Texas Motor Speedway honors Wheldon

by CASEY NORTON

Bio

WFAA

Posted on October 17, 2011 at 5:49 PM

Updated Monday, Oct 17 at 8:44 PM

FORT WORTH - IndyCar and NASCAR drivers are calling for changes after the death of Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon. Five-time NASCAR Champion Jimmy Johnson said the open-wheel Indy cars should not race on ovals.

Texas Motor Speedway, an oval race track, said IndyCar is on the calendar to return, and any changes would be months away after serious discussions.

Dan Wheldon was killed on lap 11 in Las Vegas Sunday. He was involved in a 15-car collision. Vehicles broke into small pieces and caught fire. Wheldon's car flew into the catch fence, killing him.

Texas Motor Speedway lowered its flags to half-staff, but wasn't ready to talk about changes for IndyCar races.

"You know at times situations like this are going to occur," said TMS Vice President of Media Relations Mike Zizzo. "They're unfortunate; they're tragic; but it is part of the sport."

Zizzo called Wheldon a friend for nearly 15 years. He said Wheldon was a driver dedicated to promoting his sport.

"He was the person that if he was in the garage in the paddock, he touched a lot of people," Zizzo said. "It was one of those personalities where if you're around him, he made you happy; made you smile."

As a two-time Indy 500 champion, Wheldon made strong ties in North Texas when he took part in media stunts and promotions.

In 2005, he led the cattle drive through the Fort Worth Stockyards. In May 2011, six years later, Wheldon drove then-Mayor Mike Moncrief to work in an Indy car.

On the streets, they talked about Texas, racing and his two young sons.

"I know the challenge it's going to be when those kids start growing up," Moncrief said. "They're going to miss their dad. And so it's a difficult road they have ahead."

As much as he loved Texas, Wheldon had his share of accidents on the oval track. In 2008, a practice lap sent him flipping through the infield at Texas Motor Speedway. He limped away and called it "part of life."

Wheldon's death could eventually lead to new safety standards in IndyCar racing.

For now, his sport is honoring his life as a champion
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Dan Wheldon's death stuns racing world

LAS VEGAS -- The racing world may have thought Dan Wheldon had experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows that the sport had to offer in 2011.

But then motorsports suffered the lowest point possible with Wheldon's death Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wheldon started the season unemployed but parlayed a one-off drive in the Indianapolis 500 into his second Indy win and the richest payday of his racing career. And he was on the brink of even greater things in the years ahead. But he got caught in a 15-car crash on the 11th lap of the Las Vegas Indy 300.

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Robert Laberge/Getty ImagesA fan shared a message after it was announced that Dan Wheldon had died from injuries suffered in a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The 2005 IndyCar Series champion's car was launched into the catch fence, causing what INDYCAR termed "unsurvivable injuries."

Wheldon was 33 years old and leaves a wife and two children.

ESPN.com learned from team owner Michael Andrettithat just hours prior to Sunday's race, Wheldon signed a multiyear deal to replace Danica Patrick in Andretti Autosport's No. 7 car sponsored by GoDaddy.com.

Wheldon drove for Andretti Autosport from 2003 to 2005, winning the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and series championship. He was part of a powerful, four-car Andretti juggernaut including Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Bryan Herta that won 11 of 17 races during that magical '05 season.

"He was a very close friend and we had just literally inked it this morning," Andretti said. "We had great plans to do fun things together. I'm going to miss him. There was a lot of life in that guy. He was part of the glory days here. We had a combination that has never been put together in the sport of auto racing, in my opinion.

"But it's part of our sport. He knew the risks; we all know the risks when we get in the car. It probably touches me a little more because of everything that was going on. It's a terrible thing, but unfortunately in our sport we've had a lot of days like these. They suck, but that's the way it is."

Wheldon was making only his third start of the 2011 season. He spent much of the year serving as the test and development driver for the new chassis that the IndyCar Series is introducing for 2012.

At Las Vegas, Wheldon was part of a publicity stunt known as the GoDaddy IndyCar Challenge in which he would have split a $5 million prize with a fan should he have won the race.

Wheldon started from the back of the 34-car field and had moved up to 24th place when the carnage unfolded on the 11th of a scheduled 200 laps.

It appeared that Wheldon never lifted from the throttle before striking the back of E.J. Viso's car, sending Wheldon's No. 77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry airborne into a barrel roll.

The car struck the catch fence with enough force to shear the roll hoop cleanly from the top of the Dallara chassis.

"I don't know what I can say to comfort anybody," said Kanaan, who aside from being Wheldon's teammate from 2003 to 2005 was one of his closest friends. "But I think if you asked everyone in this field how they would want to go, that's the way. If I could choose I'd do the same. But right now I can't describe the pain.

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Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesThe IndyCar Series family lined the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as drivers completed a five-lap tribute to honor Dan Wheldon.

"I just pray that he rests in peace. Right now I just want to give my support to his family. He was one of my best friends and one of my greatest teammates back in the day."

Kanaan and Franchitti shared a similar experience in 1999 when their close friend Greg Moore was killed during the season finale at California Speedway. The Brazilian, who won the IndyCar title in 2004 and served as a mentor to Wheldon, put the day's events into perspective.

"We don't think about things like this," Kanaan said. "As race car drivers, we have to block out that possibility. Unfortunately when it happens it's really hard.

"But what we do is dangerous and we face that every day," Kanaan continued. "It's been happening for years, for decades. It's just hard to swallow, but we have to move on. We're racers; we love what we do. Eventually we're going to have to turn the page and remember him with the great memories we have. I know exactly what he would say if I told him I was going to quit: He'd say he was going to take my place."

Franchitti paid tribute to Wheldon on a day when the focus was meant to have been on him. Franchitti clinched his fourth IndyCar series title (and third consecutive) on Sunday when his championship rival, Will Power, was involved in the same crash that killed Wheldon.

"Right now I'm numb and speechless," Franchitti said. "One minute you're joking around at driver intros and the next Dan's gone. We had a couple of fall outs over the way, but we were friends. Everybody in IndyCar Series considered Dan a friend. You saw the reaction. He was one of those special, special people from when he showed up first in IndyCar. And he was kind of brash, all that stuff, but he was a charmer. Then he became this loving family guy who is still charming, but he had this whole new side to him.

"I'm just thinking of [Wheldon's wife] Susie and the boys," Dario added. "When I think about them, I'm struggling to hold it together. I don't know what else to say."

For Franchitti, the similarities to the Moore tragedy of 1999 were uncanny. The only difference this year is that he came out on top in the championship standings.

"We can put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships, and that's what we love to do," Franchitti said. "It's what we live for.

"But on days like today, it doesn't really matter."

John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for ESPN.com.

Stop Texans from distracted driving

Published: October 11, 2011

The 911 phone call was frantic.

The caller begged the dispatcher to hurry, that the victims weren’t breathing. EMT Mike Harper then got on the line.

“We have two 10-85 ECHOs here,” he said.

A 10-85 ECHO is an obvious fatality.

This conversation occurred in December 2009 just outside of Logan, Utah, at the scene of a car accident caused by 19-year-old Reggie Shaw. Shaw had been texting at the time his car drifted into the oncoming lane.

While tragic, this type of accident is not uncommon. In 2009, more than 5,000 people were killed in accidents that involved distracted driving. Today, more than 80 percent of traffic accidents are due to driver distraction.

According to a study by the University of Utah, texting while driving is almost as dangerous as driving with a blood alcohol content that is two times the legal limit.

On Sep. 13, Arlington joined Austin and San Antonio to become the third city in Texas to ban texting while driving.

After enforcement of the ban begins in November, drivers can be issued a $200 fine if they are caught texting or using any other applications while driving. However, it will remain perfectly legal to make phone calls while driving.

While the ban is a good starting point, it should be extended to include all cell phone use.

Just as Arlington City Council member Jimmy Bennett pointed out to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after the vote was announced, the law as it stands will make it difficult for officers to determine whether a motorist was texting or just dialing a number to make a phone call.

Despite hard facts that distracted driving is dangerous, there are still those who feel that the government has no business telling people that they can’t use their cell phone while driving. Gov. Rick Perry sits among those people.

Earlier this year, he vetoed a bill that would have banned texting while driving in the state of Texas because it was a “government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.”

True as this may be, if that adult behavior results in increasing the chance that a person will severely injure or kill a complete stranger, the government should “micromanage” its heart out. Had someone close to Perry been on the other side of Reggie Shaw’s car, Perry might be singing a different tune.

Yes, a ban may be difficult to enforce at first, and yes, it may be slightly inconvenient to not make phone calls or send emails while driving. But isn’t a human life worth it?

Contact your congressman and tell him that changes need to happen, and they need to happen now as Denton’s streets become more and more crowded.

Desiree Cousineau is a journalism senior. She can be reached at AnnaCousineau@my.unt.edu.