Remembering Dan Wheldon

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson

Each Wednesday, Matt, my in-house photographer, provides me with a photo from his extensive archive to share some motorsports-related adventures and memories.

I was never lucky enough to meet Dan Wheldon.  But from all the stories I've heard and read the past couple of days, I wish I had. I did have an opportunity to see him race twice. The first time was at the Firestone 225, which was the last race ever at Nazareth. The second time was at inaugural race at Watkins Glen in September 2005, which is where this photo was taken. Here's Matt's thoughts on his photo:

"As newscasters talk about Dan Wheldon's tragic passing, they keep repeating the fact that he is a two-time Indy 500 champion, which is an amazing feat. But they keep overlooking the fact that Dan was the 2005 Indy Racing League Champion with an impressive SIX victories during the season! I shot this image on September 25, 2005, the day Dan Wheldon clinched the title of CHAMPION!"

There's not really much I can say that hasn't already been said this week. Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon.

When Racing Meets Mainstream Media

After watching a touching tribute about Dan Wheldon on Sportscenter yesterday morning, I made the mistake of changing the channel to watch a story about Dan on CNN. I should have known better. Because if the mainstream media is talking about racing, that most likely means that something bad has happened.

When something like this occurs, the media wants to know all about the numbers. How fast was he going? How many cars were involved? How many other crashes have there been? When was the last crash? They also ask why the drivers take the risk. They'll show the crash over and over again. They'll get some of facts rights but not all of them. They don't ask about one number in particular - the thousands of laps completed every year without incident.

For instance, this morning on the Today Show, the caption on the bottom of the screen read "Remembering Dan Wheldon." But all they did was speculate about why the crash happened, show pictures and footage of the crash over and over again, and ask Mario Andretti and Townsend Bell about whether the drivers thought it was unsafe to drive at Las Vegas. Never once did Matt Lauer ask them about their memories of Dan Wheldon. That's not remembering Dan Wheldon.

The mainstream media will stir the pot for a couple days, make generalizations, and place the blame before everything has been investigated. But then the story will get boring, and they'll move on. Unfortunately with tragedy comes safety improvements. Dale Earnhardt's death brought about SAFER barriers and the HANS device. John Force's near-fatal accident brought about significant changes to Funny Cars. Scott Kalitta's death resulted in the 1,000-foot distance in nitro racing.

Ultimately, Dan Wheldon's death will result in changes in IndyCar. But the mainstream media won't stick around to find out what they are.

Monday Musings, 10/17/11

A day ago, this column was going to be something much different. But my complaints about whether the NASCAR race was boring, my speculations about whether Jimmie Johnson is still in the Chase, and my questions about what's up with Lewis Hamilton really mean nothing now. They're just not important.

I sat down with excitement to watch the Dario v. Will championship battle. But as the afternoon went on, that excitement faded and I was filled with the same dread as when Greg Moore died. This day of celebration for IndyCar took such a wicked turn.

In the back of our heads, we all know that this is a dangerous sport. But we take safety for granted. Jimmie Johnson hit that wall hard Saturday night. And he walked away.  But obviously after Sunday, we reminded again of that danger and the risks that the drivers take every time they go out on the track.

Now is not the time to speculate about the hows and whys. There is plenty of time for that. Now is the time to keep Dan Wheldon's family in our thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon.