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It's been a sad couple of days...
Oct. 17th, 2011 07:37 pmI love Florida. I'm Floridian by birth but I'm Hoosier in my blood. I'm the only member of my family that wasn't born in Indiana and every May, I'm going to be watching the Indy 500. I remember watching it before I could read and having to ask where Michael was. Mario was always my mom's favorite and Michael was mine. Now, we both also root for Marco. Michael never won as a driver, but...
In 2005, I was SO FREAKING HAPPY! One of Michael's driver's won and he was one of the newer guys. Plus, despite the English accent, he lived in St. Pete!
I was instantly a fan of Dan Wheldon ever since even when he left Andretti racing. He was such a good guy in the community; helping with charities, friendly with everyone and being instrumental in St. Pete getting its own Indy car race...he won the inaugural event.
I was hoping when I woke up that there had been some sort of mistake yesterday or I'd imagined it or something, but...
He's still dead.
I know racing's a dangerous sport but you have Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Richard Petty where they've been driving for decades and made it into a dynasty of generations so you figure...well, things are safer now...
Oh gosh, much good thoughts and mental hugs to Dan's family especially his wife and the two boys under three who won't be able to remember their dad.
Here's how I'm going to want to remember him from 2005:
And this is from his 33rd birthday in June:
In 2005, I was SO FREAKING HAPPY! One of Michael's driver's won and he was one of the newer guys. Plus, despite the English accent, he lived in St. Pete!
I was instantly a fan of Dan Wheldon ever since even when he left Andretti racing. He was such a good guy in the community; helping with charities, friendly with everyone and being instrumental in St. Pete getting its own Indy car race...he won the inaugural event.
I was hoping when I woke up that there had been some sort of mistake yesterday or I'd imagined it or something, but...
He's still dead.
I know racing's a dangerous sport but you have Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Richard Petty where they've been driving for decades and made it into a dynasty of generations so you figure...well, things are safer now...
Oh gosh, much good thoughts and mental hugs to Dan's family especially his wife and the two boys under three who won't be able to remember their dad.
Here's how I'm going to want to remember him from 2005:
And this is from his 33rd birthday in June:
