Paul Dana dies in warm up

Alfred Johnson
March 30, 2006

With yellow lights flashing and other drivers slowing around him, the up-and-coming rookie slammed into a stopped car at close to 200 mph during a warm up session Sunday, sending his shattered car flying. Dana's car hit the car of Ed Carpenter, who had spun out seconds beforehand, at an estimated 200 mph at Turn 2. IndyCar driver Dana, 30, was taken via helicopter to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead in surgery at 11:46 a.m. ET, approximately two hours after the crash. Barnhart said Dana died of "multiple traumas" but gave no further details. Dana's onboard telemetry showed he stopped only tenths of a second before the impact. The car nearly split in half, flying six feet in the air and nearly turning over before it landed on its wheels and slid to a halt.

IndyCar driver Dana died just hours from beginning his most promising season yet. After a string of modest successes rising through racing's ranks, he had finally gotten his big break in the months before the season-opening IRL IndyCar Series race. He's the third IndyCar driver to perish since the series began competition in 1996. Scott Brayton (1996) and Tony Renna (2003) died at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in non-race crashes. Dana is also the third driver to die at the Florida track.

About The Author Alfred Johnson provides all sports fans with the most recent a up to date news information in the sports world. Mr. Johnson has been an exceptional article writer for http://www.bookemdirect.com

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