IRL driver Dana killed in warmup-session crash

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Paul Dana was an up-and-coming rookie driver living his dream, a former motorsports journalist who was hours away Sunday from beginning his most promising season yet.

Then, before the green flag flew, something went terribly, inexplicably wrong.

While streaking around the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval during a warmup session, Dana failed to notice that another car had spun to a stop, slamming into it at close to 200 mph. Two hours later the 30-year-old Dana was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“Obviously, this is a very black day for us,” team owner Bobby Rahal said. “This is a great tragedy.”

Dana believed he had finally gotten his big break in the months before the season-opening IRL IndyCar Series race here. He had secured a ride with the elite Rahal Letterman Racing — the same team that fields IRL phenom Danica Patrick and Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice.

Patrick and Rice did not run Sunday, but the race went on as planned, with defending Indy 500 and IRL points champion Dan Wheldon beating Helio Castroneves by a nose cone.

If the drivers had any jitters going into the race, it didn’t show by the end – Wheldon and Castroneves carried off a side-by-side, tire-bumping duel in the final laps en route to the thrilling finish.

Dana’s wife, Tonya, was in Indianapolis, where the couple lived, and was notified of her husband’s death while attending a church service.

The wreck might have been the result of a rookie mistake by Dana, whose previous IRL experience included just three races last season. Moments into the 30-minute warmup, Ed Carpenter, grandson of IRL founder Tony George, crashed in turn two and went spinning down the racetrack.

Yellow lights came on around the track, and several cars could be seen slowing, some of which avoided Carpenter’s car. But Dana’s car kept its speed, passing Buddy Lazier and Scott Sharp.

“He carried way too much speed in and wasn’t aware of what was going on around him,” Lazier said.

Seconds later, Dana’s Honda-powered Panoz slammed into Carpenter’s Dallara-Honda at nearly full speed – about 200 mph.

Dana’s car nearly split in half. The chassis flew about 6 feet off the ground and pieces were strewn down the track. It nearly turned over, but landed on its wheels before sliding to a halt.

Both drivers were flown by helicopter to a Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where Dana was pronounced dead about two hours after the 10:03 a.m. crash. IRL officials said tests revealed no injuries to Carpenter, but the 25-year-old third-year driver was kept overnight for observation.

There was no immediate explanation for Dana’s failure to slow down several seconds after the yellow lights came on around the track because of Carpenter’s crash.

A moment of silence was observed before the start of the 300-mile race.