INDIANAPOLIS — IndyCar drivers and officials debated how to make open-wheel racing safer Monday.
More than a dozen IndyCar drivers met for three hours with series CEO Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart, the series’ president of competition, about preventing another fatal accident.
The meeting came eight days after two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in a fiery, 15-car crash in the season finale at Las Vegas and less than 48 hours after he was buried in his adopted hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla.
“How we react to this is critical, and we’re very encouraged with what happened today in terms of ideas,” four-time IndyCar champ Dario Franchitti said. “Finger-pointing is not going to do any good at all, and we’re all unified going forward in one direction.”
Although those inside the meeting room declined to share specifics, the discussion was expected to cover everything from tracks used by the series to new Plexiglas catch fences to putting canopies over the drivers’ open cockpits.
IndyCar does have time to consider potential changes because it won’t race again for six months.
“We’re not going to make motor racing 100 percent safe, that’s a fact,” Tony Kanaan said. “But there are things that we can do, hopefully, to make it better, make it safer.”
The Associated Press
