Tomorrow we will say our public goodbyes to Dan Wheldon. Everyone who follows IndyCar racing has had some time to remember, looking back fondly, cherishing our "family," and pouring out our sympathies to Susie, Sebastian, and Oliver; Dan's parents and brothers.
The family serivces today, as covered by USA Today ( http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/indycar/story/2011-10-22/dan-wheldon-funeral/50869962/1) are available here.
Most of my fellow bloggers have had beautifully written pieces talking about our grief, sense of loss, and personal thoughts. I strongly recommend the piece written by "The Ragin' Canadian," Meesh, (http://meeshbeer.wordpress.com/) normally an R-rated (for language) blogger who's not ever afraid to express an opinion. Her very personal take on feelings at this time I found very moving. Ditto for George Phillips at Oilpressure.com.
Personally I want to thank several of our friends in NASCAR for the condoleneces and gestures during this period of loss. They too, lost a brother driver, and I noticed in Talledega qualifying that many were subdued, effected by racing's loss.
Looking forward, perhaps Dan's greatest legacy will be the new chassis, which will bear his name in some form or fashion. Much work was done in the design phase of that chassis to lessen the potential for just the type of accident that we saw last Sunday. It is my sincere hope that The IZOD IndyCar Series will go forward with some sort of group testing of the new chassis, before we go racing again to understand what the traffic characteristics of this new chassis will be. This will allow time for any "tweaks" needed to ensure as much stability in the chassis as we can find.
While next year's schedule is still not finalized, it is apparent that all of our racing prior to Indianapolis will be on road or street circuits. Before we approach the month of May and the speeds of Indy, we need to know how these cars will operate together. In addition, because we have a significant number of drivers with limited oval experience, it might be wise to expand practice for Indy somewhat.
Please, let's make sure before we're going three wide down the main straightaway toward the green flag on Memorial Day Sunday that everyone is as comfortable as possible with that new chassis and engine. We all know how fast the start at the Speedway can go wrong, particualrly when there are some drivers who try to win the 500 on the first lap. To many who do not follow our series regularly, that first lap at Indianapolis will be the first INDYCAR race they have seen since the tragedy of last weekend. It is imperative that it be safe.
Finally, several have pointed out that there has been a significant amount of irresponsible journalism during the period following last Sunday. I suspect that in the coming weeks, a few of those who put their names to such pieces are going to be called out and I know at least a couple of my fellow bloggers who have withheld their viewpoints until the immediate shock of this has mitigated, at least to some degree. As many blogger-friends have expressed, this has NOT been the week to forward an agenda: time will come for that. And frankly, some of the folks who will be singled out just flat did not do any homework before spouting their bile. (Hint: If you call it the IRL, you've been asleep for two years.)
The next few months should be interesting....
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