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NASCAR Star Dale Earnhardt Dies in Race
Description: On the last lap of the Daytona 500, Dale's car was tapped from behind and went head on into a wall. He never regained consciousness after the crash. He was announced dead on arrival at the hospital. Importance: Other racers can be the cause of the deaths as well, not just the track or the driver himself or herself. And in 2001, the danger was still there. Like in the 60s and now. -
"Perfect storm" of factors led to Dan Wheldon's fatal crash
Description: Dan Wheldon, 33, suffered fatal head injuries during IndyCar's season finale on October 16th. Not one of the factors can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident. It happened early on in the race in the 11th lap out of 200. Importance: All the factors from the Indy race caused Dan Wheldon to die. "The protective fence produced nonsurvivable blunt force trauma injuries to Dan's head." -
Fans injured in spectacular NASCAR crash at Daytona
Description: 5 NASCAR fans were injured after a crash at Daytona in the Coke Zero 400. The race was delayed and ended at 2:41 in the morning with a horrible accident. The car tore a section of the fencing when it launched into it and injured 5 fans. Importance: The fence that is supposed to keep the fans safe from all the action was tore down by the thing that it is trying to protect everyone from, a 180 mph speeding car. -
NASCAR star Tony Stewart sued after Kevin Ward death
Description: Tony Stewart struck Kevin Ward in the middle of a road race in New York when Ward got out of his car. Ward's family accused Stewart of acting reckless, but he wasn't criminally charged. A New York Grand Jury declined to charge him of manslaughter. Importance: It can happen outside of NASCAR, on a road race. The danger is always going to be there. -
No Matter How Safe Racing Gets, It'll Always Be Dangerous
Description: Justin Wilson's death shook the IndyCar series. With 200 mph cars, anything like this could happen at any time. Back in the day, deaths in IndyCar would happen so often. "If you could make it to 30 years old as an IndyCar driver, it was impressive." This job is very dangerous and the drivers know the risk of racing. Importance: This problem has been happening for so long. It was normal back around in the 60s for stuff like deaths to happen. This job was and still is dangerous.
