Wheldon’s death still exposing raw nerves
I don’t know if a dollar figure can be put on a man’s life, or in this case, his death. But somebody sort of has, and so now it’s official: The IndyCar series won’t be returning to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next year in the aftermath of the Dan Wheldon tragedy.
IndyCar bought out LVMS’s contract for next year’s race, with an option to return in 2013.
It was only 10 days ago that LVMS owner Bruton Smith bluntly stated there should be an IndyCar race at LVMS in 2012, and another in 2013.
“We have two years left on our contract, and I expect Randy to honor it,” Smith told The Associated Press.
Randy is Randy Bernard, the IndyCar CEO who basically went into hiding after the fiery 15-car crash that killed Wheldon on Oct. 16, leaving LVMS president Chris Powell to answer every difficult question about the popular Englishman and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
That was wrong. It wasn’t Powell’s idea to bring the Indy cars back to town. It was IndyCar’s. It was a track rental, as they say in the business.
Was it wrong for Smith to demand IndyCar honor the final two years of its contract with LVMS? Not by law.
Did it seem insensitive, considering it has been less than two months since Wheldon’s deadly crash? Yes, maybe a little.
Maybe a lot.
Having said that, people eventually will go back to hiring helicopter pilots to take them sightseeing at Lake Mead. People will fall off horses. People will get back on.
A racing pal makes an excellent point. He says had it been Jovy Marcelo instead of Dan Wheldon, there probably would have been a race here next year and the year after that and probably the year after that, if attendance improved. Nary a doubt would have been cast. Nary an eyebrow would have been raised.
Jovy Marcelo was a rookie driver from the Philippines who was killed in practice before the 1992 Indianapolis 500 when his car struck the Turn 1 wall at 172 mph, less than warm-up speed for an Indy car.
There was no formal investigation of that crash. There was no demand for one. People don’t demand formal investigations when rookie drivers die.
When popular drivers die, it exposes nerves, leaves emotions raw. That’s why I wrote on Oct. 23 that IndyCar wouldn’t be back at LVMS.
What if next year there was another crash?
There will be new cars next year, with bodywork protecting the rear wheels. The new design is expected to prevent the kind of accident that launched Wheldon’s car and three others into the air on Lap 11. The new cars have been 15 mph slower in testing. But will they be safe? Nobody knows for sure. Drivers say the new cars are “twitchy” on ovals, despite the slower speeds.
That’s why IndyCar also has yet to commit to Texas Motor Speedway, one of its most popular venues. TMS also is owned by Smith’s Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Maybe this is why Smith has been outspoken. A guy’s gotta make a buck in a tough economy.
“There’s never been a problem at Texas. Never, ever, ever,” Smith said. “I have no idea why, all of a sudden, Texas would be considered not suitable for IndyCar.”
It’s because those cars tend to run full throttle in tightly bunched packs at Texas, too, leaving little room for error.
As for there never, ever, ever having been a problem at Texas, check out Kenny Brack’s 2003 crash there on YouTube. Check out Davey Hamilton’s in 2001.
If never, ever, ever means a driver not having been killed at Texas, then, yes, there never has been a problem. Brack suffered a broken sternum and femur, two crushed ankles and shattered a vertebra in his spine. Doctors wanted to amputate Hamilton’s pulverized feet and lower legs.
There is inherent danger in auto racing. If it wasn’t dangerous, if anybody could do it, fewer people would watch.
At the end of the day, the decision to not race at LVMS was the right call.
Perhaps the new Indy car will be safer at any speed. Perhaps it won’t be conducive to running in packs on the 1.5-mile ovals. Perhaps guys won’t leave their blood in Turn 2, under the O’Reilly Auto Parts billboard.
Perhaps IndyCar will return to Las Vegas in 2013.
Perhaps by then, they’ll take down the photo of Dan Wheldon’s gruesome wreck on Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Wikipedia page.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.
