Paul Dana
Paul Dana (
April 15 1975 â€"
March 26 2006) was an
American race car driver in the
Indy Racing League.
A native of
St. Louis, Missouri, Dana graduated from the
Medill School of Journalism at
Northwestern University. Before his break he had worked as a mechanic, a private racing coach, a driving instructor, a PR & marketing account representative, and as an editor and journalist covering the sport. His work appeared in
AutoWeek,
Sports Illustrated and
Maxim.
In 1996 Dana was working as a mechanic at the
Bridgestone Racing School in Ontario when he won his first races there. In 1998 he moved to
Indianapolis and began competing in
Barber Dodge Pro Series, and his top 20 finish earned him an invitation to the inaugural
Formula Dodge National Championship. He then competed in the
Infiniti Pro Series where he had one race win and placed second in the 2004 championship. He then secured sponsorship to run in the Indycar series with sponsorship from Ethanol suppliers, which he brought to
Hemelgarn Racing.
After competing in 3 Indycar series events, Dana suffered a spinal fracture while practicing for the 2005
Indianapolis 500 and missed the rest of the season, replaced by
Jimmy Kite. He returned to the series to race for
Rahal Letterman Racing after he recovered from his injuries.
In the practice session for the first race of the 2006 IRL season, at
Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dana collided with
Ed Carpenter's disabled car after Carpenter's tire went flat, thrusting the car into retaining wall, before sliding to the bottom of the track. Paul Dana, in the Rahal-Letterman car, was told to "go low" by his spotter, unfortunately this was the wrong call. Slow-motion footage showed that Paul had hit debris from Ed's car, moments before impact which caused damage to the right-front suspension, leaving him with no chance of avoiding contact.
ABC/ESPN's telemetry indicated Dana's car hit Carpenter's car at about 176 mph, while
Scott Sharp, who was running alongside Dana, reported that he had slowed to approximately 50 mph by the time of Dana's impact.
Dana was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries just before noon. He was 30 years old, and is survived by his wife Tonya.
After his death, Dana's team-mates
Buddy Rice and
Danica Patrick did not compete in the
Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as a mark of respect for their deceased team mate.
On his
March 27, 2006 television show, an emotional
David Letterman paused to offer his condolences to Paul Dana's family;
"It's not hard to imagine the despair and sorrow that Paul Dana's wife, Tanya, and the rest of his family are feeling now, and I want them to know that they have the thoughts and the prayers of myself, the entire Rahal-Letterman team, and the entire racing community and, hopefully, that will give them the slightest amount of comfort. I did not know Paul personally but we were all proud to have him on our team and are deeply saddened by his tragic passing at such a young age."*
Paul Dana official site*
Video Of Crash*Caldwell, Dave (March 26, 2006). Indy Racing Rookie Dies in Crash During Practice.
New York Times
