Dan Wheldon Dies in Tragic Crash

Dan Wheldon

Dan Wheldon was a popular and successful IndyCar driver who won the 2005 and 2011 Indy 500.  He was killed on Sunday October 16, 2011, in a 15-car pileup at the Las Vegas Speedway.

After my favorite race driver, Mark Donohue, was killed during a practice run in 1975 I quit watching auto racing events, all of them.  I was still in my twenties and decided that racing cars was not a sport that I could support, if it is a sport at all.  Mark's death, like Dan Wheldon's, seems so pointless. As I outgrew the blood sport thrill of watching a race to see if there would be a crash, I came to feel that auto racing was a race against time, a roll of the dice against death and mayhem. People are going to get killed. It seems to me that the crowds at auto racing events are bloodthirsty for crashes, yet act shocked when someone gets killed.

I feel really bad for his family.  If his death drives fans away from the racetracks, that would be good.  I hope his kids don't grow up to be fans.