Paul Dana

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Paul Dana
2000 USA

Paul Frederick Dana (/ˈdnə/; April 15, 1975 – March 26, 2006)[1] was an American racing driver who competed in the IndyCar Series.

Early life

Born in

.

Racing career

In 1996, Dana was working as a mechanic at 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 three IndyCar Series events, Dana suffered a spinal fracture while practicing for the

Rahal Letterman Racing
after he recovered from his injuries.

Death

In the practice session for the first race of the 2006 IndyCar Series season, at

's disabled car after Carpenter's tire went flat, thrusting Carpenter's car into a retaining wall, before it slid to the bottom of the track. Dana, in the Rahal-Letterman car, was told to "go low" by his spotter. Slow-motion footage showed that Dana had hit debris from Carpenter's car just before impact.

ABC/ESPN's telemetry indicated Dana's car hit Carpenter's car at about 176 mph (283 km/h), while Scott Sharp, who was running alongside Dana, reported that he had slowed to approximately 50 mph (80 km/h) by the time of Dana's impact.

Dana was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died due to complications from injuries sustained in the crash. He was 30 years old, and was survived by his wife Tonya. The morning of his death, Dana's wife found out she was expecting their first child.

After his death, Dana's teammates

race
as a mark of respect for their deceased teammate.

During a show on March 27, 2006, an emotional David Letterman paused during his monologue to offer his condolences to Dana's family:

It's not hard to imagine the despair and sorrow that Paul Dana's wife, Tonya, 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.

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points Ref
2003
Kenn Hardley Racing
HMS

13
PHX

6
INDY

7
PPIR
DNS
KAN
13
NSH
7
MIS

10
9th 234 [2]
Brian Stewart Racing
STL

7
KTY
8
CHI
13
FON

14
TXS
2004
Hemelgarn Racing
HMS

8
PHX

5
INDY

10
KAN
2
NSH
2
MIL
1
MIS

4
KTY
2
PPIR
2
CHI
8
FON

12
TXS
11
2nd 379 [3]

IndyCar Series

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
2005
Hemelgarn Racing HMS
10
PHX
21
STP MOT
20
INDY
Wth
TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY PPIR SNM CHI WGL FON 27th 44 [4]
2006
Rahal Letterman Racing
HMS
DNS
STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY SNM CHI 40th 6 [5]

References

  1. ^ "Motorsport Memorial - Paul Dana". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Paul Dana – 2003 Infiniti / Indy Pro Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Paul Dana – 2004 Infiniti / Indy Pro Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Paul Dana – 2005 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Paul Dana – 2006 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 20 December 2022.

External links

Preceded by Fatalities in Champ Car/IndyCar
2006
Succeeded by