Oct
17
Written by:
The Commish
10/17/2011 6:27 PM
My wife remembers the last time she saw me cry over the death of race car driver. She was with me when I wept at Ayrton Senna's death, and then with Greg Moore's and then again after we watched Dale Earnhardt die at Daytona over a decade ago.
And she was with me yesterday, on Sunday, when we watched and listened to IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard as he announced the passing of Dan Wheldon from "unsurvivable injuries" after the multi-car accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The race was cancelled and the remaining drivers ran five laps in three wide formation as a tribute to their fallen comrade, with a recording of Amazing Grace playing the in background.
So after my still lovely bride shared my sorrow and yes, a few tears, I went down to the Darkhorse Sports Bar and silently toasted Dan Wheldon among a throng of NFL fans who would ooh and aah at the crash highlights that interupted their football games.
As far as the other races went ...
Ron Hornaday got another NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, this time at Vegas thanks to his being able to drive the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevy, instead of the old No. 33 he's struggled with all season. Matt Crafton, Timothy Peters, Johnny Sauter and Todd Bodine filled out the top five; Parker Klingerman was 10th and first Dodge and polesitter Austin Dillon came home 17th -- just ahead of Jennifer Jo Cobb -- after spinning and crashing right off the bat to spend a few laps in the garage making repairs. No matter for Super 7 Sweep players; 17th place = the big zero for points.
At Charlottle Motor Speedway Carl Edwards beat Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott in the Nationwide race on Friday night, followed by Brad Keselowski in sixth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in ninth and Sam Hornish Jr. in 12th.
On Saturday night Matt Kenseth gave Ford another NASCAR win, beating Kyle, Carl, Kasey Kahne and Marco Ambrose with Kevin Harvick, A.J. Allmendinger, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman filling out the top 10. Kurt Busch was 13th to earn Dodge mfr points, Dale Jr. was 19th, Jeff Gordon came home 21st and poor Jimmie Johnson was classified 34th after crashing hard right after his final pit stop for zero points.
Later that same night SPEED viewers saw Sebastian Vettel grab the lead from polesitter Lewis Hamilton on lap one of 55 for the Korean Grand Prix win with Mark Webber third, Jenson Button fourth and the Alonso/Massa Ferrari team fifth and sixth. Michael Schumacher was first out when he made contact with Vitaly Petrov on lap 15; Nico Rosberg came home eighth in the other Mercedes.
And then came Sunday and the IndyCar race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Yes the track is too fast for the Dallara/Honda racecars that have been racing since 2003. And yes, the pressure to perform that led to a 34-car field including a couple of drivers who simply had no business racing at those speed, on that track; plus the $5 million dollar bonus for Wheldon after no other drivers could be persuaded (bribed?) to participate in the promotion could have been viewed as a factor in the tragedy.
But it was all and none of the above that led to Dan Wheldon's death.
Dan Wheldon died because his profession is dangerous. Sanctioning bodies and race car designers and tire manufacturers and rulesmakers can do as much as possible to make racing safer but in the end it comes down to physics and what the human body is capable of withstanding before breaking.
Godspeed and R.I.P., Dan Wheldon. You were truly one of the good ones.
This week its Cup and trucks at Talladega, another track famous for 'big ones' because it offers the same environment for castrophe that Las Vegas served up for IndyCars.
Let's all pray both races are safer than they should be.
Copyright ©2011 The Commish