Paul Dana

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Dana (born April 15, 1975 in St. Louis , Missouri , United States , † March 26, 2006 in Miami , Florida ) was an American racing driver . He was runner-up in the Infiniti Pro Series in 2004 . In 2005 and 2006 he started in the IndyCar Series until his death .

Career

Time before the racing career

Dana attended the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and worked as a mechanic, private racing and driving instructor, PR & marketing representative and as an editor and journalist in the sports business until he dropped out of college. He worked for AutoWeek , Sports Illustrated and Maxim .

Beginnings as a racing driver

In 1998 Dana started as a racing driver herself. He started two years in the Barber Pro Series . In 2000 he moved to the US F2000 National Championship . In 2001 he stayed in this series and was 13th in the drivers' championship with a podium finish. He also took part in a race in the US Formula 3 championship .

Infiniti Pro Series

In 2003 Dana competed in the Infiniti Pro Series . He started the season with Kenn Hardley Racing and later moved to Brian Stewart Racing . With a sixth place as the best result, he finished the championship in ninth place. In 2004 Dana received a cockpit for the Infiniti Pro Series at Hemelgarn Racing . He won the race at West Allis and finished second four times. At the end of the season he was defeated by Thiago Medeiros with 379 to 513 points and became runner-up.

IndyCar Series

2005 Dana moved to the IndyCar Series , where he worked for Hemelgarn Racing in a Dallara - Toyota launched. He finished tenth in his first race. He dropped out on his next two starts. Dana was involved in several accidents while training for the Indianapolis 500 . At first he survived an accident uninjured. However, his car was so damaged that he had to switch to a replacement car. In this Dana had another accident in which he sustained a serious back injury. Dana dropped out for the remainder of the season and was replaced by Jimmy Kite .

In 2006 Dana was signed by Rahal Letterman Racing to replace Vitor Meira . His team used a Panoz - Honda . In the warm-up for the season opener in Homestead , Dana drove at high speed into Ed Carpenter's car , who had turned into the wall and then slid back onto the inside lane. Dana's vehicle took off and hit the barrier. Dana was about 176 mph (283 km / h) at the time of contact. Before the fatal collision, Dana had driven over something on the track. Both pilots were flown to hospital after the accident, where Dana died as a result of his injuries. Dana was 30 years old.

Carpenter was seriously injured and had to pause a race. Rahal Letterman Racing decided to withdraw the other two pilots Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick from the race, which started half an hour later than planned. Later in the season, Jeff Simmons received Dana's cockpit.

Personal

Dana was married to Tonya Bergeson-Dana.

statistics

Career stations

Individual results in the IndyCar Series

season team 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th Points rank
2005 Hemelgarn Racing HMS
10 		PHX
21 		STP
  		MOT
20 		INDY
DNQ 		TXS
INJ 		RIR
INJ 		KAN
INJ 		NSH
INJ 		MIL
INJ 		MIS
INJ 		KTY
INJ 		PPI
INJ 		SNM
INJ 		CHI
INJ 		WGL
INJ 		FON
INJ 		44 27.
2006 Rahal Letterman Racing HMS
19 		STP
† 		MOT
† 		INDY
† 		WGL
† 		TXS
† 		RIR
† 		KAN
† 		NSH
† 		MIL
† 		MIS
† 		KTY
† 		SNM
† 		CHI
† 		      6th 40.

( Legend )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Rennfahrer Database - Paul Dana" (speedsport-magazine.de; accessed on February 14, 2012)
  2. ↑ a b c “IRL Rookie Dies After Prerace Collision” (nytimes.com on March 27, 2006)
  3. ↑ a b "Dana widow speaks for the first time about the fatal accident" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 23, 2007)
  4. ↑ a b "Tragic accident overshadows the IRL season opener" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 27, 2006)
  5. ^ "Rahal Letterman Racing wants to get back to the top" (Motorsport-Total.com on March 6, 2007)
personal data
SURNAME Dana, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American racing car driver
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 2006
Place of death Miami , Florida