Indy car crash at Las Vegas

[Dr.Brian]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

A nice photo of Dan Wheldon and family after winning this year's Indianapolis 500 RIP.


[IMG]http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/FFAk2N.A6t2ZJGNxRsqAnw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD00NTc7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2011-10-
16T220739Z_01_SIN102_RTRIDSP_3_MOTOR-RACING.jpg[/IMG]

Normally it would be fun to play guess the watch, but not today.

[GradyPhilpott]

Some may choose not to watch but here are some replays from various angles to see how the wreck proceeded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMMHu8lnepM

A very sad day.

Thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and crew.

[drockadam]

I was watching this earlier! Terrible crash! R.I.P Dan Wheldon.

[Watchdog]

Terrible, terrible news. So sad for his wife and child.

[matt4hand]

Man, that was horrific. RIP
I feel so bad for his family and friends.

[Dayton ssb]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

A nice photo of Dan Wheldon and family after winning this year's Indianapolis 500 RIP.

May he rest in piece.. May his family and friends be strong in this difficult time..

[fusionstorm]

RIP to a gentleman that had the talent to be one of the real greats of racing. Horrible, horrible crash.

I've driven upwards of 170mph on LV Motor Speedway in a modified Indy car as part of the Mario Andretti Racing Experience 5 years ago. The instructor I was following had us passing slower cars, which added more drama to an already white knuckle experience for me. To be doing 50+ mph faster than that while going 3 abreast is something I'll gladly say "thanks, but I don't have the cojones to handle that".....

[folexhater]

That's horrifying to look at! RIP, Wheldon!

[TheVTCGuy]

I can only echo what everyone is saying about thoughts and prayers to his family, a truly sad day.

Does anyone know exactly what killed him? Obviously it was a terrible crash, but I thought we were at an Engineering point that those cars absorbed so much of the crash energy it was extremely ... unlikely (is that the word?) that a serious injury could occur. Of course (and thank GOD) they don't very often in racing, I am just wondering if something can be learned from this. It's a terrible terrible thing, but maybe some improvement will come out in safety that can save future lives. I don't know, just hoping for some good to come from his I guess.... I will pray for his family tonight.

[Demosthene]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Does anyone know exactly what killed him? Obviously it was a terrible crash, but I thought we were at an Engineering point that those cars absorbed so much of the crash energy it was extremely ... unlikely (is that the word?) that a serious injury could occur.

He struck the car in front of him, and his car launched into the air, standing on its tail before flipping into the catch fencing above the energy absorbing safer barrier. The car hit the fence and flipped again, sending the top of the car with its open cockpit into the fence.

Although to be honest there’s no amount of engineering that can reliably keep people safe in a 354kmph crash.

[GradyPhilpott]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Does anyone know exactly what killed him?

The catch fence is a veritable meat-grinder.

The video I posted earlier clearly demonstrates this.

[caballero]

sad day for the sport indeed. thoughts to his young family. RIP

[swatty]

Very sad may he RIP

[BH13GMT]

IIRC a few years back Cart Series stopped going to Vegas for safety reasons due to the speeds of the cars and the type of oval. It seams the Indycar series organisers didnt do their homework. Sometimes it takes a tragedy before people take action.

[Mosco]

So so sad.... Especially after seeing the pic of him with his family.

[Welshwatchman]

Very sad indeed.

I know that the extreme danger is part of the pull towards oval track racing but I guess it's hard to determine the fine line between white knuckle action and tragedy.

Lessons are usually learned from these awful accidents, making the sport a little safer for the survivors.

[joeychitwood]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Does anyone know exactly what killed him? Obviously it was a terrible crash, but I thought we were at an Engineering point that those cars absorbed so much of the crash energy it was extremely ... unlikely (is that the word?) that a serious injury could occur.

An unavoidable consequence of a 225 mph crash into the catch-fence, besides the shredding effect of the fence and poles, is the deceleration injury. The brain experiences hundreds of G's causing a "shear" injury to the brain cells, whereby the cell bodies and filaments are sheared apart. There is no recovery from a severe shear injury, and my guess is that is what was referred to as an "unsurvivable" injury.

[STEELINOX]

Sidebar:

Jimmy Leewards Galloping Ghost was # "177" and Weldon's car was Honda Racer, # "77"

RIP VERY Fast Men !

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by GradyPhilpott

The catch fence is a veritable meat-grinder.

The video I posted earlier clearly demonstrates this.

Not easy to watch, but thanks for sharing Grady. The various videos did help to show at least a part of the problem. That fence is wicked for sure, and it surely contributed to how deadly this accident became.. Unfortunately something has to be used to keep objects from flying off of the track.

[joeychitwood]

After seeing the crash from several angles along with the looking at the carnage afterwards, I'm amazed that more drivers weren't killed. There was the potential for several others to die as the cars flew flaming through the air.

[joeychitwood]

Another racing death today in the Moto GP motorcycle series. Marco Simoncelli low-sided and was run over by two other bikes, including Valentino Rossi.