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I don’t normally write about auto racing, even though it is one of the great passions of my life.  There are hundreds of other blogs out there that are dedicated to racing, and offer better reporting and insight than I can.  However, I am compelled to share my thoughts about the passing of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon.  He was fatally injured in one of the most horrific crashes I have ever seen, while participating in the IndyCar season finale at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  It was a festive environment that had been building for days, with promise of some exciting racing, then all hell broke loose.  Pieces of cars all over the track.  Lots of fire.  This is a video of the violent crash.  As the graphic shows, Dan had started in last place (34th) as part of a promotion where he and a fan would split $5 million if he won the race.

Dan was an IndyCar Series champion and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.  I saw him win at Iowa Speedway in 2008.

Just about all of the IndyCar drivers are on Twitter.  It’s a great way for the fans to connect with the drivers.  I made a little joke about his hair, and Dan replied back.  I got a kick out of that.  When a driver acknowledges you, it does make you more of a fan.  The IndyCar Series is one of the most fan-friendly sports.  I’ve never been lucky enough to meet a driver one-on-one, but I’ve been to a few pre-race Q&A sessions they’ve had with us fans.

I was at this year’s Indianapolis 500.  As usual, I had a good time.  It was an exciting race that Dan won on the last lap after passing rookie JR Hildebrand, who was leading and had crashed during the final turn of the race.  I was so busy looking at Hildebrand’s crashed car that I hadn’t even noticed Dan had won.  I knew the race was over, but I had no idea who had won the race.  I then heard over my scanner that Dan Wheldon was the winner.  Below you can see the photo I took right after he had crossed the finish line, while Hildebrand’s car was kicking up dust along the wall.

It was a great story, because his ride for the race was a one-off deal.  For some reason, Dan Wheldon did not have a full-season ride.  He got together with Bryan Herta Autosport (Herta is a former driver) to race in the Indianapolis 500.  It was their only race planned for the year, and they won it.  Here are Dan Wheldon and Bryan Herta in the winner’s circle after the race, posing for photos.

And with the Firestone Firehawk mascot:

After posing for the compulsory photos with all the race sponsors, Dan came over to an area between the media center and the pagoda where dozens of fans were waiting to snap photos and get autographs.  He tossed a few hats into the crowd.  I caught a hat from Helio Castroneves after his victory in 2009.  Dan gave a hat to a youngster, which was a nice touch.  Us grown-ups can jump up in the air and hustle for a hat, but Dan apparently wanted to make sure this little guy got a piece of the victory.

After that he headed up to the elevated walkway between the pagoda and the media center to give interviews to the local Indianapolis media.  Fans would cheer, yell out congratulations, ask Dan to turn around and wave.  I’m sure some of it was alcohol-fueled.  The winners tend to be good sports about this, giving their interviews and then giving us a wave to shut us up for a minute.

Before heading off to the media center to give the official post-race interview Dan turned around and struck this triumphant pose.

I was thinking about having this photo printed and sending it to Dan to get it autographed.  I also wanted him to see it, because I thought it was a nice photo that showed his enthusiasm and excitement about winning the race.  I figure an athlete might get a kick out of seeing a photo taken by a fan, but who knows.  Anyway, it’s pretty obvious he won’t see it now and I won’t get it autographed.

ABC did a good job with their coverage of the day’s events.  It was clear the announcers and reporters were shaken up, but they stayed professional and kept their emotions in check.  Those of us watching at home couldn’t control ourselves.  As the time passed and no news had come out about Dan’s condition, I knew it was a bad situation.  I’ve been a racing fan since I was a little boy in the early 1980s.  I remember the death of the track worker and Jeff Krosnoff in Toronto.  It was the first time I had ever seen anyone die during a race.  I was a fan of Greg Moore, but I didn’t have cable at the time and didn’t see the crash that claimed his life.  A lot of people were and still are affected by it.  It was a shock for me when I heard about it during a sports report that evening.  Of course, there was Dale Earnhardt.  I had watched him race all my life.  I saw him crash at the end of the Daytona 500, but didn’t know he had died until I was flipping through the channels and saw a news report a couple hours later.  I’ll admit, Earnhardt is part of the reason I have a mustache.  I don’t know if it’s because it just happened a few hours ago, or if it’s because I saw Dan Wheldon in-person only five months ago, but his death is the one that affected me the most.  He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who was a really good racer, and as we found out this season, was a really good race announcer on TV.

I felt better after looking at the photos I took of Dan, as well as photos others took of some happier moments.  It felt good to see him happy.  But sometimes it’s hard to look at these photos, because it’s hard to believe the person in those photos is gone.  I’m sure I’ll go back and forth between happiness and sadness as more of us in the racing community share our photos.

Dan Wheldon will live on in our memories, as well as through his wife and his two very young boys.  He will also live on through the brand new 2012 IndyCar, for which he was the series’ test driver.  The new car is supposed to be safer, and maybe we can make improvements to the catch fences that tend to destroy cars.  But it is racing, which is inherently dangerous.  Racing brings us so much fun and excitement, but it can also bring us such heartbreak.

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