking out that can be easily hooked or act as ramps for other cars to drive over. Last year at Talladega Carl Edwards was wrecked on the last lap coming out of the tri-oval and went roof first into the catch fence. The car was pretty much demolished but Edwards hopped out and jogged across the finish line to finish the race.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

Yeah, I mean one look at one of those cars and you can see just how unsafe they are relative to stock cars. They've got their wheels totally exposed and the driver is more or lest exposed and parts of the cars can act like ramps. NASCAR cars on the other hand completely enclose the driver and don't have any parts sticking out that can be easily hooked or act as ramps for other cars to drive over. Last year at Talladega Carl Edwards was wrecked on the last lap coming out of the tri-oval and went roof first into the catch fence. The car was pretty much demolished but Edwards hopped out and jogged across the finish line to finish the race.

You know that's why they call them open wheel cars, right?

[redsrule]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

I feel terrible for his family. He has 2 small kids, hopefully the Wheldon family can get some of the 5mil prize money he would have won if he won today's race.

[BurghFan]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

You know that's why they call them open wheel cars, right?

Yeah, I'm just saying the simple fact that the wheels are open like that creates a potential hazard.

[brandon27]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

Such a shame.. Ive watched alot of racing, and haven't seen a crash quite that bad in a long time. Such a shame, seemed like a really good guy, and he sure was a talented race car driver. So young too... and two young children...

Like the 5 lap tribute IRL did instead of finishing the race. Classy.

I'll say this though, you've really got to question the IRL for their promotion for this race to pay Dan a 5 million dollar bonus if he could win this race from starting in last. Junk like that doesn't belong in competitive top racing series.

Either way, such a shame.. way to young. IRL really needs to do something to up the safety in their cars. Hopefully the new car they are using next year helps, although in a crash like that, it would have probably been impossible to survive regardless in those type of cars. They need to do something to protect the drivers head. Even if its just putting a bar up over the cockpit of the car so that makes the impact, instead of a drivers head. It's going t look stupid, maybe slow the car down a bit, but all things considered, is that really a bad thing? Also, seriously think its time IRL gives consideration to something similar to a restrictor plate on the cars to slow those things down on some of the high speed ovals. If they can't make a safer car, at least try and make the racing a bit safer. That new car for 2012, doesnt look much safer at all to me.

[mkharsh33]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

I understand that death brings out emotional responses, but guys, this is auto racing. This is the first fatality since 2006, and many here probably couldn't name the guy who died (without searching). I'm not trying to minimize this or sound callous, but it's a reality of the sport that when these guys get into the car they may not get out. I live in Tampa and know much about Wheldon...my son and I attend the St. Pete Grand Prix, so I'm not speaking as a fool on this. But I really don't see sweeping changes... It's very sad and unfortunate that Dan Wheldon died, and you feel for his wife and two small children. But all of the responses I've read today have been NOWHERE to be found UNTIL someone dies, and typically it has to be a big name to get the attention. I believe that in spite of the known dangers involved, it's a relatively safe sport, much safer than the streets of Tampa near where I live....

[av7]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

To not investigate and change things because the last guy that died from 2006 is bad thinking. Take the initiative instead of saying oh well, its dangerous. I raced in motocross and everyone knew it was dangerous but companies still went above and beyond to prevent an injury that could happen.

No name driver or big name, its irresponsible to not adjust things. Kneejerk reactions can save lives in these types of sports

[Happy29]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

Such a shame.. Ive watched alot of racing, and haven't seen a crash quite that bad in a long time. Such a shame, seemed like a really good guy, and he sure was a talented race car driver. So young too... and two young children...

Like the 5 lap tribute IRL did instead of finishing the race. Classy.

I'll say this though, you've really got to question the IRL for their promotion for this race to pay Dan a 5 million dollar bonus if he could win this race from starting in last. Junk like that doesn't belong in competitive top racing series.

Either way, such a shame.. way to young. IRL really needs to do something to up the safety in their cars. Hopefully the new car they are using next year helps, although in a crash like that, it would have probably been impossible to survive regardless in those type of cars. They need to do something to protect the drivers head. Even if its just putting a bar up over the cockpit of the car so that makes the impact, instead of a drivers head. It's going t look stupid, maybe slow the car down a bit, but all things considered, is that really a bad thing? Also, seriously think its time IRL gives consideration to something similar to a restrictor plate on the cars to slow those things down on some of the high speed ovals. If they can't make a safer car, at least try and make the racing a bit safer. That new car for 2012, doesnt look much safer at all to me.

That was not the problem. He would have been driving that car no matter if first place payed $5 million or a grilled cheese sandwich. He was doing what he was passionate about.

http://www.sirius-speedway.com/2011/10/wheldons-death-reinforces-racings-sole.html

Wheldon's Death Reinforces Racing's Sole Truth

Let us never be fooled again. Auto racing is not now -- and never will be -- safe.


Dan Wheldon’s tragic death on Lap 12 of the IZOD IndyCar Series finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway confirmed that unassailable fact yet again Sunday, casting a horrible, chest-tightening pall over what should have been a day of triumph and celebration.

IndyCar had not suffered a death since 2006, when Paul Dana lost his life in a practice crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR has been fatality-free since Dale Earnhardt crashed to his death on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. In that time, SAFER barriers, HANS devices, improved helmet and seat technology and car construction have made the sport safer than at any point before. But make no mistake about it, auto racing is not safe, and it never will be.

As long as men and women strap themselves into objects capable of eclipsing 200 miles per hour, horrible things can – and will -- happen. Until the laws of physics are repealed, the immovable force will always trump the unstoppable object. And when it does, racers will die.

Some seek scapegoats at times like this; a convenient someone at whom to direct their anger, heartbreak and remorse. Not long after the announcement of Wheldon’s passing, some pointed an accusatory finger at IndyCar, saying the Brit would not have been in Sunday’s race were it not for the $5 million bonus offered by the sanctioning body for any non-IndyCar regular capable of winning the 2011 season finale.

That criticism is both ill-timed and misguided. Dan Wheldon competed Sunday, not because of a $5 million bounty, but because driving race cars was what he loved most. Wheldon lived to race, and he strapped into his #77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry this afternoon, knowing -– as every racer does -- what could happen. Just minutes after the green flag was unfurled, tragedy struck in the form of a horrendous, multi-car crash in Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s second turn. Wheldon’s car climbed over another and took flight, impacting the catch fence cockpit-first and exploding in a hideous maelstrom of shrapnel and flame. It was an unsurvivable wreck; one that extinguished one of Open Wheel racing’s brightest lights, and also the illusion that this sport can ever be truly and completely safe.

Less than a month ago, former CBS Sports auto racing commentator Ken Squier chastised NASCAR for fostering the illusion of safety in its particular form of motorsport. "They don't want to talk about risk,” said Squier to ESPN.com’s Ed Hinton, adding that when he was young, “I couldn't understand how anybody could get all wound up watching guys in a baseball park scratching themselves and spitting tobacco. When the guys I admired drove down into the corner, the issue was whether they would come out alive on the other side. This is the one sport where -- if you are committed to it and play it at the highest level -- you take the highest risk. If you're going 200 miles an hour… right on the edge of control, that's a risk."

Squier was correct then, and his words seem even more prophetic today.

“We push ourselves and our teams to win these races and championships,” said Dario Franchitti, who clinched the 2011 IndyCar crown Sunday. “It’s what we live for. We try to block things like this out of our minds, but when I think about Dan right now, I ask myself, `Is this worth it?’ Absolutely not. Dan’s gone.”

“We try not to think about it,” said Tony Kanaan, one of Wheldon’s closest friends in the sport. “But today, we are forced to think about it. He was one of my greatest friends and teammates. I must be getting old. I’ve been through too many of these (situations).”

Sunday’s race was cancelled following the announcement of Wheldon’s death. But before folding their tents and wandering away to the comfort and solace of family, Wheldon’s fellow drivers mustered the strength to re-fire their mounts and circle the track in a five-lap salute to their fallen comrade, as a bagpiper’s mournful rendition of “Amazing Grace” echoed through the speedway.

It was a poignant, tearful testimonial. And sadly, it will not be the last.

Say a prayer for Susie Wheldon tonight; left to raise two-year old Sebastian and seven-month old Oliver without her husband. Say a prayer for the IndyCar family, as well, as they begin the solemn business of convincing themselves all over again that the sport we love is worth the terrible price it often exacts.

[brandon27]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

That was not the problem. He would have been driving that car no matter if first place payed $5 million or a grilled cheese sandwich. He was doing what he was passionate about.

I know, that had nothing to do with the accident today. Except maybe that if it wasnt for that, he wouldn't have been in the back of the pack, but that's a stretch.

I was just simply stating my opinion on that joke of a promotion for a race at one of the top levels of racing.

[Happy29]

Re: F1/IRL/All Other Forms of motorsports Thread

I know, that had nothing to do with the accident today. Except maybe that if it wasnt for that, he wouldn't have been in the back of the pack, but that's a stretch.

I was just simply stating my opinion on that joke of a promotion for a race at one of the top levels of racing.

Okay I misunderstood what you meant by it my bad. I don't see big money promotions as a bad thing though, there have been some good ones over the years all the way from NASCAR's No Bull 5 that was always fun, to my local short track that has been known to put bounties on drivers that win too much. They are a way of grabbing the fans attention and giving the driver a little extra incentive to go for the win at times when they may be content with a top 5.