Dan Wheldon's Death Spawns Safer IndyCar Named in His Memory
A new chassis called the IndyCar Safety Cell will be named after Dan Wheldon, the British driver who died tragically at Sunday’s Las Vegas IndyCar race.
The Safety Cell has been designed by the racing company Dallara Automobili in an effort to improve the cars’ fuel efficiency, cost, and-perhaps most importantly-safety.
Wheldon, who died after a 15-car wreck Sunday, had begun racing part time, dedicating the rest of his time to being an official IndyCar test driver. Cars containing the Safety Cell had been personally tested by Wheldon, and plans had been made to bring the vehicles into production sometime next year.
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In responses to questions about track safety, the newer, safer cars that were being tested by Wheldon were designed to have additional defenses against accidents, like tougher tires to withstand potential bumps at 225 mph. Unfortunately, it was the lack of these preventative measures in current racing automobiles that caused the 15-car disaster that killed the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion.
Dallara Automobili, a nearly 40-year-old Italian racing company, prides itself on producing “the fastest, safest racing cars,” according to its website. The company had even been lauded for its safety efforts by IndyCar Vice President Will Phillips in an October story on IndyCar.com.
Phillips said of Wheldon’s efforts, “He’s been focused on what’s been needed from him to provide for the feedback to Dallara to be more consistent and concise…You couldn’t have asked for more.”
In Wheldon’s memory, Dallara has stated that they will name their more secure vehicle after him. The actual name will be released sometime in the future.
Justin Timberlake, whose clothing line William Rast sponsored Wheldon, said in a statement: “I was deeply saddened to hear the news on Dan Wheldon's unfortunate and untimely death… My thoughts and prayers are with his family in their time of loss.”
Fellow racecar driver and Briton Dario Franchitti said to ABC News Sunday of the Las Vegas Speedway, "This is not a suitable track, and we've seen it today." Several drivers had voiced concern about the speedway before the race as well.
Despite a variety of safety concerns about IndyCar’s choice of oval tracks for their racing events, death on the track is a rarity. Only three drivers have died because of driving accidents, perhaps the most infamous being the Dale Earnhardt tragedy of 2001.
Dan Wheldon is survived by his wife, Susie, and their two young children.
