Dan Wheldon's death was preceded by fear if you asked Adrian Fernandez, but Wheldon wasn't the only one heading to the Las Vegas track a bit leery of getting behind the wheel, according to The Telegraph. "I was with Dan Wheldon and Tag in his trailer before the start,' of the race, 'and many others on the grid," according to Mexico's Fernandez. But Fernandez says that none of his fellow drivers appeared comfortable about the upcoming 220 m.p.h. race that would put them side by side on the roadway. "I could feel their fear," he said.
Unfortunately for Dan Wheldon, that fear turned into reality when the former Indianapolis 500 winner lost his life during an accident that involved 15 cars altogether, and thrust his own vehicle into the fence that protected fans outside the track.
Not since American race car driver Dale Earnhardt's death has the motor sports industry come under the microscope so intently about safety issues for race car drivers. The Las Vegas Indy 300 race, according to former Indycar driver Mark Blundell was a "recipe for disaster."
"It was inevitable in many ways,' Blundell stated, adding that, 'it was a recipe for disaster when you looked at what was going on."
When asked to clarify, Blundell said that when race car drivers are but mere inches away from one another, at such high speeds, it is a "recipe for disaster" and potential accidents like the one that claimed Wheldon is an inevitability.
"When things go wrong [in this kind of situation] they go wrong in a big way," Blundell said.
Three other car race drivers in Las Vegas this weekend were also injured during the Las Vegas Indy 300 accident that claimed the life of British race car driver Dan Wheldon. Those racers were Pippa Mann, J.R. Hildebrand and Will Power, according to Mercury News.
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