Whether you love or hate a racing series, like or dislike a driver for any reason, it's never a good thing when a race car driver dies doing what he loves to do - racing. Unfortunately this past weekend was marred with a racing accident that put 2 drivers into the hospital, and unfortunately one driver died of his injuries. source: Just Haverin' With no disrespect to Paul Dana, there's a big question that arises when a situation happens as it did in Homestead this past weekend. Should Paul Dana have even been driving in the IRL? And the same question applies to Ed Carpenter. This is something that should probably be considered - it's serious ... life and death in fact! The IRL are calling Paul Dana a rookie. When did a rookie ever get to be a rookie 2 years in a row - in the same series? Maybe because last year - his rookie year - he only ran 3 races. He ran at Homestead, Phoenix and St. Petersburg last year. He hit the wall during practice at Indianapolis and that ended his season. That's not much seat time for a driver, especially at the speeds they travel in the IRL. One road course and 2 ovals, is all the experience he's had in the IRL. Yes he had a couple of "good seasons" in the InfinitiPro series where speeds and especially the horsepower are much lower. But was he ready and skilled enough to step up to the IRL? Or was it just because he had acquired a very good sponsorship deal? Last year Paul Dana was always 5 or 6 laps down - even on the road course of St. Pete's. That proves that he was way out of his depth. He was always in the way, so why was he allowed to race? What is the advantage to having a driver on the track that has no possible way of even finishing on the lead lap? Pull him (or her) in and park the car. Each and every one of us have skills and we're very good at them, on the flip-side almost every one of us have an interest in something - a passion even - that for some reason we just can't master and we'll never be able to perfect. It could be golf or hockey - whatever - but we know our limits and we'd never be silly enough to imagine we'd make it to the pros. Paul Dana started out as a writer and then moved into racing much later in life than all the other drivers around him. Whether he was good enough or not, his inexperience beside drivers that had been racing from the age of 5 came to the forefront. Yes he may have lived and breathed racing, but it's one thing to write about it and another to actually do it. I had the opportunity to have a ride in the IndyCar 2-seater last year at Watkins Glen. It was mind-blowing. It made me wish I'd been a race car driver, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that I actually could. Paul Dana found sponsorship and believed he could run in the big leagues. Someone, whether it was the league, or any of the teams should have pulled his reins in. For the safety of the other drivers, never - mind Dana himself, they should have held him back until he had a chance to get much more experience. A few more years in the InfinitiPros would have helped. So why didn't they? The almighty dollar blinded them. When Dana joined Rahal Letterman this year I wrote in my article "Danica Patrick Gets A Team Mate" that Paul Dana was a moving speed bump, and it was only because of the sponsorship that he got the ride. The Rahal Letterman team had a perfectly good driver - a championship contender in Vitor Meira, but they punted him in favour of Paul Dana because he had a paying ride courtesy of his sponsor Ethanol. Meira couldn't offer the team the same money, but he could offer them a shot at the championship. They chose the money, a back marker, and a driver with only 3 races under his belt over a very experienced and talented one - where's the logic there? Cuh Ching! Unfortunately sponsorship money is how a driver survives in motor sport (other than F1 and NASCAR). That's how he pays the rent/mortgage, the teams don't pay the drivers. The drivers raise the sponsorship money, then pay the team whatever they charge, and any money left over the driver gets to keep. The whole object is for the driver to excel and run at the front, getting the most TV and press coverage, then they charge the sponsors more money and in turn pocket more for themselves. I can't see that things will change any time soon, but one thing is for sure there will be more crashes and injuries this year in all types of racing around the world, hopefully no one will die. It's just unfortunate that the inexperienced drivers like Paul Dana (and he isn't the only one), get to risk their lives and their fellow driver's lives because of money. The reason Paul Dana died isn't his fault - it's the fault of the IRL and dare I say it Team Rahal Letterman. Dana wanted to live his dream and he did - but someone should have been looking out for his best interests - not how much money he was worth.
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