auto racing

Wheldon killed in massive, fiery IndyCar crash

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Of course it's easy to say after the event, but that track looked horribly overcrowded, even on the 12th lap. With 34 cars on 1.5 miles of track, it's twice as crowded as the shortest Formula 1 tracks. And why did so many of the cars burst into flames? Of course they carry fuel but F1 cars don't seem to catch fire so easily.

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RIP, Dan Wheldon....:(

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Very high speed chain reaction type crash, the scariest of them all. R.I.P.

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Horrific video online, tragic end to the season, RIP Dan Wheldon, but everyone knows the risk in this sport.

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And why did so many of the cars burst into flames? Of course they carry fuel but F1 cars don't seem to catch fire so easily.

Not sure, but if it is not due to F1 fuel tanks being better protected than the indy cars, it might have something to do with F1 cars running on petrol, and Indy cars on Methanol. Guessing that explosive upper and lower limits are quite different.

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There is a fence above the concrete side wall called a 'catch fence' I believe, and some people are saying that when a car lifts and hits this chicken wire the results are horrific both for driver and car.

May his family find peace and closure.

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Drivers had voiced concern about the high speeds being reached at Las Vegas,

How does a race car driver voice thier concerns about speeds? What do they say,"Hey, hey, heeeey! That guy is hauling ass! Tell him to slow down so I can keep up!"

Just wondering....

It means the cars are reaching speeds that are too fast for the track to handle. The track was too narrow for so many cars going at such high a speed.

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Some tracks aren't designed to take that number of cars, the track was too overcrowded for cars going at that speed. As it was also an oval the speed would be more than usual as there is less cornering involved.

The added speed plus not being enough room on the track was a recipe for a disaster, and it happened.

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How does a race car driver voice thier concerns about speeds?

This is not a new issue. NASCAR faced it years ago at the super speedways (Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta). The cars were just getting too fast so NASCAR introduced restrictor plates under the carburetors to slow the cars down. Some of the comments about LV being too fast for Indy Cars came from open wheel racers who have switched to NASCAR. They'er saying that in the stock cars at least you have a cage around you and a roof over you in case you get upside-down. In the lighter Indy Cars it's easier to get airborne and when you land upside-down, you land on your head.

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But isn't that what NASCAR, F1 and any type of racing is about? The driver's pushing thier cars and themselves over the limit? If the track was to narrow, wouldn't that be a strategy?

Not trying to be sarcastic here, but their are risks in this sport and high speeds at narrow tracks is one of them. Still do not see how a racer can complain about speeds.

Drivers obviously have every right to complain about a track that they feel isn't safe for the type of cars they're expected to drive--not sure what there is to get about that. If the point was to simply go as fast as possible, they'd be out on a salt flat somewhere in Utah driving in a straight line and comparing top speeds. This track was too short and too narrow to accommodate the number of cars that would be on it simultaneously. In addition, when the cars are all flat-out the entire way around, they stay clumped together in packs, and obviously wheel-to-wheel contact in an open-wheel car at top speed presents serious problems that don't really exist for closed-wheel cars such as those used in NASCAR.

The simple truth is that no matter what safeguards you put in place, the possibility of death and injury will always be present--there's simply no way to eliminate it entirely other than by not participating at all. In the chaos of a high-speed accident, quite literally anything can happen, and everyone involved accepts that risk.

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Drivers obviously have every right to complain about a track that they feel isn't safe for the type of cars they're expected to drive--not sure what there is to get about that.

Then...don't race? Whatever happend to "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen?"

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Then...don't race? Whatever happend to "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen?"

The only way a driver boycott really works is if it's unanimous, and no driver is going to pull out if he/she suspects the others won't. Some of the drivers' postrace comments raise the question as to why they didn't refuse to race if they truly believed it was so dangerous, but I'm sure the enormous financial pressures coupled with simply not wanting to be the one that blinks in the face of danger goes a long, long way.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It means the cars are reaching speeds that are too fast for the track to handle. The track was too narrow for so many cars going at such high a speed.

But isn't that what NASCAR, F1 and any type of racing is about? The driver's pushing thier cars and themselves over the limit? If the track was to narrow, wouldn't that be a strategy?

Not trying to be sarcastic here, but their are risks in this sport and high speeds at narrow tracks is one of them. Still do not see how a racer can complain about speeds.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

these cars on ovals are dumb... make them with TURNS.. Nascar racing sucks too.....

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Drivers had voiced concern about the high speeds being reached at Las Vegas,

How does a race car driver voice thier concerns about speeds? What do they say,"Hey, hey, heeeey! That guy is hauling ass! Tell him to slow down so I can keep up!"

Just wondering....

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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