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 warm-up session, Dana failed to notice that another car had spun to a stop, slamming into it at close to 200 mph. Two hours after his shattered car came to a rest, 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 finally had gotten his big break in the months before the season-opening IRL IndyCar Series race. After a string of modest successes rising through racing’s ranks, 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.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Dana family and all of Rahal Letterman racing,” said Wheldon, who ran the race with Dana’s No. 17 on his side pod. “It’s a very, very sad day. I think hopefully we put on a good race.”
Two days before his death – the first in the IRL in three years – Dana was strolling through the paddock, shaking hands and signing autographs.
“I can’t wait to get started because I want to prove to everyone that I can do the job,” Dana told a longtime acquaintance. “I’m feeling good and I know I can race with these guys. And now I’ve got great equipment.”
Dana’s wife, Tonya, was in Indianapolis, where the couple lived, and was notified of her husband’s death while attending a church service.
Dana, who began his career in Formula Fords and worked his way up through the ranks, was known as a strong self promoter. He got his new ride by bringing the Ethanol sponsorship to the Rahal Letterman team over the winter.
Still, 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 warm-up, Ed Carpenter, stepson 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.
“I really don’t know at this point what happened or who was at fault,” said George, who founded the IRL in 1995. “It’s just a real shame. I don’t know that it was inexperience. I don’t want to say anything about that.”
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. EST crash. IRL officials said tests revealed no injuries to Carpenter, but the 25-year-old third-year driver was kept overnight for observation.
Dana’s previous three IRL races with Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing came at the start of the 2005 season. He finished a season-best 10th at Homestead, but his year ended in May when he sustained a broken back while practicing for the Indianapolis 500.
