Las Vegas Motor Speedway's "limitless" racing surface was singled out Thursday as a significant factor in a "perfect storm" of conditions that led to the death of Dan Wheldon.
Wheldon, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was killed Oct. 16 during the series' season finale when his car sailed 325 feet through the air into a catchfence and his head hit a post in the fence. The blow created a "non-survivable injury."
In the wake of the 15-car wreck, many criticized CEO Randy Bernard and IndyCar for creating a deadly mix of circumstances — offering a jobless Wheldon the chance at a $5 million bonus if he could drive from the back of a 34-car field to Victory Lane on a high-banked oval, where a field of mixed experience levels had enough room to race three-wide at more than 220 miles an hour.
But Brian Barnhart, IndyCar's president, dismissed those factors and focused instead on Vegas' multi-grooved wide racing surface that heightened the dangers of pack racing on a high-banked oval.
The IndyCar, with open wheels and an open cockpit, is not suited for the pack racing that develops on ovals. Unlike NASCAR, where cars bump and bang on every lap, contact in an IndyCar results in either a crash or broken parts.
"Racing grooves not only restrict drivers' naturally aggressive racing behavior, but make the location of another competitor's car on the racetrack more predictable," the report said.
But when the race began at Vegas, cars were all over the track — movement that series officials did not expect despite drivers' warnings.
"The ability of the drivers to race from the bottom of the racetrack all the way up to the wall and run limitless is not a condition we've experienced before," Barnhart said. "I don't think we were expecting it to be any different from what we'd experienced in the last decade at places like Chicagoland, Kentucky, Fontana and Texas....
"We were never expecting to be able to run from the top to the bottom (at Las Vegas)."
Drivers, however, predicted as early as preseason testing that Las Vegas would be dangerous and repeated those warnings during the buildup to the race.
Bernard said that the report was shared with Wheldon's widow, Susie, on Wednesday evening, and that she spoke with Barnhart and Bernard afterward.
"She talked to Brian Barnhart primarily about the investigation because I felt it was important for Brian to educate her," Bernard said. "My conversation with her was about some other questions and family matters that she wanted to discuss."
The report found that although Wheldon stayed low on the track in an attempt to avoid the cluster of cars spinning toward the top — he had slowed from 224 mph to 165 — his path was blocked by other cars. His first contact with another car sent him airborne and into the catchfence.
Las Vegas is owned by Speedway Motor Sports Inc., and the organization has spent considerable money on research into fencing. SMI owner Bruton Smith said his fences are the strongest and safest in the business, and he makes no apologies for constructing them with the posts inside the wiring.
Barnhart said there is no indication Wheldon would have survived had the post been on the outside.
"It does not look like the position of the mesh fabric would have changed the consequences of this accident at all," Barnhart said. "Sometimes the forces are too great. The small fabric is not there to retain a car. That's the object of the post and the cables. The location of the fabric would not have changed the outcome at all, but as we've said, our preference is for it to be on the inside."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement