It's always difficult to reflect back on the drivers the sport has lost. This near-anniversary comes on the heels of the death of Bryan Clauson, who died Aug. 7 after a midget race crash in Kansas. Clauson, 27, had a large racing resume as a USAC champion, and he also started three Indianapolis 500s.
With Wilson's crash last year, he was the victim of a freak accident, in my mind. Sage Karam hit the wall, sending car parts flying in the air. It happens all the time. Except in this case, his nose cone came down right on Wilson's helmet, knocking him out and causing his car to hit the inside wall. He was in a coma and died the next day, Aug. 24, 2015.
Driver safety is still top priority
As race fans, we'd like to think the sport is as safe as it has ever been. When you compare it to the measures in place from decades past, I think this is still true. SAFER barriers are in place, HANS devices are mandatory and safety crews have no doubt saved lives with their responses on track.
Still, losing one driver is losing one too many. And at the same time everyone involved with the sport knows it's a risk every time drivers strap into the car. It's a weird balance, really. After Dan Wheldon died in 2011, I remember seeing a video clip of him where he'd previously talked about this possibility of dying in a crash. He said something like: "Could it happen to me? Absolutely. Do I think it will? No. But at the end of the day, when you're number's up, it's up."
Not only do we have Wilson, Clauson and Wheldon recently, but drivers James Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti barely escaped some horrific crashes. Franchitti's 2013 fence-catching wreck in Houston left him seriously injured, enough that doctors told him he would not be able to race again. Hinchcliffe is just an amazing story; he crashed at Indy in 2015 and nearly bled to death on the historic oval, which has claimed the lives of many over its historic century.
So where is Hinch? Back in a race car, of course. He worked extremely hard to get back for the 2016 season. So hard that he wrote a storybook ending for himself at Indy, grabbing the pole position for the 100th running of the Indy 500 this year.
Drivers do what they love
I've heard people refer to this need for speed as an addiciton for drivers. Obviously I can't speak from their perspective, but I can understand it as best as I can from the stands. They love what they do. Racing is what they were meant to do, so it's worth the risk.
I wrote a similar blog like this last year after Wilson's death, trying to explain and justify why racers race. A lot of the same thoughts are still true. I guess I just want to keep the reminders fresh. Auto racing is a sport that still is not that popular, and I think tragedies like this heighten that, because that's the only time people hear about the sport, when a driver's death makes the news.
This weekend, IndyCar drivers will have two drivers on their minds: Wilson, who would have turned 38 on July 31, and Clauson, since this is the first race they've run since his death earlier this month. They'll be thinking about them, then they'll go into race mode, pushing the emotions out of their mind when they turn laps on track. That's the mindset they have to create for themselves as they continue to fuel their passion.
RIP #BadassWilson.
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