9 replies to this topic

[SIDEPOD]

[attachment=350:attachment]
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Driver involved in race warm-up crash with Carpenter
By Dave Lewandowski
indycar.com


HOMESTEAD, Fla. – IndyCar Series driver Paul Dana was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital – a Level 1 trauma center – in Miami just before noon (EST) from injuries suffered in a race warm-up crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Driver Ed Carpenter will remain in the hospital overnight for observation, according to Dr. Henry Bock, the Indy Racing’s League’s senior director of medical services. Scans showed nothing broken. Both drivers were airlifted to the trauma center.

About two minutes (10:03 a.m. EST) into the session in preparation for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Carpenter’s car spun and made contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier, and then slid down the racetrack. It almost came to a stop when it was struck in the left-rear by Dana’s car traveling at full speed.

“Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with the Dana family and everyone associated with the Rahal Letterman race team,” Indy Racing League president and COO Brian Barnhart said in making the announcement at the track.

Team co-owner Bobby Rahal said the Nos. 15 (Buddy Rice) and 16 (Danica Patrick) cars would not compete in the race in honor of their teammate. Rahal said the team would compete at the April 2 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and plans for the No. 17 Rahal Letteran Racing Team Ethanol car are unclear.

“It is a very black day for us, and on behalf of our entire team our prayers and sympathy go out to the entire Dana family,” Rahal said.

Barnhart said the yellow dashboard and track caution lights functioned properly, the starter was waving the yellow flag and spotters relayed the track's status via radio to drivers immediately after Carpenter's car made contact with the SAFER Barrier. The IndyCar Series has long been recognized as the motorsports leader in safety equipment on the cars and at racetracks at which it competes.

Indy Racing League doesn't stop looking at safety improvements

Hornish
"It's a busy time out there with a lot of traffic and Paul was the second car involved with the accident," he said.

Rahal said there weren't any communication problems. "The spotter made clear the incident," he said.

Barnhart said discussions were held with International Speedway Corp. officials, including track president Curtis Gray, with the decision to contest the 200-lap race. A moment of silence was observed during the invocation.

Last year, Dana competed in three races with Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing with a best finish of 10th at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He suffered a season-ending back injury during the first week of practice for the 89th Indianapolis 500.

He was looking for a fresh start after the setback, and qualified ninth in the No.17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol Panoz/Honda/Firestone.

“It is literally a dream come true to be driving for Rahal Letterman Racing,” he said recently. “As a young driver, you dream about an opportunity like this with a championship-caliber team. I am certainly behind my teammates (Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick) in terms of experience, but even though I didn’t run a lot of laps last season, I did log a lot of time in the pits, and I learned a lot of things just by watching.

“I feel great after a strong winter of workouts. I am fully recovered from last year’s injury and I feel better than I have ever have.”

Dana, a St. Louis native and Indianapolis resident, was runner-up in the 2004 Indy Pro Series standings. He literally worked his way up the racing ladder, taking a number of jobs to learn and pay the rent, including mechanic, racing instructor and marketing account representative while competing various series. Dana would have turned 31 on April 15. He is survived by his wife Tonya.

Carpenter qualified 13th in the No. 20 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Entering his third year in the IndyCar Series, he had a best finish of 10th last year at Nashville Superspeedway. This year, Vision Racing expanded to a two-car team with the addition of veteran driver Tomas Scheckter.

[AutoRacer5]

Already made a thread about it, but I'm not Narain_Fan.

[monza gorilla]

AutoRacer5, on Mar 27 2006, 01:23 AM, said:

Already made a thread about it, but I'm not Narain_Fan.

BTW, I don't need to see the video, thanks. A bit voyeuristic for me.

Edited by monza gorilla, 27 March 2006 - 08:29 AM.

[narain fan]

AutoRacer5, on Mar 27 2006, 05:53 AM, said:

Already made a thread about it, but I'm not Narain_Fan.

certainly not...
that is like  comparing Chalk and Cheese

[kiko01]

monza gorilla, on Mar 27 2006, 09:10 AM, said:

BTW, I don't need to see the video, thanks. A bit voyeuristic for me.

Indeed  

[monza gorilla]

Could a mod please merge these two threads?

[Senna]

Very sad news indeed.

I heard it on Eurosport and Sky Sports News…

Oval racing isn’t safe – how many people have to die for this to be realised?

[AutoRacer5]

Racing as a whole isnt safe. Racing has been, is, and always will be dangerous. It was a rookie mistake. If these cars were crash-tested like f1 cars are, they wouldn't be subject to this. Remember, he didn't crash into the wall, it was into another car.

narain fan, on Mar 27 2006, 02:38 AM, said:

certainly not...
that is like comparing Chalk and Cheese

Both start with C.
Both have weird tastes.
Both stain clothing.
Both can be used to vandalize.

Edited by AutoRacer5, 27 March 2006 - 09:34 PM.

[monza gorilla]

AutoRacer5, on Mar 27 2006, 10:32 PM, said:

. Remember, he didn't crash into the wall, it was into another car.

Point taken, but the car he hit had just impacted the wall and come to rest on the track. That's what I was on about regarding run off. Or did I say that in the parallel thread? Mods, please merge the two threads?

I'm not familiar enough with Indycars to know what sort of crash testing is required. From what you say it isn't to the same standard as F1?

[AutoRacer5]

I dont think it is. For there to be 5 (I think) open wheel deaths since the IRL's inception (3 of them IRL crashes) I wouldn't say so.