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Justin Wilson needs your prayers

CYcoFan

CYcoFan

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2007
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Indycar driver Justin Wilson was struck in the head by the nose cone of Sage Karam's car in todays Indy race at Pocono. He is in a coma and in Critical condition.

Karam was leading when he spun and hit the wall. Debris scattered but most cars got through. The nose cone was bouncing on the track and hit Wilson flush. I was worried that the first update we got was that Wilson was dead so at least there is a chance. He and his family (wife and 2 children) need our prayers.
 
I really hope we don't have another Jules Bianchi type situation. Might be time to close in the open wheel cars like they have started doing with the top fuel dragsters in NHRA.
 
I've always likes IRL and F1 better than NASCAR of how much quicker the cars are to maneuver, but it's just so dangerous. Would love to see more protection for the drivers. Said a prayer when I saw him come off the wall. Haven't heard any updates on his condition.
 
I'm afraid this is my fault. I got mad at some high school kid flying through my neighborhood today, and I'm afraid God thought I was angry at everybody who drove fast.
 
I was watching and wasn't sure what caused him to crash. At first, I thought maybe he hit debris, broke the suspension, and caused the crash. When they showed the slow motion the first time, I told my wife I think the debris hit him in the head. Man, that was bad. Hopefully he can pull through.

Tony Stewart had his plane pick up Justin's brother in Indiana and bring him to Pennsylvania.
 
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Just saw on the bottom line on ESPN that Justin Wilson has died from injuries sustained yesterday. No words right now
 
Second guy in less than a year to die from head injuries. Time to close in the cockpits. That probably wouldn't have saved Bianchi but it probably would have saved Wilson and Dan Weldon; Massa wouldn't have nearly been killed either.
 
You hate to see that...dangerous sport, and I just hope safety is always #1 priority. Thoughts and prayers.
 
mramseyISU said:
Second guy in less than a year to die from head injuries. Time to close in the cockpits. That probably wouldn't have saved Bianchi but it probably would have saved Wilson and Dan Weldon; Massa wouldn't have nearly been killed either.
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I disagree. These guys know the dangers and if they are worried about it that much they can drive a car in a series with a closed cockpit.
 
isufbcurt said:
I disagree. These guys know the dangers and if they are worried about it that much they can drive a car in a series with a closed cockpit.
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I agree. There are all kinds of dangerous jobs out there.I'm all for safety and doing the most you can, but automobile racing, at it's core is a dangerous way to make a living. That's actually what draws some of these guys to the sport, they aren't happy unless they are living on the edge.

I feel terrible for the family, for his team, him and especially his kids, but every open wheel driver knows this time in the car could be his or her last. They've done quite a bit up to this point to make this type of racing a lot safer over all. Freak accidents are always going to happen and that's exactly what this is.

The only way to really prevent drivers from not dying is to stop racing. People die every day just on normal streets, it's just proof that there is no way to prevent every death, crazy things happen.

Plus, with open wheel, I always thought part of the open cockpit concept was for instant access in case of a fire and the ability to get the guy out ASAP. I guess that they could install fire systems too, but that adds more weight, size to the cars and takes away from what makes it exciting to me.

I guess for me, in the end, no one is forcing these guys to drive the cars they do. Had I been the size or ever had the chance to drive, I'd have jumped at the opportunity. It would have been well worth it. Given the amount of races and number of drivers, it's still not likely you'll die racing.
 
isufbcurt said:
I disagree. These guys know the dangers and if they are worried about it that much they can drive a car in a series with a closed cockpit.
Click to expand...

Clonefan94 said:
I agree. There are all kinds of dangerous jobs out there.I'm all for safety and doing the most you can, but automobile racing, at it's core is a dangerous way to make a living. That's actually what draws some of these guys to the sport, they aren't happy unless they are living on the edge.

I feel terrible for the family, for his team, him and especially his kids, but every open wheel driver knows this time in the car could be his or her last. They've done quite a bit up to this point to make this type of racing a lot safer over all. Freak accidents are always going to happen and that's exactly what this is.

The only way to really prevent drivers from not dying is to stop racing. People die every day just on normal streets, it's just proof that there is no way to prevent every death, crazy things happen.

Plus, with open wheel, I always thought part of the open cockpit concept was for instant access in case of a fire and the ability to get the guy out ASAP. I guess that they could install fire systems too, but that adds more weight, size to the cars and takes away from what makes it exciting to me.

I guess for me, in the end, no one is forcing these guys to drive the cars they do. Had I been the size or ever had the chance to drive, I'd have jumped at the opportunity. It would have been well worth it. Given the amount of races and number of drivers, it's still not likely you'll die racing.
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Yep, here's a quote from Wilson in 2011 after he broke his back:
"You've got to know the risks and work out if those risks are acceptable. To me, it's acceptable. But I'm not going to stop trying to improve it. All the drivers, this IndyCar, we're always trying to make it safer, but at the end of the day, it's a race car. We're racing hard, we're racing Indy cars and it's fast. When it goes wrong, it can get messy."
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And from Ed Carpenter:
"What Justin's gone through over the past couple years, how hard he worked to get back into the car this season, and the opportunity that he had with Andretti, I think he exemplified the reason we all love doing this," said Ed Carpenter, who raced against Wilson on Sunday. "He fought so hard to come back. He was doing what he loved to do, what we all love to do, and why we'll all be back competing in his honor in the near future."
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Very sad deal. I hope next year at the 500 is the last time we have to see a tribute to a fallen racer. The Wheldon tribute was super emotional.
 
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Thoughts and prayers got out to Justin Wilson's family. What a freak accident.

These guys know what they are putting on the line every time they get in the car. And Indy is especially dangerous due to the oval tracks, and pack racing. Jules was a bad accident that could have been avoided if F1 would have forced a slow down, and you wonder if this wouldn't have been avoided if they were forced to slow down quicker. It is funny to me that I never even thought about something like that happening. The amount of debris that gets thrown out from an accident is huge, but I never thought about that being dangerous, at least not to this level. I know Sage Karam was probably saved injury because his car broke apart into a million pieces. It was such a freak accident.

Not sure what reaction IRL should have but I hope it isn't a knee jerk over protection.
 
Looks like the FIA is restarting their testing of close cockpits after this.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fia-set-to-carry-out-closed-cockpit-tests

For you guys saying they should know the risk I don't agree with that at all. If that would have been the accepted answer you wouldn't have had all the investment in the new safe walls, hans devicies in NASCAR or the crash tests mandated by the FIA in the late 70's and early 80s. Before the FIA got serious about safety 3 or 4 drivers a year would die and you got a lot of fans saying that risk is part of the job. We live in a different world where risk is rooted out as it should and actions are taken to midigate the risk. A guy on the job loses a finger you sure don't see a company saying "Eh he knew the risk." You see them work to make damn sure nobody loses a finger that same way again.
 
mramseyISU said:
Looks like the FIA is restarting their testing of close cockpits after this.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fia-set-to-carry-out-closed-cockpit-tests

For you guys saying they should know the risk I don't agree with that at all. If that would have been the accepted answer you wouldn't have had all the investment in the new safe walls, hans devicies in NASCAR or the crash tests mandated by the FIA in the late 70's and early 80s. Before the FIA got serious about safety 3 or 4 drivers a year would die and you got a lot of fans saying that risk is part of the job. We live in a different world where risk is rooted out as it should and actions are taken to midigate the risk. A guy on the job loses a finger you sure don't see a company saying "Eh he knew the risk." You see them work to make damn sure nobody loses a finger that same way again.
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Agree to disagree.
 
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