RIP Dan Wheldon

Zaggeron · 10-16-2011, 06:22 PM

RIP. Dan Wheldon died a little while ago from injuries resulting from a 15 car crash on lap 13 of the Indy Car race at Las Vegas.

SPOHN · 10-16-2011, 06:29 PM

What a sad day. I still can't believe it.

MC · 10-16-2011, 06:40 PM

edub370 · 10-16-2011, 06:43 PM

most horrible crash i have seen in a VERY long time. tragic

Red__Zed · 10-16-2011, 06:43 PM

very sad

shadoquad · 10-16-2011, 09:00 PM

It is very tragic.

I got to see him race in Baltimore.

GaleForce · 10-16-2011, 09:02 PM

Reminded me of the Greg Moore accident... both are very tragic.

6MT · 10-16-2011, 09:03 PM

Pretty horrific. I was watching the race. WOW!

Very sad, very sad.

m4a1mustang · 10-16-2011, 09:37 PM

RIP Dan. He was a great driver and an even greater person. My condolences to his family and friends... the racing community lost a great person today.

Pharmacist · 10-16-2011, 10:30 PM

Very sad

A reminder that despite significant progress, there is still a lot to be done in terms of safety of the drivers.

m4a1mustang · 10-16-2011, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharmacist

Very sad

A reminder that despite significant progress, there is still a lot to be done in terms of safety of the drivers.

Unfortunately the IRL has been quite negligent when it comes to driver safety this year as far as their officiating is concerned (think back to New Hampshire where they restarted the race in the rain.) Many of the drivers warned of the dangers of the race following the first test, but they went ahead with it anyways. You just can't run these cars in NASCAR restrictor-plate style packs on smaller, tighter tracks at 220+ mph. Not when you've got so many inexperienced oval drivers and fully exposed wheels... it's a recipe for disaster.

That said, there IS a new car coming next year for the IRL with much more emphasis on driver safety. Looks a little funky, but after what happened today I couldn't care less what it looks like as it should really help to keep the drivers safer...

What's ironic is that Dan Wheldon was the guy doing almost all of the testing for the new car. :/

Here's Dan at Mid-Ohio earlier this year with the new road course chassis:

And here's the new oval chassis which should really help with preventing that front-to-rear wheel contact that sends the current cars flying:

Again, I just can't stress enough how much of a genuine good guy Dan was. He will be sorely missed!

semtex · 10-16-2011, 11:17 PM

I feel sick with sadness.

Here's one of the best replay clips I've found. View discretion advised, obviously.

scottIN · 10-17-2011, 05:33 AM

It's unbelievable. I barely slept last night. Yes, Dan was a great driver- but he was one hell of a person.

I talked to Dan just a couple weeks ago at the kart track, and I've known him for about 5 years from karting (if he wasn't in an IndyCar, or ALMS, he was in a kart). I could tell story after story about watching him talk to the kids at the kart track- he always took the time to talk to the kids, take photos - whatever it took to make their day.

A pair of his signed racing shoes sits on my mantle - it's tough to walk by them.

Last Sunday, I was talking to Scott Goodyear and we were talking about Vegas. He told me it was a recipe for a crashfest - too many cars on a track where they can go 3 wide. He was right...

Pharmacist · 10-17-2011, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

Unfortunately the IRL has been quite negligent when it comes to driver safety this year as far as their officiating is concerned (think back to New Hampshire where they restarted the race in the rain.) Many of the drivers warned of the dangers of the race following the first test, but they went ahead with it anyways. You just can't run these cars in NASCAR restrictor-plate style packs on smaller, tighter tracks at 220+ mph. Not when you've got so many inexperienced oval drivers and fully exposed wheels... it's a recipe for disaster.

That said, there IS a new car coming next year for the IRL with much more emphasis on driver safety. Looks a little funky, but after what happened today I couldn't care less what it looks like as it should really help to keep the drivers safer...

What's ironic is that Dan Wheldon was the guy doing almost all of the testing for the new car. :/

Here's Dan at Mid-Ohio earlier this year with the new road course chassis:

And here's the new oval chassis which should really help with preventing that front-to-rear wheel contact that sends the current cars flying:

Again, I just can't stress enough how much of a genuine good guy Dan was. He will be sorely missed!

I'm not a fan of IRL so i really don't watch it much. But seeing the clips of the accident, I'm amazed at how badly those cars disintegrate upon impact. You don't see that in F1. Maybe the greater speeds play a role, but F1 cars are built around a superstrong carbon fibre tub and encloses and protects the driver in an accident. Do they have the same in IRL?

m4a1mustang · 10-17-2011, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharmacist

I'm not a fan of IRL so i really don't watch it much. But seeing the clips of the accident, I'm amazed at how badly those cars disintegrate upon impact. You don't see that in F1. Maybe the greater speeds play a role, but F1 cars are built around a superstrong carbon fibre tub and encloses and protects the driver in an accident. Do they have the same in IRL?

It's the same in the IRL. The difference in F1 is that the impacts are almost always significantly slower and they tend to hit soft barriers and 99% of the time any hard impacts are almost always single-car incidents. F1 just doesn't have the same wheel-to-wheel style competition as IRL or NASCAR, so you don't have as many significant incidents.

Another consideration is that a number of these cars hit the catch fencing, which is going to rip a car apart regardless of its construction. Especially at 200+ mph. If an F1 car or even a stock car would hit the fencing at that speed it would be a similar result.

Take a look at Robert Kubica's crash in Montreal back in 2007. The car hit an exposed wall and disintigrated, much like the indy cars. The only difference being that he just hit a wall and not the fence, which would have ripped his car to shreds.

10-16-2011, 06:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Zaggeron A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,951 Drives: '10 370ZR '13 BRZ Rep Power: 18	RIP Dan Wheldon RIP. Dan Wheldon died a little while ago from injuries resulting from a 15 car crash on lap 13 of the Indy Car race at Las Vegas. __________________ 2010 Platinum Graphite 370z Roadster:Touring/Sport 2013 Subaru BRZ Limited

10-16-2011, 06:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
SPOHN A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Covington, GA Age: 45 Posts: 14,844 Drives: Waiting on next Z Rep Power: 221	What a sad day. I still can't believe it. __________________

10-16-2011, 06:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
MC Moderator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NC Posts: 3,238 Drives: 2015 GTR NISMO Rep Power: 24	__________________ 2015 GT-R N1SMO "THE ONE" Instagram MCGTRN1SMO Youtube MCGTRNISMO

10-16-2011, 06:43 PM	#4 (permalink)
edub370 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2011 Location: KCMO Posts: 3,458 Drives: 09 370z S/T 6MT Rep Power: 20	most horrible crash i have seen in a VERY long time. tragic __________________ 09 370Z ST 6MT//Injen CAI//Greddy CBE//TP//TSW's//Swifts//Stillen lip//Whiteline sways 326whp/268tq

10-16-2011, 09:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
GaleForce A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 21,749 Drives: Varis Arising II Rep Power: 51865	Reminded me of the Greg Moore accident... both are very tragic. __________________ >>>GaleForce's Build<<< >>>FaceBook @3GsCustoms<<<>>>Instagram @GaleForce370z<<< Varis Kamikaze-Z

10-16-2011, 06:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
Red__Zed A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: window seat Posts: 28,940 Drives: Mostly on two wheels Rep Power: 120	very sad

10-16-2011, 09:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
shadoquad A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: . Posts: 42,608 Drives: . Rep Power: 3886	It is very tragic. I got to see him race in Baltimore.

10-16-2011, 09:03 PM	#8 (permalink)
6MT A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: ITU Zone 2 Posts: 22,459 Drives: Reliant Robin Rep Power: 1790	Pretty horrific. I was watching the race. WOW! Very sad, very sad. __________________ Andrew 2009 370Z Sport/Touring 6MT sold 2013 Honda Civic Si coupe D/D

10-16-2011, 09:37 PM	#9 (permalink)
m4a1mustang A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Northern VA Posts: 55,385 Drives: on two wheels Rep Power: 6962	RIP Dan. He was a great driver and an even greater person. My condolences to his family and friends... the racing community lost a great person today. __________________ - Steve Zs & Coffee - Saturdays at 10AM in Fairfax, VA and Columbia, MD (Click the banner!) LIKE us on Facebook!

10-16-2011, 10:30 PM	#10 (permalink)
Pharmacist A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 1,249 Drives: 09 370z Sport 6MT Rep Power: 18	Very sad A reminder that despite significant progress, there is still a lot to be done in terms of safety of the drivers. __________________ 2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

10-16-2011, 11:17 PM	#12 (permalink)
semtex A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Behind enemy lines Age: 54 Posts: 5,995 Drives: People to drink Rep Power: 32	I feel sick with sadness. Here's one of the best replay clips I've found. View discretion advised, obviously. __________________ "There are no small accidents on this circuit." -- Ayrton Senna 316.8whp & 248 ft/lbs (Dyno Dynamics) \| 319whp & 256 ft/lbs (DynoJet) (04/23/10) Stillen G3 CAI, CBE, Pulley / F.I. LTH / GTSpec Ladder Brace / Setrab Oil Cooler / UpRev-tuned by Forged Perf.

10-17-2011, 05:33 AM	#13 (permalink)
scottIN Track Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: New Castle, Indiana Posts: 764 Drives: '12 370Z Rep Power: 55	It's unbelievable. I barely slept last night. Yes, Dan was a great driver- but he was one hell of a person. I talked to Dan just a couple weeks ago at the kart track, and I've known him for about 5 years from karting (if he wasn't in an IndyCar, or ALMS, he was in a kart). I could tell story after story about watching him talk to the kids at the kart track- he always took the time to talk to the kids, take photos - whatever it took to make their day. A pair of his signed racing shoes sits on my mantle - it's tough to walk by them. Last Sunday, I was talking to Scott Goodyear and we were talking about Vegas. He told me it was a recipe for a crashfest - too many cars on a track where they can go 3 wide. He was right...