Like it or not, the grand finale of the IndyCar series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend had all the ingredients for a catastrophe.
First of all, the $5 million challenge and the amazing hype that surrounded the event on the Las Vegas strip overly excited certain drivers, some vastly inexperienced.
Series' organisers had offered the massive bonus to any non-regular IndyCar driver, such as this year's Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who started the race from the back of the field. The Briton was therefore in line for a $5 million bonanza if he was first across the finishing line.
Despite his previous success, Dan Wheldon was not a regular driver this season and accepted the offer.
“I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff,” said Dario Franchitti of the Target Ganassi team.
Interestingly, former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Auto123.com on May 10 that he feared that event would turn into chaos and eventually declined the offer to race.
“It may be pretty dangerous out there as that race will turn into a dash-for-cash. I can see some drivers getting overly motivated to win this thing,” Jacques Villeneuve told us then.
Inexperience
Second point, several competitors had very limited experience of running at speeds up to 222 mph on a such a short, 20-degree banked, D shaped oval.
At least ten of the 34 drivers had restricted experience of running at high speeds and handling heavy traffic on such a short oval before that race. In comparison, the superspeedway of Indianapolis is 2.5 miles long and welcomes no more than 33 cars. The Las Vegas oval is just 1.5 miles long and had 34 cars on Sunday.
Former Formula 1 and CART series' driver Mark Blundell, who raced on ovals said after the accident that the 1.5-mile-long Las Vegas track was a “recipe for disaster”.
First of all, the $5 million challenge and the amazing hype that surrounded the event on the Las Vegas strip overly excited certain drivers, some vastly inexperienced.
Series' organisers had offered the massive bonus to any non-regular IndyCar driver, such as this year's Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who started the race from the back of the field. The Briton was therefore in line for a $5 million bonanza if he was first across the finishing line.
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| Dan Wheldon in May, winning the Indy 500 for the second time. (Photo: Getty Images/IndyCar) |
Despite his previous success, Dan Wheldon was not a regular driver this season and accepted the offer.
“I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff,” said Dario Franchitti of the Target Ganassi team.
Interestingly, former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Auto123.com on May 10 that he feared that event would turn into chaos and eventually declined the offer to race.
“It may be pretty dangerous out there as that race will turn into a dash-for-cash. I can see some drivers getting overly motivated to win this thing,” Jacques Villeneuve told us then.
Inexperience
Second point, several competitors had very limited experience of running at speeds up to 222 mph on a such a short, 20-degree banked, D shaped oval.
At least ten of the 34 drivers had restricted experience of running at high speeds and handling heavy traffic on such a short oval before that race. In comparison, the superspeedway of Indianapolis is 2.5 miles long and welcomes no more than 33 cars. The Las Vegas oval is just 1.5 miles long and had 34 cars on Sunday.
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| Dan Wheldon. (Getty Images/IndyCar) |
Former Formula 1 and CART series' driver Mark Blundell, who raced on ovals said after the accident that the 1.5-mile-long Las Vegas track was a “recipe for disaster”.