"The IRL is Unsafe." True or False?

[JohnBM01]

During the Michigan Indy 400, one driver got tagged by someone else and the left-front tire got into one of the tire changers. Later on, Meira's car was tagged by Adrian Fernandez, and took out a crew member's leg from Dan Wheldon's team. As much as people say that racing is a deathsport, do you think the IRL is unsafe, even considering some of the action on pit road at this race? Reply now.

 

[Solid Fro]

No, I saw the replays, and I see them as just accidents. There were accidents like this with NASCAR and it's not considered 'unsafe'. **** happens and luckily, no one was seriously hurt.

 

[Blake]

Lets put it this way, I'd rather be in sprint cars than these things...Well, maybe not. But still, it's dangerous.

 

[under18carbon]

Any form of motorsports is dangerous.

Edit : BTW - just out of interest, Blake, who is that in the picture and how did that happen?

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I think it is pretty safe, the cars have parts that purposely come off when they crash and stuff, so some of the biggest crashes are actully the safest. But judging by teh cars in the picture Blake posted, that was before the safe crashes.

 

[Blake]

That's Stan Fox, that was at Indy a few years back. He lost both his legs and got back into racing in a different series. Ironically he died in a race accident not long after.

 

[Firestarter75]

Racing is dangerous but that doesn't mean you sit there and do nothing when an obvious problem rears its head. They have to do something about the pits. First of all why the hell are the teams stacked on each other? Its Michigan where you have have huge pit boxes and enough boxes for a full Nascrap field, space them out. Second of all you teach who ever is responsible for releasing the car how the **** to determine whether they can exit safely, i.e.- you don't release a car when one just passes you and pits only 2 boxes ahead. Third of all, proper braking procedures is a must.. something they can't figure out. Why is it Formula 1 can have all those people out exposed and rarely ever have problems like this? Drivers are more skilled for sure, maybe they also know the importance of a safe entry, stop and exit. Personally I think motorsports should goto a LeMans pitting style, you stop the car... fuel. Then when its done you change tires or do whatever else you like. It would do wonders for pit safety both in Nascrap and IRL. IRL also has one of the highest injury rates for any series, big open wheeled cars don't need to be on ovals.

 

[JohnBM01]

I see the IRL as pure race cars driven with the mentality of NASCAR racers on ovals- Not good.

I say they are pure race cars because they are lightweight, actually great-handling, feature all the gadgetry and such a pure racer should have. While I was upset about how American sports reporters said that sportscars aren't as safe as NASCAR stock cars. And, it was just an unfortunate incident. Only IRL death I can remember is that fellow who died at Indy in a horrible crash. And that wasn't even a race. But put in NASCAR, and you hear of Dale Earnhardt Sr., Adam Petty, and a few others I can't recall. Oval racing in America is universally regarded as thug racing at high speed.

But the IRL... Kenny Brack last year at Texas. He's still rehabbing his injuries. Mario Andretti wanted another stab at Indy, got into a rough crash, he was okay. In my view, the IRL is pretty safe. It's just that the V8-packing, heavyweight circle trackers (guess who) get all the attention. NASCAR is just bumper car racing. Bumper cars that are 400+ pounds lighter than most luxury cars in which there is an accident waiting to happen at any moment.

So if I had to choose, I'd rather take an IRL car over a NASCAR "stock" car. Racing is unsafe, so that risk is always there. And by the way, Chicago Sun Times sports reporter Jay Mariotti said "racing is a deathsport." Well last month or so, I heard a college football player collapsed and died during practicing. So you could say that ALL sports are deathsports. Maybe I should reconsider being a sports fan if people are going to rant on auto racing.

 

[daan]

It just seems to me as if the IRL has more drivers killed or injured than any other racing series.

 

[Firestarter75]

IRL averages about .75 injuries/race, significantly higher then Nascar. I would rather be in a stock car then a damned IRL car.

 

[The359]

That's Stan Fox, that was at Indy a few years back. He lost both his legs and got back into racing in a different series. Ironically he died in a race accident not long after.

Stan Fox was also in a CART car, not an IRL car...

 

[RyosukeFCDS]

All racing is dangerous, and it always has been,

just everyone has become a wuss lately (not the drivers)

Anyone remember the good old days of 70's and 80's rally driving, where the course was marked out by the spectators? That was impressive and amazing to watch.

 

[JohnBM01]

All I have to ask is, why now? The IRL has had fierce crashes, but driver safety remained paramount. No one I know in the IRL died. Severe injuries will happen, but as long as no one dies, that's at least a sign that things are not as worse as they could be. So I'd kind of say that they are built for safety, as ANY race car should be.

I don't really think people are wussies, Ryosuke. The problem is about just trying to respect racers for being brave and being daredevils. All American sports know about is the NFL, MLB, NBA, (if you think it's not dead, then the...) NHL, Golf, and then maybe tennis and boxing. I'd consider Dale Earnhardt Jr. as being one of the hottest ATHLETES in America. What p*sses me off about American sports reporters is that they talk about not enough American talent. Well, let me think of some... Scott Pruett, Tommy Kendall, Jeff Gordon, Ramana Lageman (correct?) in SCCA Pro Rally, Townsend Bell, you can consider Jimmy Vasser one even though he hasn't really been winning, Sam Hornish, Steve Saleen (though not racing anymore from what I seen), and there's an actor named... Paul Newman.

No offense, but this is why sports reporters don't give a damn about auto racing. It's because as much as we want to expand and grow our audience and entertain our fanbase, people (especially here in America, I don't know if this is true around the world) just aren't getting the fact that auto racing is a sport. And I'm sorry to off-topic, but the racers we see (including drag racers) are all athletes. We call it motorSPORT for a reason. You play hurt. And sure, I'll be watching NFL and NCAA football later this month or next, but it's repulsive to dislike auto racing. At least it's better than watching baseball.

 

[Firestarter75]

You forgot a big one, Johnny Oconnell. Bigtime athlete that not only races the beast of a car in the C5R but also is heavy into martial arts. He trains for situations like at LeMans when Ron had his bell rung. He also happens to be one of the nicest guys to boot.

Frankly I don't think watching out for safety is being a wussy. In case you haven't seen WRC there are still plenty of opportunities to be inches from the cars as they go by, if you want to put yourself in a situation to get run over then so be it. But to have the entire stage like that is downright insane. Do you think its easy on the drivers when they have a big accident and walk away only to mow down spectators? Rally cars keep going faster and faster, getting more powerful, drivers more on the edge. Lets throw huge throngs on each side so we can ensure people get hurt. Do some research on the 1955 LeMans accident and the fallout from it, you'll find huge wrecks with spectators does not sit well with many people.

 

[JohnBM01]

Perdon mi (excuse me). I thought he was Canadian. My apologies.

 

[Yuichi]

Only one person has been killed in a recent IRL car, Tony Renna, last year during testing at Indy soon after Kenny Brack's accident at Texas Motor Speedway, and only one person I know of was crippled in an IRL car, Sam Schmidt was paralysed from the waist down in an accident at Walt Disney Speedway, if I'm not mistaken, in 2000. But there are numerous injuries occuring in accidents in the IRL. These cars have to pass the FIA crash test, like all formula single-seaters, so there should be little to no reasons why drivers should be harmed.

 

[McLaren]

OH yes. Since I live in Texas, I have heard about that man.

You guys know that Micheal Schumacher doesn't like the Indianapolis Indy track right?

(Sry if I misspelled the track)

 

[millencolin]

No one I know in the IRL died.

Tony Renna Died last year testing for Chip Ganassi at indianapolis last year.

if you dont think the IRL is dangerous, have a look at this list posted by PunkRock a while back. this PROOVES that the IRL is dangerous. look at this