The track officials later would make the merciful point that the driver was most likely killed before the flames ever reached him. That was little consolation to family, friends and his many fans. One of racing sports greatest drivers was gone. Bill Vukovich, "Vuky" perished going for his third consecutive Indy 500 win.
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| Bill Vukovich "Vuky" Dec. 13, 1918 - May 30 1955 |
I remember us kids sitting on a picnic table and mom came up to us crying, she told us Eddie Sachs had been killed in a horrible wreck at Indy.
That racing fatality made a lasting impression on me.
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Eddie Sachs, May 28, 1927 May 30 1964 |
Vukovich was killed just 2 months before I was born. I didn't know a lot about him until I read the book "VUKOVICH" written by Bob Gates an old friend of mine.
His first book was a biography on Jim Hurtibese titled "Hurk Hurtibese". Bob’s primary job is supervisor of a factory in the Indy area, but his passion is open wheel auto racing. He is a feature writer for Open Wheel Magazine and so far has these two books published. I may be prejudiced because of my friendship with Bob, but you will not find a better writer of biographies than Bob Gates.
Whenever I proof read a blog that I am writing and think, "hmmm that's not too bad" I just read some of Bobs work and I am again humbled and realize what a hack I am.
Reading those books and especially Vukovich I am shocked at the carnage that took place in auto racing in that era.
Although there have many great improvements in safety gear for the drivers, the biggest change has been the way the race cars are designed to break into parts upon impact. The old torpedo shaped cars like the one Vuky died in was built like a tank and stayed intact while rolling end over end.
The dissipation of inertia happens much more quickly today and most times the driver’s cockpit is separated from the rest of the car and comes to rest with the driver shaken up but relatively unharmed.
I love auto racing, but I didn't watch the beginning of the race last Sunday.
We were working on the rental house again, when I got home I turned on the race expecting it to be pretty much over, I was surprised to see that there were only a few laps completed due to a red flag. Huh, must be a rain delay..... Uh wait this is Vegas, and it looks sunny out there, oh shit, must have been a bad wreck.
They were saying the drivers were heading to a drivers meeting.
Then they showed a replay, I couldn't believe how devastating that accident was. It brought back to mind some of the old footage of the horrible wrecks of the 50's and 60's, but I don't remember seeing anything like this. The numbers of racecars engulfed in flames and being launched in the air simultaneously was jaw dropping. Any one of those incidents could have resulted in a fatality. The longer the red flag and all the somber faces, you just knew it was not going to be good news. Then the finality of the loss of this years two-time Indy 500 winner was made official. I must be getting soft in my old age, watching the reactions and tears shed by the drivers and friends really got to me.
Later I started thinking about the inevitable second-guessing that we would have to endure about the safety of auto racing.
His first book was a biography on Jim Hurtibese titled "Hurk Hurtibese". Bob’s primary job is supervisor of a factory in the Indy area, but his passion is open wheel auto racing. He is a feature writer for Open Wheel Magazine and so far has these two books published. I may be prejudiced because of my friendship with Bob, but you will not find a better writer of biographies than Bob Gates.
Whenever I proof read a blog that I am writing and think, "hmmm that's not too bad" I just read some of Bobs work and I am again humbled and realize what a hack I am.
Reading those books and especially Vukovich I am shocked at the carnage that took place in auto racing in that era.
Although there have many great improvements in safety gear for the drivers, the biggest change has been the way the race cars are designed to break into parts upon impact. The old torpedo shaped cars like the one Vuky died in was built like a tank and stayed intact while rolling end over end.
The dissipation of inertia happens much more quickly today and most times the driver’s cockpit is separated from the rest of the car and comes to rest with the driver shaken up but relatively unharmed.
I love auto racing, but I didn't watch the beginning of the race last Sunday.
We were working on the rental house again, when I got home I turned on the race expecting it to be pretty much over, I was surprised to see that there were only a few laps completed due to a red flag. Huh, must be a rain delay..... Uh wait this is Vegas, and it looks sunny out there, oh shit, must have been a bad wreck.
They were saying the drivers were heading to a drivers meeting.
Then they showed a replay, I couldn't believe how devastating that accident was. It brought back to mind some of the old footage of the horrible wrecks of the 50's and 60's, but I don't remember seeing anything like this. The numbers of racecars engulfed in flames and being launched in the air simultaneously was jaw dropping. Any one of those incidents could have resulted in a fatality. The longer the red flag and all the somber faces, you just knew it was not going to be good news. Then the finality of the loss of this years two-time Indy 500 winner was made official. I must be getting soft in my old age, watching the reactions and tears shed by the drivers and friends really got to me.
Later I started thinking about the inevitable second-guessing that we would have to endure about the safety of auto racing.
Was the Vegas track too small and fast for so many cars is a fair question, but is the sport overall too costly in the terms of human life is not.
Yeah auto racing is a very dangerous sport, the difference between being too slow to be a champion and too fast to stay off the wall is razor thin, it is not an activity we have to have in order to survive. Think about all the things we could live without if food and shelter were all we strived for. We don't need to play football, baseball, basketball, go scuba diving, go motorcycles riding or skydive. All we really have to do is work come home and eat then go to bed. Oh shit! We would all be Amish!
We could spare ourselves a lot of broken bones if we just played it safe and surrounded ourselves with pillows. But damn, we would be such boring assholes.
After all the second guessing about the tragic loss of Dan Weldon is done, drivers will continue to climb into their machines and ride that razors edge, because that’s what they do. And the fans will be dragging coolers around the track or pulling back the handle of their Lazyboys with a cold one in hand to watch them because that's what we do.
And I will be in my Lazyboy with a cold one in hand watching these skilled daredevils go round and round riding that razors edge and I will pray we don’t lose another Dan Weldon
Yeah auto racing is a very dangerous sport, the difference between being too slow to be a champion and too fast to stay off the wall is razor thin, it is not an activity we have to have in order to survive. Think about all the things we could live without if food and shelter were all we strived for. We don't need to play football, baseball, basketball, go scuba diving, go motorcycles riding or skydive. All we really have to do is work come home and eat then go to bed. Oh shit! We would all be Amish!
We could spare ourselves a lot of broken bones if we just played it safe and surrounded ourselves with pillows. But damn, we would be such boring assholes.
After all the second guessing about the tragic loss of Dan Weldon is done, drivers will continue to climb into their machines and ride that razors edge, because that’s what they do. And the fans will be dragging coolers around the track or pulling back the handle of their Lazyboys with a cold one in hand to watch them because that's what we do.
And I will be in my Lazyboy with a cold one in hand watching these skilled daredevils go round and round riding that razors edge and I will pray we don’t lose another Dan Weldon
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| Dan Weldon, 22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011 |
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