Goodbye Dan

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Today, two children lost a father, a wife lost a husband, and the racing world lost a great competitor. Following injuries sustained in a lap 12 crash during the IndyCar series finale in Las Vegas, Dan Wheldon tragically lost his life. He was just 33 years old.

To echo the comments of the other drivers and commentators, drivers understand the risks involved but it doesn't make it any easier to lose someone. The cars and tracks are as safe as possible but it is impossible to remove all risks. It is obviously a tragic string of events that lead to Dan's death so to analyze the issues are another task for another day.

Dan was a great ambassador for the sport, someone that really was Indycar at its core. He was well liked around the garage and he had a real passion for racing. When asked about his opinionated views he said, "I put everything into my racing, and I expect the same back".

It's unfortunate that we had to lose someone, to see the emotion of guys like Tony Kannan and Dario Franchitti trying to pull themselves together; can't help but make you well up a bit yourself. I would like to give the network a round of applause as they did an excellent job in the coverage of being respectful. I think once it came out that they tarped the car, everyone knew that things were very very dire. The hardest part for me is that while they understood the dangers of racing, it still weighs as a matter of "is it worth it?" It's such a tragedy that two young children will grow up without their father. Goodbye Dan.

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A Sweet Sickness

Odd Man Out - 4 - Chrysler Mod Top

Photo from Moore's Mopars

Chrysler as a company has historically marched to the beat of its own drum. When they hit, they hit big boy Babe Ruth grand slams. See the original 30 or any of their muscle cars and their Hemi motors. But when they miss, and they've missed very often, it's so devastating that it has put the company under multiple times.

In the the late 60's and early 70's they were in the midst of a hot streak. The success of their staple muscle cars like the Dart, Challenger, and Cuda shot them to the top of the heap, outshining their mediocre at best full size lineup. They were not shy about taking chances, offering their full lineup of high impact colors like Green Go and Top Banana. But in 1969, they went over the top. Literally.

Required Viewing

For anyone interested in the history of American motorsports this documentary is required viewing. Documenting the evolution of the land speed record and the 60's in which the record jumped 200+ mph in a decade.

In Search of Speed - The Battle of Bonneville Part 1/6