We hear it said all the time that safety is a moving target. We think we have made auto racing as safe as it can be. We get complacent after seeing driver after driver walk away from wreck after wreck. So on Sunday afternoon when Dan Wheldon didn't walk away from the fiery wreck on lap 12 of the IndyCar Series finale, it took our breath away.
There are risks involved with everything in life. No matter what you do for a living, there is inherent risk involved. Some of these risks are just greater than others. Auto racing drivers stare death in the face every time they fire their engines and take to the track. They know this and they accept it because it is what they do. This is their job.
But the sport is undoubtedly safer than it was just five or ten years ago. With the introduction of the Hans Device, Safer Barriers and safer body styles and construction for the race cars themselves, auto racing is head and shoulders above where it once was from a safety standpoint.
But once again, safety is a moving target. There is no way to prevent serious injury, or even death, from ever happening again in the sport. But taking steps to prevent it form happening as frequently is the best that can be done.
We get complacent seeing drivers walk away from even the most violent of impacts. We develop an "Aw, he'll be fine" mentality. IndyCar hadn't suffered a casualty since Paul Dana was killed in 2006 and Nascar has been without a fatality since 2001 when Dale Earnhardt lost his life. We all expected everyone to walk away from the IndyCar wreck on that clear, sunny Sunday afternoon. So when Wheldon didn't, it shook the racing world to it's core.
These drivers don't race for money. They don't race for fame. They race because it is what they love to do. They know that they might not make it back, even with all of today's safety innovations, and they have come to terms with that. Their families have also come to terms with these very same facts and that can't be an easy thing.
Motorsports is indeed "safer," but it will never be truly "safe." We will never see a racing series where there is no risk of death or injury. No matter how safe the series is, as long as drivers strap into race cars every weekend, the possibility that they may not climb back out will always be there. Dan Wheldon's untimely passing is a sobering reminder of that very truth. One of the greatest IndyCar champions ever is indeed gone. All the rest of the drivers can do is think, hope and pray that they won't be the next one lost in an on-track tragedy.
May God bless Dan's wife Susie, his two little boys Sebastian and Oliver, and all of his family and friends as they go through this unimaginably difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Rest in peace Dan Wheldon. Every time a field of racers face this reality and come out in one piece, we will think of you and smile.
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