The Indycar Series made its return to the Reliant Park Street Circuit in Houston for the Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Doubleheader back on October 5-6. Although Race #1, which was held on that Saturday, was highlighted by the great side by side passing and overtaking, Race #2, which was held on Sunday the 6th, was highlighted by a more serious event.
On the last lap, spectators got to see an amazing battle for the win between championship contenders Will Power and Scott Dixon, but this wasn't any big news. Racing fans around the world got a wake up call on that last lap when 4-time Indycar Champion Dario Franchitti made contact with Japanese driver Takuma Sato in turn 5 of the circuit, sending Franchitti into the catchfence. I remember watching this live and the very first thought that came to my mind was "I hope this isn't another Wheldon," referencing to the tragic death of Indycar driver Dan Wheldon at the World Championship race in Las Vegas on October 16, 2011. Wheldon died when he was involved in an 11-car wreck, sending his car into the catchfence. He was later pronounced dead from a skull fracture, an injury that is very common in auto racing. Going back to Dario's wreck, it wasn't known until about five minutes after the wreck that news came out that there were some fans that were hit with debris in the grandstand section of turn 5. That news brought me back to when Kyle Larson hit the catchfence during the February Nationwide Series race at Daytona. The total number of fans that were injured in Larson's wreck was 28, most with minor scratches and bruises. The total number for Dario's wreck were 14, including two track workers.
The videos below compare Wheldon's fatal wreck (Top-WARNING: Graphic Content), Larson's wreck from Daytona (Middle), and Dario's wreck from TV cameras and a fan's phone from the exact same grandstand ( Bottom)
Now is it me, or does it seem like there have been too many wrecks involving cars going into the catchfence lately. Is it an extreme circumstance or are the cars too fast nowadays? These are questions that fans have raised over the past couple of years, because it is the truth. Whether the racing is getting too competitive or the cars are too fast, both fans and drivers agree that there has to be a better way to keep the catchfence from breaking and flying into the grandstand.
The real question is by looking at the videos above, how did the catchfence at Las Vegas remain intact with a 220MPH car making contact with it where these other two wrecks carried speeds not nearly as fast and the catchfence was left obliterated?
The wreck knocked out Franchitti for a few minutes while the Safety crew were extracting him from the car. Thankfully, Franchitti survived but suffered a spinal fracture, a broken right ankle, and a concussion. During Wheldon's autopsy, it was confirmed that the posts that connect each fence link made contact with Wheldon's skull and separated it from the spinal column. Wheldon sustained a Basilar Skull Fracture and died about an hour later. Franchitti's cockpit DID NOT make contact with the metal posts connecting the catchfence, which saved his life.
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