No matter what type of auto racing you may follow, all fans felt the pain of the tragic passing of IRL driver Paul Dana. Dana was killed in a practice crash Sunday morni
Paul Dana was 30 years old and was to embark on his first full season in Indy Car Racing. He was tabbed to drive for Rahal Letterman Racing as teammate to Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice. Both Patrick and Rice withdrew from Sunday's event out of respect for their departed teammate.
"This is a very black day for us. On behalf of all of our team, David (Letterman), our sponsors and associates, our prayers and sympathies certainly go out to Paul and his wife Tonya and the whole Dana family. This is a great tragedy," said team co-owner and former driver Bobby Rahal.
Dana, a graduate from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism, had finally fulfilled his life-long dream of racing full-time in the IRL as he replaced Vitor Meira as driver of the No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing ride.
This was the third fatality at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, all ironically occurring in the month of March. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver John Nemechek died on March 21st, 1997, and Grand American Road Racing Series driver Jeff Clinton died on March 1st, 2002.
After this latest auto racing tragedy, all focus will be on safety and what could have prevented Dana from fatal injuries.
The Show Must Go On
The season opener for the IRL series was eclipsed with tragedy, yet the show went on. Defending IRL champion Dan Wheldon edged out Helio Castroneves in what could be considered the most rousing finish in IRL history.
Despite winning the race, Wheldon was deeply distraught by the loss of one of his competitors. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dana family and all of Rahal Letterman Racing," said Wheldon, "It's a very, very sad day. I think hopefully we put on a good race."
The margin of victory for Wheldon was 0.0147, which was the ninth closest in IRL history.
Next race is the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 2nd.
