IndyCar driver Justin Wilson has died of the injuries he suffered yesterday during the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, the Associated Press reports. He was 37 years old.
Wilson was struck in the head by the carbon-fiber nosecone of race leader Sage Karem. As our own Jeremy Korzeniewski wrote at the time, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, when Karem's Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet hit the Tricky Triangle's outside wall. According to the AP, Wilson was the twelfth car to proceed through the debris when he was hit by the nosecone of Karem's disintegrating car. He appeared to lose control and spear left into the track's inside wall. Wilson, from Sheffield, England, was immediately airlifted to a hospital in Allentown, PA. He was in a coma and unresponsive when he arrived.
Wilson was a well-known face in the world of open-wheel racing. He ran for the Minardi and Jaguar Formula One teams in 2003, before joining the now-defunct Champ Car series in 2004. He recorded four wins in Champ Car. When that series merged with IndyCar in 2008, Wilson made the jump, and won three races in 120 career starts. Wilson is the second open-wheel racer to die this year, after F1 driver Jules Bianchi's death in July. He's the first IndyCar driver to die in competition since Dan Wheldon was killed in a 2011 crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The British racer is survived by his wife, Julia, and their two daughters, Jane and Jessica. The thoughts of the entire Autoblog team are with them at this time.
Wilson was struck in the head by the carbon-fiber nosecone of race leader Sage Karem. As our own Jeremy Korzeniewski wrote at the time, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, when Karem's Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet hit the Tricky Triangle's outside wall. According to the AP, Wilson was the twelfth car to proceed through the debris when he was hit by the nosecone of Karem's disintegrating car. He appeared to lose control and spear left into the track's inside wall. Wilson, from Sheffield, England, was immediately airlifted to a hospital in Allentown, PA. He was in a coma and unresponsive when he arrived.
Wilson was a well-known face in the world of open-wheel racing. He ran for the Minardi and Jaguar Formula One teams in 2003, before joining the now-defunct Champ Car series in 2004. He recorded four wins in Champ Car. When that series merged with IndyCar in 2008, Wilson made the jump, and won three races in 120 career starts. Wilson is the second open-wheel racer to die this year, after F1 driver Jules Bianchi's death in July. He's the first IndyCar driver to die in competition since Dan Wheldon was killed in a 2011 crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The British racer is survived by his wife, Julia, and their two daughters, Jane and Jessica. The thoughts of the entire Autoblog team are with them at this time.
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