Dan Wheldon and Jimmie Johnson Crashes Put Racing and Life in Perspective

While many people focused their attention on this weekend's NFL action and the MLB playoffs, the racing world witnessed a set of horrific accidents, one of which led to the death of popular IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon.

The IZOD IndyCar championship race in Las Vegas was the season finale for the series, and there was a lot of excitement in the air.  It would be the first time the series raced in Vegas in 11 years.  Dan Wheldon, who had not secured a full-time ride in 2011 (despite winning the Indy 500), gained entry into the race because he was part of a sponsored gimmick that if he had won, he and a fan would split $5 million.

If not for this gimmick, Wheldon would have never raced today.

While there may have been excitement in the air, there was a sense of fear amongst the IndyCar drivers as they were afraid of the high speeds (in excess of 200 miles per hour) on the 1.5 mile high banking oval.  Many were afraid the conditions were ripe for what they call "the big one," a type of wreck that could involve upwards of a dozen cars.

Unfortunately, those fears were made all too real when 15 cars were involved in a horrific Lap 11 crash that looked like it was more suited for the Sylvester Stallone film "Driven."  Cars lost control all over the place, violently colliding into a Turn 2 wall, with some bursting into flames. 

Dan Wheldon's car flew through the air, hit the wall and fencing, and burst into flames.  Two hours later, it was announced he died from these injuries.

All the talk in the racing world will be of this sad and devastating crash, as Wheldon was extremely popular amongst his peers.  His victory at the Indy 500 this year showed the 33-year-old still had the talent to compete, and he was in fact slated to replace Danica Patrick next year with Michael Andretti's team.

But while the talk will be about Wheldon, it overshadows a crash involving five-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson that was nearly as devastating. 

With less than 20 laps to go on Saturday night during the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, North Carolina, Johnson was in 7th place and charging for the lead when he lost control of his car.  In a flash, the best NASCAR driver of his generation hit the wall at an angle and speed that looked all too similar to how the best driver of a previous generation died.

While race fans breathed a sigh of relief that Johnson got out of his car, it reminded many of the 2001 crash that killed Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500.  The fact that Johnson walked away from his crash was a testament to the thousands of hours of work NASCAR and its teams have spent on driver safety.

Still, Johnson's crash and the unfortunate death of Wheldon serve as a stern reminder of just how dangerous auto racing is.

No one can deny that auto racing carries with it a ton of stereotypes.  Many poke fun at the fact a race is a series of 1,000 left turns, and people who don't care about auto racing often associate a racing fan as one that comes to a track in his or her RV guzzling beers along the way.

While these stereotypes exist, many people don't take the time to realize that these drivers put their lives on the line every time they sit in a race car. 

Admittedly, it is easy to lose sight of this fact when you see drivers walking away from wrecks when their car hits a wall, does six barrel rolls and ends up upside down.  Heck, I remember when my friend and I, as children, played an IndyCar racing game on our DOS computers where instead of racing, we'd try to do head-on collisions at top speed. 

We as fans simply don't take the inherent dangers of auto racing that seriously.  Sadly, it took Sunday's incident at Las Vegas to remind us that auto racing is not only dangerous, but potentially deadly as well. 

Moving forward, there will be many discussions as to what must be done to make IndyCar racing safer.  NASCAR has done a great job since the Earnhardt tragedy and, luckily, no one has perished in a NASCAR race since then.

But for now, it's time to be thankful that Jimmie Johnson is walking tonight, and to offer our condolences to Dan Wheldon's family as he leaves behind a wife and two children. 

Whether it's racing a car at 200 miles per hour, or driving on Interstate 80 doing the speed limit at 65, the fact is, our lives can end in an instant.  Certainly, the dangers seen on a race track will not happen in our everyday lives, but nevertheless, we face dangers too whenever we get in our cars.

In times like these, it's important to take a moment and appreciate what we have in life.  It's a time to remember to take a moment and tell those most dear to you that you love them and appreciate them.  It's a time to think about just how lucky we are to be alive and to cherish it and not sweat the many annoyances we all experience.

As we saw today with Dan Wheldon, our lives can simply go away in an instant.  One moment Wheldon was joking around with his friends and colleagues on the racetrack before the green flag waved.  Just 11 laps later, he was gone.

We can never be absolutely sure when that moment will happen to all of us.  It's the uncertainty we call life. 

However, what we can be sure of is how we live our lives until that time comes.  For now, let's not talk about how IndyCar needs to be made safer.  Let us send our condolences to Dan Wheldon's family, and tell those dearest to us "I love you."