Rest easy Dan Wheldon

[RobbyMac]

Was at the shop yesterday, car was wrapped all white, and stripes were just starting to be added.

I'm sure they got finished photos (I think they were doing time lapse of the wrap as well) but the photos form the ceremony look good.

indycar site photo of the car: http://indycar.cdn.racersites.com/prod/photos/340868/FULL.jpg
more ceremony photos here: http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/6846/

 

[mfatty500]

Nice job, but the new car is still ugly. Is it any better looking in person?

 

[RobbyMac]

A little better in person. At certain angles it has some 'sexy' to it, but most other angles it's just too different and 'speedracer' if that makes sense.

I am curious who they will get to test it. Wheldon had done quite a bit of testing it.

 

[mfatty500]

Boy, no telling there is a lot of good talent out there. Do you do a lot of the cars there in Indy? (Indy cars of course)

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

We race modified open wheel every weekend. It's tragic chain of events and most drivers, myself included don't think of it at all. I've had some pretty bad wrecks but have always relied on my safety equipment. Dan Weldon died of a result from head trauma. That means his head hit the ground. I say poor design and not enough roll cage to protect the driver. The Indy type cars are build for speed and light weight. They have cut corners to make them so. They are rolling death traps and IRL should take a close look at what they are doing. Another young driver gone. Like NASCAR it will take more of these for them to wake up. Tragedy yes, but stupidity on IRL's part for letting it happen. My respects to his family and friends.

 

[RobbyMac]

we do alot of race work. NHRA and Indycar (among others) keep us pretty busy, yes. Some wraps, some decals, some paintmasks. It's a pretty good mix.

As for safety it's a tough call. the open cockpit is always going to be a problem. The head trauma was cause by his head hitting a fence post when his car shot into the catch fence (and it's not the first time it's happend). They can be going 100 mph if they wanted to slow them down, but it wouldn't prevent problems with the catch fence. And a 30' tall safer barrier is going to make the race difficult for fans to watch. I don't know what the answer is. Slow em down and bunch em up, or let em go as fast as they wish... both have their problems.
The rear carbon fiber piece protecting the rear wheel on the 2012 chassis is pretty flimsy. It's been touted that it will prevent wheels riding up and launching a car into the air, but thats hard to imagine. I envision it shattering pretty easily offering little to no protection from launching.

 

[Speedsterbeast]

Totally agree. Open cockpit is the biggest problem. Tradition is such a stupid reason to not make things safer.

As for today's safety. David Ragan would have been seriuosly hurt on Sunday at Talladega without safer barriers. If you haven't seen it take a look. It was almost as bad as Michael McDowell's crash which was the worst wall hit I've seen with a walk away. I couln't imagine what that would feel like. I've only had a hit that knocked the wind out me once. doing about 50 I t-boned a car and bent his cage in about three inches. Thankfully it was passenger side.

 

[andy]

Not really. He chose a dangerous sport. Tragic that anyone dies but the deaths in racing won't go away anytime soon. It is much less dangerous than 30+ years ago but deaths will continue

High speeds, volatile fuels. They push these cars to the ultimate limit/edge. If they don't the driver behind them will push it further and pass him

Indy cars are $hite
Indy car tracks are just not safe for such high speeds.
Indy car promoters don't give a cr@p about safety.

Dan should have followed his mates Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton into Formula 1... a proper racing series which follows strict international safety standards.

 

[Speedsterbeast]

Indy cars are $hite
Indy car tracks are just not safe for such high speeds.
Indy car promoters don't give a cr@p about safety.

Dan should have followed his mates Jenson Button & Lewis Hamilton into Formula 1... a proper racing series which follows strict international safety standards.

What a surprise! A fellow from the UK praising F1.
(just kidding)

I'd rather watch racing instead. The F1 Cars are safer, but those cars outgrew most of the tracks they race on many many years ago. I'm not a fan of most open wheel pavement racing, except the lower ranks like 3000 and similar.

 

[mfatty500]

Hey Robby Mac they are talking about your design in today's Star Cavin's column in case you did not see it.

 

[RobbyMac]

Didn't see it. I will look into it.
We did not do the design on this one though. The conceptual art came from Indycar.

 

[Mikeifg]

It's looking like they are going for a Formula one look, but more simpler.