I wouldn't be shocked to see him give it up. He's already 42 and towards the end of his career, so easy to see how that crash could make him call it quits.
Didn't realize he was that old. NASCAR drivers ages always sneak up on me. Like Johnson saying this was it full time driving, me thinking he's like 35 and wondering why, then seeing he's mid 40s.
That is a well reasoned thought for normal folks like us, but race car drivers are not like us. They are just wired differently. James Hinchcliffe was basically dead in his car following a wreck, and the first thing he wanted to know after being revived and surgery was when he could get back in the car.
I'll give you that they are wired differently, but after some research, Hinchcliffe was in his mid-20s. Big difference as to a wreck like that affecting you than when you are in your 40's and have kids. But we will see, because as you say, they are wired very differently.
Check out Scott Dixon and his wreck in the 2017 Indy 500. He walked away, basically injury free, but has a trophy wife and two (at the time) kids, won everything there is to win in IndyCar at 36. Literally nothing to left to prove. If watching your friend die in a racing accident, driving the same car you also drive, isn’t a deterrent, nothing is.
Look at Mario Andretti flipping his car at Indianapolis, in his 60s, circa 2003. Fortunately for him that scared him straight and he never strapped in again, but he was 62ish when he realized it! One example of a driver walking away early was Rick Mears. He retired one year after winning his 4th Indy 500, still in his prime at age 40.
Different sport, but I remember when Teddy Bruschi played again after he had a stroke. At the time I thought he was insane. Now, well, I think he's still insane but I understand why he did it.
Was that the crash in the short chute between 1 & 2 where he damn near landed head first on the inside wall?
Yes. And he had *literally* nothing left to prove, but strapped in the next week. That was wild, because where we sit, I saw it start, but then they disappeared off of my view, and swear to god my heart stopped in the second it took me to move my eyes to the Jumbotron and see the feed pick it up from there. And even then I wasn’t okay until I saw him move. Also, there was a photographer standing right where he hit the inside wall upside down. You can see it in some of the pics. I imagine he didn’t wear his drawers home that day.
I'd forgot about the photographer. I'm pretty sure his pictures from that crash are floating around online somewhere.
I don’t think they’re actually going to race this weekend, but IndyCar > NASCAR if you or anybody is legit crurious.
Like many this is my favorite sports month. Madness, TPC, sec tourney, kids lacrosse in full swing, some hs and college baseball.
