Paul Tracy found himself in the middle of the 15-car wreck in which Dan Wheldon perished at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend. Tracy, 42, has been racing Indycars for 20 years but has been without a regular ride in recent seasons and has run only a handful of races for various teams. He made his fifth start of the year at Las Vegas but is seriously considering his future in racing after surviving the carnage at the high-banked 1.5-mile superspeedway.
“My parents and my wife don’t want me in those cars any more and I understand their concerns,” said Tracy this week. “It would be one thing if you were making big money but I do it for nothing now. Is it worth the risk? When I started racing I did it because I love racing and I still do, but I need to go race something else that’s not dangerous.”
The Canadian pointed to former World Champion Jody Scheckter, who wants his son Tomas to get out of Indycars following the Las Vegas tragedy, while title runner-up Will Power’s father has asked his son to do the same. “Power was really lucky,” said Tracy. “Did you see how high his car was off the ground?”
Tracy has always had a sense of humour but he sees nothing funny in IndyCar’s horsepower restricted formula and the ‘pack racing’ it creates on high-banked ovals in particular.
“You can’t run around in a pack like that,” said the Canadian. “You have to be able to go fast enough to spread the field out and be able to make clean, quick passes. We need more horsepower and a different aero package.
“You could go out on that particular track and run 25 laps on a set of tyres and it was like they weren’t even wearing. It’s so easy flat and there’s so much downforce that you’re hardly using the tyre.
“You can do 50 or 60 laps like that without any change in the grip or performance. Until you get to the point where you have to work the car and tyres and have some type of fall-off in grip you’re never going to create any type of separation between the cars.”
Tracy believes that all the drivers in the Vegas shunt were lucky to escape Wheldon’s fate. “It could have been Will or Pippa [Mann] or it could have been me,” he said. “When Pippa drove over the side of me she went right across my face and it ripped the steering wheel out of my hand. Another couple of inches and it would have ripped my head off.”
Tracy is unhappy with the IndyCar Series’ lack of response to making the now-retired Dallara-Honda combination better and has his reservations about the new 2012 car.
“I know racing is dangerous and I know people get killed,” he said. “But this car has had an inherent problem for eight years of taking off and flying. And the driver’s head is 80 per cent more exposed in the new car. We lost a great guy last weekend and I hope they work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Last Sunday was a “Watershed” moment in the quest to return Indycar racing to what it once was. Unfortunately, Randy the promoter and his stafft of advisors went in the wrong direction and we lost a “Good Guy”
Paul’s partents, along with Will, Dario Tomas,Scott and many other parents are saying the right thing, “STOP”
It has all been said in the past few days, Wrong track, Speeds to high, Too many cars, Too many rookies and part time drivers.
Randy badly needs an expierienced European Director of competition, A compentant Oval racing advisor and a recently retired driver to be his panel of advisors and race day directors.
Let us all hope this happens or we will lose the best drivers, the best teams and more fans.
There was a conscious decision to pack too many cars on the track at Las Vegas, then promote a gimmick of starting Wheldon from the back. This was nothing but a desperate attempt to attract NASCAR fans to IndyCar. They fully knew this race would have more accidents. More accidents equals better US TV exposure, most TV sports news don’t even mention races unless there is an accident video. NASCAR fans live for “wrecks”.
If IndyCar made truly safe oval racing, no one would watch it.
It’s hard to take Tracy (aka “Captain Crunch”) seriously, this guy was one of the worst perpetrators of bad driving in the height of his career, and the tragedy of that race was the race design coupled to bad driving.
Let the NASCAR tanks run on the cheap, small ovals, make IndyCar a road-only series.
I couldn’t agree with Ian Taylor more – Indy car racing is at a crossroads and needs experienced people to guide it to a more secure and safe future. Adding the element of an entirely new chassis seems to be premature at this point, allowing the more wealthy teams to once again dominate and reduce competition. It is ironic that cars raced 10 or 15 years ago were safer and more exciting than the current Dalaras, which can be credited with a number of serious injuries. It would be a tragedy to see the premier American open wheel series die.
How are the older cars somehow safer? Do we forget Greg Moore, Paul Dana or Alex Zanardi?
No design can make a car safe for a 200mph+ impact with a wall or fence.
This has nothing to do with the Dallaras, which are as safe as any F1 car, more the fact that with the waning sponsorship in IndyCar, drivers are being brought in as a function of attracting sponsorship, not driving ability. This is in contrast to the older ChampCar days.
Prior to the crash, cars were seen bumping wheels at 200+ several times.This simply was not done in the past, for obvious reasons.
There is no possible rational reason to allow racing above 200mph, or even 180mph.
The rational reason for allowing high speed motor racing is that the faster it is, the more difficult and yes, the more dangerous it can be. Anyone could be a champion if it were not so.
The speed is the point, not the problem. Letting too many drivers compete was the problem; it was always obvious that that many cars on that circuit meant a high risk of multi-car crashes involving innocent parties.
Last week on a mostly-anti-IRL forum there was a thread started called “Vegas finale sneak preview”
with the words “Gonna see lots of dullaras reckin” accompanying an embedded YouTube clip of an old movie called “On the Beach” in which there is a crazy auto race with flying cars, fireball cars and most of the field wiping themselves out. (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2KkbHxo6po )
Why is it that those who have been against IRL IndyCar for years were able to foresee the madness but those on the inside and those loyal to it kept their mouths shut?
Tomas Scheckter tweeted “I loose my life in indycar I accept that. But at least give me some say how. #shutupanddrivewillneverhappenagain” —- WHO said “shut up and drive”?????????
Actually that brings up another matter: Paul Tracy made some allegations on another web forum about those running IndyCar after the Toronto race. When Randy Bernard found out about the comments he was liviid and promised a “full investigation”. Paul told him “my account was hacked”, but Bernard received evidence indicating otherwise. Nonetheless, the matter quickly and quietly dropped. Was “shut up and drive (keep talking and don’t)” said then, too?
First, I’m angry at the IRL for its lack of concern for driver safety and a total lack of understanding that fans DON’T want to see that ever again.
F1 lost many fans with Ayrton Senna’s horrific crash. That was more freakish than negligent, but it still spawned a whole new era of safety improvements. Nevertheless it took years to get fans back to the sport.
JYS was polite when interviewed about this accident, but admitted “it was more like an aircraft accident, I’ve never seen anything like it”.
Even with IRL cars a fatal injury is freakish. The driver is pretty well shielded from debris and other cars. This crash was a calculated risk by IRL, and because these cars really take off once they get pried off the ground they come down on top of all kind or protrusions and debris that can get to the drivers head.
The IRL should be gutted and rebuilt from scratch. The new car is probably a non-starter, it’s not safe enough. Randy Bernard is partly to blame, but there are people who stood by and let him expose the drivers to absurd dangers and the series to destruction. Fans are horrified by this, and will be hard to bring back.
You don’t kill your heroes.
Hey Ray T, The chance of an open wheel driver perishing in any open race is a reality. Hell, how long have you been following open wheel racing ? The problem is the cars are going too slow. They need to go faster with less downforce , and see who the real racers are. Biggest nuts wins !!
This was a watershed moment for Indycar.
What should have been a major shot in the arm for an ailing series, instead became an absolute disaster that Indycar is going to struggle to ever recover from.
So what caused it all?
It would take a very persuasive person to even begin to convince me that the safety of the participants and, by implication, the paying public, was the primary focus.
Instead, Indycar executives literally rolled the dice in Vegas, gambling that today’s safety standards would be adequate, in spite of a hideously inflated starting grid, awash with drivers of insufficient experience.
The whole weekend was effectively a massive publicity stunt and proof, if it were ever needed, that you cannot adopt WWF marketing principles in so potentially dangerous a sport.
As much as many of us will criticise most modern F1 circuits for being somewhat sterile, there can equally be no question that safety has long been at the top of the agenda.
Instead of going back to basics, Indycar tried the traditional Vegas route of the “fast buck” by creating an end of season spectacle, without doing its homework in some extremely critical areas.
Multiple high-speed smash-ups might be part of the excitement of Nascar but these guys have open wheels and no roof protection!
People are always in a rush to blame someone after a tragedy but sometimes tragedies just happen. Not this one. Someone made a stupid decision and poor Dan died.
Those responsible need to be held to account. Regardless of whether local authorities decide to prosecute, there needs to be a formal inquiry. I’ll leave it to American readers to suggest the best options and comment on the likelihood of criminal charges being laid.
First, I am truly saddened by the loss of Dan Wheldon. However, I agree with (no matter how much I loathe to admit it) Max Mosley that the solution needs to be wrought from clear and calm analysis. All forms of motor racing are dangerous and INDYCAR is now going through what NASCAR faced when Dale Earnhardt died and what F1 faced when Ayrton Senna died. No matter how much we like to blame people when this type of thing occurs, safety is often ignored (or thought of as adequate) in motor racing until someone is killed and even then only when a hugely recognizable name is involved. I do hope constructive changes are made to improve safety in INDYCAR, but I hope the spectacle remains.
What I enjoyed about the CART PPG Champcar series was that it was not dependent on the “wheel banging” that other closed wheel series seem to think they need. I think a little too much NASCAR type thinking was used for the IRL and now we have have paid a terrible price for a “spec series” open – wheel car.
Commenting from the States, I hope there is no criminal investigation and I am unaware of any such proceedings have ever been the case with US racing. While very saddened by Dan Wheldon’s passing this could have happened many times in many series the past few years. As Mark Webber said, it could have been him at Valencia last year. Or Alan McNish at LeMans this year or Suzuka a few years back. Or Schumacher at Abu Dhabi last year. Mike Conway at Indy last year. Top level racing is remarkably safe these days but accidents like this are inevitable, and sadly we need look no further than the tragic loss of Henry Surtees. There is always this potential, especially with open wheel cars. Having said that, I was not watching the Las Vegas race as I have lost interest in IndyCar for many of the reasons stated in posts by others. There was a day I would never miss a CART race and followed it as closely as F1. The IRL/IndyCar of today is of little interest. Too many unqualified drivers. Spec cars. Inappropriate tracks. Double file restarts. Push to pass. All of these gimmicks and poor decisions lead to a poor product on display and tragedies such as this. Racing will never be entirely safe though and I hope there is not an over reaction. Don’t race IndyCars at Las vegas or other similar high banked tracks? Absolutely. Get out of the NASCAR “all cars made equal” mentality? Yes. Higher driver qualifications? Much needed. Criminal investigation? Absolutely not, now or ever.
Watching some old CART races circa 1995-1998 is like watching a totally different form of motorsport to what was happening last week at Las Vegas.
Yes it was very quick at places like Michigan and Fontana, and the cars undoubtedly has less in the way of cockpit protection for the drivers (and no HANS devices or SAFER barriers ) but there was hardly ever any ‘pack’ races or the double file nonsense that has become standard in the past decade. The drivers had far more control of their race – Greg Moore died because he lost control of his car. Wheldon died because somebody else lost control far ahead and he had nowhere to go.
The series needs to do some serious oval track testing with their new car to eliminate the drafting packs. I hope that Dallara and Cotman won’t think they are losing face by rethinking the car before next year and making some changes. I think that oval tracks can and should still be a part of the racing but only with far less downforce.
I blame Penske, Ganasi and all of the major players in this series for jumping back and forth between CART and IRL after spliting from USAC many years ago. Had someone gotten this racing in line and promoted it correctly, this series would not be hurting for viewers. The drivers know more than the people who direct this series but apparently management doesn;t want to listen. This is the elite racing series in the United States and we don’t need it turned into the embarassment called NASCAR. Racing should never be about everyone having equal equipment, running nose to tail with the fans waiting for a major accident.
As somebody who works on the inside I can only tell you that this outcome was almost inevitable. The drivers were aware that there would probably be a big crash. I was at an event where one of them lectured a group of 200+ guests on what to do when there was a big crash, and talked about how safe the cars are. Other drivers that I talked to told me that they were on edge and stressed out all week. I spoke to a writer who told me he couldn’t bear to watch practice because it was too terrifying. We all knew there was a bad crash coming. So the next question is why. As the drivers have mentioned, the low power high downforce car is the problem. In this car, a rookie from a small underfunded team can go exactly as fast as Dario, Tony or Dan – some of the greatest. That creates the situation where if there is a crash, the cars behind can’t escape as they are too close. And close racing creates flying cars. Hornish, Dario, Brack, Briscoe, Conway, Rice, Mario, etc were all lucky and landed or hit the fence in ways that were survivable. The difference here was that Dan was unlucky and hit with the top of the car, not the bottom. Don’t blame Randy he inherited this. Blame the technical staff that are supposed to be advising him. We all know where the buck stops technically – with BB. He is the architect of this kind of racing, period. BLAME HIM. He created the formula, and let it continue while car after car went flying into the fence, year after year. IndyCar took chances, and usually got lucky. The luck ran out last week. Dan and his family paid the price.
I’ve never seen a live open wheel car race in the US, although I went to Rockingham’s events and I’ve seen NASCAR at Daytona. I have also been involved in the UK small oval scene on and off for 30 or more years and regrettably witnessed the death of that very talented, and great bloke, Howard Cole many years ago.
I’m sorry if some of this seems blindingly obvious but I think it’s worth thinking about. Whilst I agree that the circumstances surrounding Dan’s tragic fate were crazy – too many cars, too similar a speed because of basically silly (and dull) restrictor plate style car rules, too many inexperienced drivers – it seems to me that the sport as a whole has suffered a kind of wall and car design blindness. Oval tracks were designed a long time ago, before the human race as a group learnt properly about how to slow a car down, whilst the rear engined open wheel open cockpit racing car, as a basic layout, has been around since the 1930s or earlier.
part 2
Today we know that a safe accident is basically three things:
-A long accident so that internal organs don’t get mashed by one huge spike of G. Witness Kubica’s BMW F1 crash which was long, but all the safer for.
- An accident where no fire is involved: The myriad of ‘fireball’ accidents in which such great names as Lauda and Scott-Brown suffered is a much reduced by technology thankfully.
- An accident where nothing enters the cockpit: We are all saw Button’s near miss with a front wing endplate recently and we should not forget Massa’s accident as well as the deaths of Surtees, Cole and Senna. McNish’s LeMans crash could have been so much worse if he had been in an open car.
So whilst I agree that all the issues surrounding that Vegas race need to be addressed, and quickly, do we in the long term need to fundamentally redesign both oval tracks and the cars that race on them to meet modern standards of safety perception as well as actual real safety? The modern population is far more risk averse than their forebears -perhaps because people have fewer children and expect them all to survive and so consequently value life more highly – but they still seek thrills that don’t seriously injure drivers.
part 3
The Cars
Modern minicams mean that you can see McNish at work in an enclosed Audi LeMans car better than you could Nuvolari in an Alfa, so maybe single seaters should become closed cockpit cars. Racing in the rain would be safer, the impact protection for the driver could be more considerably better and the majority of the spectators, IE those viewing on a TV, could see what was happening better. It’s hard to be exacting but would Dan Wheldon have survived that incident better in a closed cockpit car? You have to wonder.
The Tracks
Whilst I know US concrete walls are more complex in their design than in years gone by they could surely be redesigned to be forgiving structures? Even if this meant the spectators were a bit further away. It seems crazy that in 2011 we have cars racing inches from solid walls when we have the technology to make walls that bend and absorb impact.
When, in the seventies, I was a kid of 11 or 12 I used to stand at short oval meetings with my friends taking pride in the fact we would not move when a Z Type MG Magnette stock saloon crashed into the concrete wall we were leaning on. This happened many times on a typical Sunday afternoon and all within 3 ft of where we were standing! I remember a Mk1 Escort Hot Rod vaulting over that fence and landing in the crowd, thankfully at a quiet meeting and in a place where everyone was able to scramble away. Eventually sense dictated that a gap and catch fence was built but people still flock to short oval racing every weekend – as Rob Widows knows from his night out at Coventry last year.
part 4
US Oval racing for openwheel cars obviously needs a fundamental rethink of all the car based points listed in previous posts but, perhaps, it needs an even more radical approach in order to make it fit for the 21st century. Speed is in itself much more boring than spectacle and close racing, any follower of the fantastic BriSCA F1 stock car world knows that. For all their surfeit of power over grip, the actual speeds reached are not much greater than those of a family saloon on the M6. It’s dangerous and spectacular, accidents do happen and people do get hurt but most importantly it’s a fantastic spectacle taking place in relative safety at a slower speed against fences of sprung rope which take some of the impact stresses away from the cars.
Perhaps in a few years time open cockpits and solid concrete walls will seem as daft to young enthusiasts as Spa’s trees and the concept of being ‘thrown clear’ seemed to my generation after JYS had started to actually make people think about what they were doing.
It’s not a war for freedom, just a sport.
Magnette, not sure you should be commenting on a series you obviously know nothing about. The Vegas track has a Safer Barrier (look it up) installed in front of the concrete wall, as do most other ovals now. The IndyCar series has raced on these types of oval tracks with these cars for years. I am not a fan of those ‘pack’ races and agree that IndyCar has been lucky to not have had this tragedy happen several times before. The problem is the cars become airborne after touching wheels and hit the catch fence above the wall. Also, how would you know there were ‘too many cars’ or ‘too many inexperienced drivers’ if you don’t know anything about IndyCar racing, who the drivers are or even watched the race in question? I’m not an expert and I don’t claim to know how to fix IndyCar, but I find it strange that people who no nothing about the sport are now suddenly experts in how to fix it.
As I said at the beginning of the paragraph you refer to Calacan those comments were in broad agreement with previous posts. Not points in themselves.
My intention was to raise a broader point about the nature of the tracks and the design of the cars. ‘Safer Barrier’ is great but is never going to be as safe as the huge run off areas we now see on F1 tracks. Cars can still bounce back on to the racing line(s).
The gains made in safety over the years have been fantastic. However we can still improve and I wonder if we are nearing a time when there will be another fundamental shift in the design of cars and tracks.
Roll Cages on the cars would offer protection to the drivers. Reduce the downforce and raise the drag count would help. Bring back the Hanford Device! Perhaps increase the power to weight ratio, as well. All things should be looked at, anything would be an improvement. We need to get these cars back to where they can not run any oval wide open.