The Ripple Effect of Dan Wheldon's death

Dan Wheldon's death at the season finale in Las Vegas brought a tragic end to the 2011 Indycar season. The incident on lap 13 sent him into the catch fencing, causing the car to burst into flames and roll multiple times. From the reports that I've heard, his head hit one of the posts holding the catch fence upright. I have also heard that the roll structure on his car also broke off but that matters little at this point.

Dan was such a beloved figure on the circuit by both the drivers and fans, so it is a shock that he died. It will continue to be so for a long time, as he was the first major driver in Indycar/CART since Scott Brayton and Greg Moore to die (not marginalizing the others that have died between Brayton, Moore, and Wheldon, but those three were major contenders in their series).

How can Indycar proceed from now? That's what this article is going to discuss, but no option is easy. However, making the right decision will make changes in the future that hopefully will prevent something like this from happening again.

Catch fencing is imperfect. Let us call it like it is, but at the same time there is no good alternative. Each possible design has drawbacks.

• If you use a lexan crash shield instead of fencing, a car could vault over that, much like a Sprint Car at a dirt track.
• Tethering the fencing away from the wall will result in it being much weaker, bringing the possibility to going through the catch fence instead of bouncing off of it. However, if done right it could actually "catch" the cars instead of repelling them back onto the track. But this would only work on corners where there are no stands, the rest of the fencing would have to be as it is now.
• Sealing the tops of Safer Barriers would prevent a car from getting snagged in it, but would make it incredibly difficult to repair in the event of a major accident.

Open Wheel racing cars on that kind of track, running at those speeds will produce major accidents. That is a fact of life that each driver considers. The higher the banking, the more of a funnel effect there is from accidents sweeping across the track.

The exposed rear wheels are another issue. When running behind someone, it is possible to vault over them if the driver in front brakes too hard. It takes both cars out of the race guaranteed. On the right, the new Dallara DW12 is shown. While it is not the prettiest thing by any means, it does address some of the key issues. The rear wheels are protected by pods. Certainly cannot run over top of them even if they are an eyesore.

Also, they are not powerful enough and carry too much downforce. To the casual observer, this may seem to be a counterproductive statement, however the previous generation cars rarely had to brake on long ovals. Less downforce equals decreased handling at high speeds, and the more horsepower would equal greater speeds on the straightaways. The combination of both would require braking going into the corners, resulting in actually driving the track instead of burying your foot down and holding on for dear life.

I'm trying to hold off on harsh judgments because of all the positive news coming through about the 2012 season. It should be a very good field that could potentially be much greater with the addition of Rubens Barrichello, whose illustrious F1 career can bring a greater interest towards the series in both South America and Europe. The car has looked solid during testing and the turbo engines are a nice change from the naturally aspirated motors that have dominated Indycar over the last few years. I didn't think I would be, but I can say with confidence that I'm excited for the 2012 season.