RIP Indycar driver Justin Wilson (1 Viewer)

[Ben & Jerry's]

Not sure how many of you follow Indy type racing but we lost a good driver this evening.

Wilson was struck in the head yesterday with the nose cone from another car following an accident yesterday at Pocono. He had been in a coma since the incident.

I am fortunate enough to get to work at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the various racing events and he was well liked. He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. Wilson was 37.

A native of Sheffield England, he and his family currently resided in Colorado. Justin drove for Andretti Motorsports. He is the first Indy driver to be killed since Dan Wheldon lost his life in Vegas 2011.

 

[Insein]

It was so bizarre. I never watch racing Indy or otherwise. I went out with my BIL and our kids to watch a couple of drivers do practice laps in Pocono because its like 10 mins from my BILs house up there this weekend. Thought it was pretty neat.

But then that story. Ugh.

 

[Eephus]

I'm gutted. I've followed American open-wheel racing longer than I have any other sport. Death on the track happens less frequently than decades ago but it hits me harder. Maybe it's because it a rarer event or because of increased access to the drivers' off-track personalities. Perhaps it's just the sense of mortality that is heightened by a freak accident.

Wilson was a talented guy who competed for wins even though he never held a top tier ride. He washed out of F1, in part because Ford lost interest in Jaguar F1 but also because his height affected aerodynamics. He came to the States in the late years of the IRL/CART schism and established himself as one of the top Champ Car drivers. Naturally, Champ Car lost out to the IRL and Wilson returned to mostly backmarker teams in the unified series. He consistently out-performed his teammates and managed a couple of race wins.

Everybody always says nice things about the recently deceased but Wilson was unique in this hyper-competitive sport in that nobody ever said bad stuff about him. My iFriends who work inside the sport always said that Wilson was one of the nicest guys on the circuit. He was a genuine mensch; not somebody who switched on the charm when the cameras were rolling.

There's a race this weekend, the season finale from Sonoma. I think I'll find something else to do on Sunday afternoon.

 

[AAABatteries]

The video of it is both frightening and sobering - that piece of debris bounced a couple of times it seems - so unlucky the way it happened. RIP Justin.

 

[boilerdave]

I too am a long time Indycar Racing fan and spend a lot of time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway every May. It's terrible when a driver is taken like this and saddens me even though I know it can and does happen. Indycar drivers never fail to amaze me with their skill and bravery especially on the high speed ovals.

RIP Justin. You were great for the sport on and off the track.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Very sad. RIP.

Between this and Jules Bianchi, been a rough few months for high-profile open-wheel racing.

 

[Summer Wheat]

Amazing the amount of bad luck and timing it took for the piece of the car to hit him in the head. A foot or so either way and it would have missed him. RIP

 

[glock]

Amazing the amount of bad luck and timing it took for the piece of the car to hit him in the head. A foot or so either way and it would have missed him. RIP

I was almost full on T-boned by some insurance less, suspended license toting, red light running schmuck 20+ years ago. Instead, he hit my driver's side front wheel and spun me like a top. He could have wound up right in my lap.

RIP, Justin. Thoughts and prayers to family and friends.

 

[LarryAllen'sJockstrap]

That reminded me of a couple of previous accidents.

In 2009, F1 racer Felipe Massa took a suspension spring, that came off a car in front of him, through his helmet visor. It went just above his eye; he survived and still races, but if the spring hadn't bounced exactly how it did, and his head was angled just the way it was, he would have surely died.

Again, In 2009, F2 driver Henry Surtees died when the wheel of a car in front of him that had just crashed broke off its tethering, bounced onto the track, up and into his cockpit, hitting him square in the helmet.

The worst wreck I can remember ever seeing was when the nose and entire front section of Alex Zanardi's car (including the portion of Alex that was in it) was sheared completely from the cockpit. There are still pics and videos; not for the faint of heart. He also lived and went on to make quite a name for himself outside racing.