There is nothing I’m going to say here that hasn’t been said more eloquently in other places. In fact, my friend, and CrimsonCast Co-Creator, Galen summed up my feelings well last night with his Tweet:
I got interested in the Indianapolis 500 in 1985, when my parents and I moved from New York City to Bloomington, Indiana. My father won a pair of tickets to the race at Chi-Chi’s, and that was the first in 10 straight races that we went to.
Sadly “The Split” came at a bad time in life for me, as I was leaving High School and going to IU for college. My interests began to change and while I would still try to catch the race on the radio or TV, my Dad & I stopped going to the track each year.
After college, I moved to Houston, Texas and was so wrapped up in a new place and new career, that I even watching or keeping track of the series and the 500 for a few years. But in 2004, as Memorial Day rolled around, I realized something novel for a kid who grew up in Indiana. In Houston, I could watch the Indy 500 LIVE on TV (The race has always been tape delayed in the Indianapolis area). That brought me back to the 500. After a few years, I realized how empty I felt at the end of May because racing was over for the year. That when I realized, I need to be watching the whole season, and since then, I have been hooked.
When I fully got back into INDYCAR, I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t a huge Dan Wheldon fan. He seemed brash and a bit cocky. Plus, I figured that since he left on bad terms with Ganassi & Andretti, and was suing the ownership of Panther, he wasn’t the best guy to deal with.
That all changed at the 2011 Burger Bash. My wife & I attended, and we got to see Dan up close and personal. I only met him in passing, but I was blown away by how engaging and funny he was, not to mention how nice he acted toward all the fans.
Leaving the track after this year’s 500 with my wife, I listened to interviews with Dan, where he talked about how much this race and city meant to him. My thoughts on him started to change. Then in the following weeks, he really impressed me with his personality on the VS broadcasts. At that point, I even mentioned in a column, that my thoughts on Dan had changed. This only continued throughout the season, as I heard him talk about the new 2012 car he was testing and his planning for the Vegas race and 2012.
I had really gone 180 on Dan, and behind TK and James Hinchcliffe, Dan was someone I was rooting for to win.
On Sunday, I was watching the race on DVR, so I was about 30 minutes behind real-time. I have seen quite a few wrecks in INDYCAR, yet oddly the moment I saw this one, I had a feeling that something was wrong. My wife had stepped away, but came back into the room, and there we stayed for the next 2+ hours. I knew things were bad when they showed all the in-car cameras, but not Dan’s. It got more surreal, when I started thinking about how the live ABC coverage was showing Dan’s in-car camera and talking about safety when the wreck started.
As things seemed to get more serious, my wife and I started to check Twitter & news feeds, which because of the DVR were about 30-40 minutes ahead of where we were in the broadcast. The confirmed reports seemed to stay that while it was serious, the vitals seemed good. But the mood on the telecast seemed to show us that something more was wrong. It made me sick to see all the fake reports on Dan’s death on Twitter, but as more were popping up, it got me more and more concerned.
Sadly, once I saw that Curt Cavin Tweeted that Dan had passed, I knew it was real. Oddly, even after all online outlets were reporting it, my wife and I continued to be glued to the 40 minute delayed broadcast, almost hoping that it would change, or that it wasn’t fully real until ABC announced it.
For not having time or forethought, I thought that the 5 lap salute was very moving. I was also impressed with Marty Reid’s sign-off, very well said and very poignant. My wife and I left our house for a walk, just to clear our heads.
Going back to the Tweet from Galen, I found myself last night very bothered by this. Maybe it’s because I am the same age as Dan. Maybe it’s because I was watching the event live as it happened. Maybe it’s because my wife is currently 5 months pregnant, so seeing his family left behind really hit home. Maybe, it is because this is the first major death that I have dealt with since I have gotten back into INDYCAR. Maybe it’s because my thoughts had changed so much on Dan over the past 3-4 years, and I was finally at a point where I was excited for him in 2012.
In the end, there is no need to find out why. All I know is that even after a night of sleep, I still feel empty. And in the end, that is what we are all left with, an empty hole in the INDYCAR world that will not be filled.
This post was as much for me to get my feelings and thoughts posted, as it was for you to read. I know I wasn’t breaking any new thoughts on Dan, but just sharing my feelings was something I felt I needed to do.
Besides saying that I’m sad & empty and that my thoughts & prayers go out to the young Wheldon family, I’m not sure how to correctly end this post. So I’ll just leave you with a picture that Tony Kanaan posted on Twitter saying this is how we should remember Dan.
INDYCAR and 2012 Indy 500 talk with George from Oilpressure.com [ 55:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (498)
