Dan Weldon died today
10-16-2011, 02:08 PM
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Dan Weldon died today
anyone watching that race today see the crash? I just saw this on the news. RIP Dan and thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
10-16-2011, 03:50 PM
#3
For all that Dan has done for communities and the sport of IndyCar & his work recently testing the upcoming Dallara chassis....he will surely be missed but not forgotten.
So sad........Here is a clip that I shot at happier times, minutes after he won the Indy 500 this year:
http://vimeo.com/30644292
Thraak
So sad........Here is a clip that I shot at happier times, minutes after he won the Indy 500 this year:
http://vimeo.com/30644292
Thraak
10-16-2011, 04:23 PM
#4
Watching the race when that wreck happened was truly scary. It has to be one of the worst wrecks in Indycar history. One of the purposes of the new chassis is to help prevent cars from launching like they did today. What a tragedy , St Pete and Indycar lost a truly great person today. To anyone that has ever had a chance to speak to or meet him he was a very upbeat and humble guy. R.I.P. Dan Wheldon . . . you will be missed.
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10-18-2011, 03:55 AM
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I was watching live and I had a bad feeling, then I saw them put a tarp over his car once he was removed from it, not a good sign.
I have seen this happen too many times before and it is always devastating. In 1982 I was on pit lane in Indy for qualifications working as a photographer and I knelt in front of (10 feet away) Gordon Smileys car as he was in the chute and shot several pictures of him getting into the car and getting buckeled in etc. He left pit lane to do 2 warm up laps and 4 qualifying laps he made one warm up lap and crashed on his 2nd warm up lap. He was killed instantly.
Here is the description of the accident scene from Dr. Steve Olvey from his biography, Rapid Response (warning this is graphic):
While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact...I rode to the care center with the body. On the way in I performed a cursory examination and realized that nearly every bone in his body was shattered. He had a gaping wound in his side that looked as if he had been attacked by a large shark. I had never seen such trauma." (Rapid Response, pp 98-99).
The death of Smiley has always bothered me, one minute I was taking photos of him and within 3 minutes he was dead. Smiley was 33 years old, same age as Wheldon.
I have seen this happen too many times before and it is always devastating. In 1982 I was on pit lane in Indy for qualifications working as a photographer and I knelt in front of (10 feet away) Gordon Smileys car as he was in the chute and shot several pictures of him getting into the car and getting buckeled in etc. He left pit lane to do 2 warm up laps and 4 qualifying laps he made one warm up lap and crashed on his 2nd warm up lap. He was killed instantly.
Here is the description of the accident scene from Dr. Steve Olvey from his biography, Rapid Response (warning this is graphic):
While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact...I rode to the care center with the body. On the way in I performed a cursory examination and realized that nearly every bone in his body was shattered. He had a gaping wound in his side that looked as if he had been attacked by a large shark. I had never seen such trauma." (Rapid Response, pp 98-99).
The death of Smiley has always bothered me, one minute I was taking photos of him and within 3 minutes he was dead. Smiley was 33 years old, same age as Wheldon.
10-18-2011, 08:49 AM
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10-21-2011, 01:59 PM
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Very sad. I was curious about his house and had no idea he was a local in St Pete. He must have loved Hondas because to my surprise there was a Fit and an Accord in front of his house on Google maps. He will be missed
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