Sorry guys, but I am done with Indycar for a while...

[SoCalPVguy]

.. Sorry can't take it any more. This one is too much for me. Too painful. I am going to concentrate on USC football, such as it is, my kid's Ducks and Sooners, where if you make a mistake you can come back next week to fight on again.

There is a great bunch of guys (figuratively speaking, BG) on this forum, but I need a break.

In particular having this tragedy strike at this event, this race, this venue, relative to the 'special' promotion in finale, RB's 0.8, the new car, crummy 'officiating', spotty coverage, etc. makes me wonder if this isn't God's way of saying "shut it down, retool it, come back stronger".

[FormerFF]

That's understandable. I don't know why it is, but it just seems that racing wouldn't be racing if it didn't periodically break our hearts.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Racing breaks your heart. After seeing Krosnoff die in front of me and watching Greg Moore pass; I both times wanted to give up on racing. It didn't happen...but this is a sad incident and it puts into perspective to how dangerous driving a missile on wheels like this at 230 is on one of these high banked ovals...

God rest his soul, Dan Wheldon didn't deserve to die today....but it is racing. There are consequences to all this speed, and that is what makes it unique...

[wedge]

That's understandable. I don't know why it is, but it just seems that racing wouldn't be racing if it didn't periodically break our hearts.

:up:

It's what makes racing such a great sport as you can experience such extreme emotions that few other mainstream sports can exert.

Future races will be difficult to watch without Dan. He owned that booth.

[SoCalPVguy]

Agreed the emotional roller coaster is what part of what makes racing great. Agreed it wouldn't be racing if it didn't periodically break our hearts. But that'sjust not me anymore. I came back after losing Jim Clark, I returned after Peter Revson and Mark Donahue died, I came back after Krosnoff and Moore... but I just can't do it again at least for a while. I am glad that was the last race of the year. I could not imagine myself or the racing circus itself having to come back anytime soon...

The only way for me to want to return is for Indycar to dump the nascar banked ovals, run at smaller driver ovals like Milwaukee and phoenix, use a hanford device or equal to break up open wheel pack racing at 225 and get rid of dangerous part time ride buyers that are not qualified.

And thank you Beachgirl for the sincere touching message.,

[jackmart]

I can understand how you feel. I was busy Sunday so I had my parents record the race. When I was on my way home I was so excited and called my mom to make sure it all recorded ok. She then told me the race wasn't finished and I was confused because I knew rain wasn't a factor. Immediately I went to the worst, someone died? My mom just told me to come home and told me it was not Graham, one of my faves. The entire 15 minutes home I cried, even the two guys who I really can't stand, I would be sad if they died. When I got home my mom told me who, Dan Wheldon, I had just seen him win at my first Indy 500. I cried but it wasn't until later that I really began to freak out. This whole thing raised so many questions about life and death for me. That night as I was thinking about it all I cried harder than I have ever cried in my life. It breaks my heart to think of his wife and kids and I'm still struggling to deal with the whole incident. With all the promotion of this race I almost flew out there to see it and I thank God I did not. I was so traumatized from the whole event I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had seen it unfold in person. I don't think I will ever view Indycar the same way as I did before.

[FIAT1]

There is no more exciting sport in the world like autoracing but when things go bad there is no worse .Tragedy in motorsports is anfortunate part of the sport. Hard as it may be to digest all negative feelings as I remember all the greats that perished including fans at Michigan speedway, we must show support to the sport that we love. We want speed, we want them to go faster, we pay to see them push the limit and pride our self how fast they go. This is the time to honor our heros , time to stick together,time to learn from it. That's how I see it.

[Lemmy-Boy]

I agree with the OP. My interest with Indycar ended a long time ago. The open wheel war and mismanagement of the IRL has done little to grow the sport the past 15 years, especially with new fans. Apart from a SMALL hardcore following (as found on this forum), Indycar will always play second fiddle to F1 & NASCAR.

The $5 million dollar freak show (race) at Las Vegas was a perfect example of a desperate series vying for media attention and credibility. Plus, the track was not a right fit for Indycars, while showing the lack of common sense held by IRL management.

[FIAT1]

[quote="Lemmy-Boy"]I agree with the OP. My interest with Indycar ended a long time ago.



...and you are still here. Interesting!

[00steven]

I think anyones emotions are understandable at this point. It's been hard to think about Dan without wanting to sob.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I can understand how you feel. I was busy Sunday so I had my parents record the race. When I was on my way home I was so excited and called my mom to make sure it all recorded ok. She then told me the race wasn't finished and I was confused because I knew rain wasn't a factor. Immediately I went to the worst, someone died? My mom just told me to come home and told me it was not Graham, one of my faves. The entire 15 minutes home I cried, even the two guys who I really can't stand, I would be sad if they died. When I got home my mom told me who, Dan Wheldon, I had just seen him win at my first Indy 500. I cried but it wasn't until later that I really began to freak out. This whole thing raised so many questions about life and death for me. That night as I was thinking about it all I cried harder than I have ever cried in my life. It breaks my heart to think of his wife and kids and I'm still struggling to deal with the whole incident. With all the promotion of this race I almost flew out there to see it and I thank God I did not. I was so traumatized from the whole event I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I had seen it unfold in person. I don't think I will ever view Indycar the same way as I did before.


Welcome to being a race fan. I went through this with Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Manfred Winkelhock, Roland Ratzenburger, Ayrton Senna, Greg Moore, Gordon Smiley, Jeff Krosnoff, Adam Petty, Davey Allison, Clifford Allison, Dale Earnhardt, and god knows how many others, including local road racers and visitors to nearby Mosport where it seems there is a death every 5 years.

Being a race fan means you see people who did nothing more than wanting to compete get killed doing something they love, and we like to watch. It takes this out of just being a sport...it is culture, a family and something when it is in your blood you can love when it is a good day, and you can curse when someone passes...but racing is different. If you are going to be a race fan, you learn this, because the sport has no mercy.....

[FormerFF]

Welcome to being a race fan. I went through this with Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Manfred Winkelhock, Roland Ratzenburger, Ayrton Senna, Greg Moore, Gordon Smiley, Jeff Krosnoff, Adam Petty, Davey Allison, Clifford Allison, Dale Earnhardt, and god knows how many others, including local road racers and visitors to nearby Mosport where it seems there is a death every 5 years.

Being a race fan means you see people who did nothing more than wanting to compete get killed doing something they love, and we like to watch. It takes this out of just being a sport...it is culture, a family and something when it is in your blood you can love when it is a good day, and you can curse when someone passes...but racing is different. If you are going to be a race fan, you learn this, because the sport has no mercy.....


"This isnt just a thousand to one shot. This is a professional bloodsport. And it can happen to you. And then it can happen to you again."

- From "Le Mans"

Granted, he was speaking from a very different era. At the time, it seemed like F1 was killing two drivers a year. Even more telling is this: of the 33 drivers in the Indy 500's starting field in 1958, 11 would eventually die in racing crashes. Things are better now, but if you're going to be a racing fan, it's going to happen to you again. That's part of what makes each race so important - people are willing to risk their lives for a sport. I knew the risk when I strapped into my humble Formula Ford, and Dan knew the risk when he got in that Dallara. If Jimmie Johnson thinks he's not at risk because he's in a tin top, he's just wrong.

My two favorite drivers - Mark Donohue and Ayrton Senna - are both gone because of racing crashes. That never stopped me from getting in the car. Granted, SCCA racing is much safer than is top level open wheel racing, but the risk was still there. It's greatly reduced from what it was, but it's still there and always will be.

Having said that, this wasn't the first crash of a pack of cars on a high speed oval, just the first one in recent memory to kill a driver. NASCAR seems to have at least one per year. It would be nice if there were more flat ovals for Indycar to race on, but there aren't, and if there's going to be oval racing, at some point there will be pack racing.

I'm still not sold on the idea of a driver racing at that level having a family, though.