Bad Timing with the Worst Consequence

I skipped a couple of weeks.  I'm still announcing for Elkhart Christian Academy Athletics, looking for officiating assignments and waiting for the IndyCar race yesterday at Pocono.  Little did I know it would happen again.

The race was fantastic.  Plenty of side by side racing, and passing at all parts of the track.  Pocono is famous for good races, competetive driving, and hard collisions.  Two mile tracks can build the speed for violent confrontations with SAFER barriers.  It was going to happen again.

Pocono is a tricky triangle, the nickname the track has had for decades.  Three corners, three different angles providing a nightmare for race engineers to set up.  A good car works in two corners, the third is still a struggle.  Adjust to get the third and you probably lose one of the other two, maybe both.  It's just life at Pocono.

Drivers driving at the limit leads to collisions.  Only Formula One is closer to the razor's edge of technology than IndyCar.  Those cars never attain the 200+ mph speeds they reach in IndyCar.  The crashes appear more spectacular because parts are flying.  The design of the cars lend to the appearance.  A car breaking apart dissipates energy, protecting the driver inside.  Parts go everywhere.

One part, part of the nose cone of Sage Karam's Honda, tumbled elastically across the track, when it made contact with another car.  A foot closer to the rear and no one would notice.  A car moving full race speed would have passed under it.  Slowing to avoid debris put the nose piece in contact with Justin Wilson's helmet, the car still travelling around 180 mph.  No wonder the piece of debris shot into the air like it did.  That's a lot of momentum.

I suspect the injury was catastrophic and immediate.  The path Justin Wilson's car took after contact was indicative.  I hope he felt nothing.  He passed away today, but he was not conscious or reponsive from the moment contact was made.  No malice, no racing for position, just a bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

Not the first time it has happened.  In 2009, at Brands Hatch England, Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees was killed when a loose tire bounded across the track and contacted his helmet.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

In 1977, Formula One drive Tom Pryce had a similar injury in a bizarre circumstance.  In the South African Grand Prix at Kyanalami, Pryce's teammate, Renzo Zorzi, pulled to the side of the track, and had a difficult time exiting his car.  A quick fire, probably an oil fire from engine failure, flared under the rear of the car.  Zorzi struggled free, but the fire got the attention of two track marshals, one of which was Frederik VanVuuren.  They ran across the track, VanVuuren carrying a fire extinguisher in his left hand.  Pryce, closing in on Hans Stuck, crested the hill.  Stuck swerved to miss VanVuuren by inches, Pryce striking the marsahl while traveling over 170 mph.  VanVuuren disappeared into a snowstorm of pieces, killed instantly.  Pryce, struck in the head by the fire extinguisher, didn't crash until the bottom of the hill, probably already gone.  Ironically, it was the same track American and 1974 Indy 500 champion Mark Donohue suffered a fatal head injury, Pryce becoming his replacement.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

I have heard people question the ethics of dangerous pursuits like auto racing.  I wrote a research paper on it during my time at Purdue University, pointing to the safety improvements of the mid 80's, which have been far surpassed now.  It comes down to a choice.  Choose to race and it is possible.  It can also happen driving to the track.  It can happen crossing a street.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

In Ron Howard's well crafted movie Rush, James Hunt was quoted as saying women are attracted to race car drivers not because of what they do, which is ultimately pathetic.  It's because they are truly alive because they know it can all end in a moment.  It's not just for racing drivers.  We should all be aware of a bad bit of timing with the worst consequence and live accordingly.

Justin Wilson was 37 years of age, winding down his career.  Still competetive, second just three weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.  More importantly, he was described as a devoted husband and father to wife Julia, and daughters Jane, 7 and Jessica, 5.  He was well loved and respected by his peers as one of the good guys around the garage.  His loss now is truly bad timing with the worst consequecne.

Rest well.  Your bretheren will do what you love to do, regardless.  We will be in awe of the skill, celebrate the accomplishment, and revel in a moment where we feel fully alive, even if we work at a desk for a living.  Thanks for sharing the feeling with us.