Dan Wheldon Indy Car

I don't know Dans condition but my thoughts and prayers are with him today....hoping for the best

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TOG on October 19, 2011 at 7:10pm

Lets say if a rookie, first time starter-type driver was killed at LVMS on Sunday, do you think the support/attention/ etc would have been the same as 2 time Indy Champ / IRL Champion Dan Wheldon has gotten ?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by 7gason7 on October 19, 2011 at 7:39pm

It depends. If it was Kasey Kahne yes. If it was Pippa Mann no way. This tragedy captivates everyone. The oposite of a cinderella story.

How much coverage did Paul Dana get in 2006 at Homestead?
Or Jeff Krosnoff who was killed in Toronto on a road/street course in 1996. Same issue hit the catch fence (a race Robby was in)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Travis S.7 on October 19, 2011 at 8:59pm

I keep asking people the same thing. There is no absolute way that so much of a big deal would have possibly been made if Townsend Bell or Pippa Mann or Wade Cunningham would've been killed. You have 5 or 6 guys in Indy Racing that the same amount of press would've been made for. IMO Franchiti, Kanaan, Castroneves, Power, Andretti, and Danica. If it were Danica Patrick it would be 5 to 8 times bigger.

I don't think all the haters would be speaking out if it were someone lesser known.. Which is sad..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rob Hoban on October 19, 2011 at 9:13pm

Look at NASCAR deaths and the support/attention from those incidents. Dale Earnhardt died at the Daytona 500 on the last lap. The biggest name in the sport at the biggest race of the year. Kenny Irwin died at New Hampshire during practice and while we still remember him, he death was not as tragic in the press as someone who suceeded in the sport. Anyone remember Blaise Alexander and his incident at Charlotte?

Anyway, the bigger the name, the more the press. In this case, it happen to be a spectacular crash with cars launching in the air. Hard to say if James Jakes or even Will Power would have gotten this much attention. No matter, it is still a complete shame whenever it happens and hopefully his death will prompt Indycar to take steps to prevent this from happening again.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Vick on October 19, 2011 at 9:59pm

I think the impact of social media ( facebook/Twitter, etc ) has really thrust the attention of the accident into orbit.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ben Cartwright on October 19, 2011 at 7:59pm

when gonzalo rodriguez was killed, his death was shocking and sad, but he only made one CART start before that. Nobody knew him that well, So yes he did receive less attention, if that happened to Michael Andretti or Al Unser Jr. then it would be a whole nother story.