Dan Wheldon eBay Charity Auction Held In Memorial & Family Support

Memorial display on entrance to Conseco field for the Dan Wheldon Memorial service held in Indianapolis. Image Credit: Danial Incandela for IndyCar

Dan Wheldon eBay Charity Auction Held In Memorial & Family Support

Yesterday, October 24, 2011, eBay officially started posting items donated for auction of its Charity eBay Auction in memory of Dan Wheldon. 100% of the proceeds will go to benefit the the Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund. This effort had its spark of a start through the desire of one of IZOD IndyCar Series youngest drivers, Graham Rahal.

This excerpted and edited from eBay -

Dan Wheldon
June 22, 1978 - October 16, 2011
Charity eBay Auction In Memory of IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dan Wheldon
Auctions begin October 24th and run for 10 days

Graham Rahal didn’t know what he was starting when he offered to auction the race-used helmet, gloves and shoes he used in Las Vegas to raise money for the family of the late Dan Wheldon.

Rahal’s gesture began an outpouring of support from celebrities and athletes around the world who wanted to donate memorabilia to raise money for the Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund.

“I certainly appreciate everyone’s support for Dan's Memorial Auction,” said Rahal, who recently completed his first season with Chip Ganassi Racing. “I never thought when I tweeted about auctioning my helmet that we would get this kind of reaction.”
[Reference Here]

NASCAR, LOWES liveried, "Lion Heart" visor-decaled racing helmet used in several races donated by El Cajon, California, native and five-time NASCAR Series Season Champion, Jimmie Johnson. Image Credit: eBay

It just becomes an additional grip to the heart to see the community and culture of motorsports come together over the tragic loss of one its most revered and respected figures.

Contributors include drivers and members from many competitive disciplines ... for example, people can bid on a surfboard donated by multiple World Surfing Champion, Kelly Slater ... a NASCAR, LOWES liveried, "Lion Heart" visor-decaled racing helmet used in several races donated by El Cajon, California, native and five-time NASCAR Series Season Champion, Jimmie Johnson (already catching its own auction action at $13,000 at post publish) ... Firestone Tire Table Signed by all 2011 Indianapolis 500 Participants ... Skip Barber Racing School 3 Day Session ... NASCAR driving legend, Mark Martin, donated a Mark Martin #5 Black Windbreaker Size L, Cap, #5 Round Decal & T-Shirt ... Indianapolis Colts Signed Helmet -- Peyton Manning, Donald Brown & More (team member signatures) ... much more!

Dan Wheldon Charity Auction reactions Tweet-By-Tweet:

DWheldonAuction Dan Wheldon Auction by GrahamRahal

First item is up! Taste of the Track-- Monticello Motor Club Racetrack Experience, NY r.ebay.com/fQGcOu

IndyCar IZOD IndyCar Series

The first item of the @DWheldonAuction is up for bid, new itemsevery two minutes! r.ebay.com/fQGcOu

DWheldonAuction Dan Wheldon Auction byBeccyGordon

Next item is @kellyslater surfing legends signed SurfBoard! Kelly Slater Signed Channel Islands 5'11 Whip Surfboard r.ebay.com/JtUIJx

pressdog Bill Zahren

Wheldon Memorial Auction Opens ..BID, ye BASTARDS bit.ly/uAgg66

dariofranchitti Dario Franchitti byscottdixon9

the bids have started on @DWheldonAuction , over $11k already for @JimmieJohnson helmet. I've got my eye on thatone!!

indy44 Matt Archuleta

Just broke $13,000 HOLY (Insert cussword here) RT @pressdog:$11,000 RT @indy44: Nice! RT @AllenWedge: Jimmie's helmet already over$10,000

BHA Bryan Herta

The @DWheldonAuction is live, all proceeds go tosupport the Wheldon Family. bit.ly/rfmZ1V

williamrast William Rast

The @DWheldonAuction is live, all proceeds go tosupport the Wheldon Family. bit.ly/rfmZ1V

BeccyGordon Beccy Gordon

I really want the @kellyslater board for our house! I know @RyanHunterReay asked him to donate it & Iwant it! ;) @DWheldonAuction

indy44 Matt Archuleta

Takes a couple minutes for video toload-> A public celebration of Dan Wheldon’s life bit.ly/smjzgf #Lionheart#IndyCar

DWheldonAuction Dan Wheldon Auction by AllenWedge - We promise there will be cheaper items coming. Wow never expected this. We have lots of team hats etc coming up in the next few days.

16AndGeorgetown James Black - $35k and counting. #impressive

SBPopOffValve Tony - The Mark Martin 1/64 signed diecast may end up being the most expensive 1/64 diecast ever - already past $300. @KendraTeam5

DWheldonAuction Dan Wheldon Auction by SBPopOffValve - Remember everyone this is only the start. Please stay tuned and keep bidding. There will be hundreds of items still to come!
-END-

May all of the competitors, fans, and people who have an interest in the sadness that is the tragic end of Dan Wheldon's life be able to put an exclamation point on the mourning process through the Dan Wheldon eBay Charity Auction held in memorial and Wheldon surviving family support.

... notes from The EDJE



[Article first published as Dan Wheldon eBay Charity Auction Held In Memorial & Family Support at Technorati]

Will BMW Issue A M1 Redux?

The very wicked frontview look of the BMW M1 Concept. Image Credit: BMW via Motorsports Unplugged

Will BMW Issue A M1 Redux?

BMW is now floating rumors that they might take another shot at the iconic M1. In 2008 they created the BMW M1 Hommage. Several design studies have been produced, but now the M division wants another crack at it.

... notes from The EDJE

Is Fisker Automotive Another Solyndra Style Waste Of Money?

ABC News focuses on the one Fisker assembly line already running in Finland. Some of those federal energy dollars were used on design plans. ABC interviewed Fisker head, Henrik Fisker who assured reporter Brian Ross the federal money was not being used to pay workers at the plant. Image Credit: Fisker Automotive, Inc.

Is Fisker Automotive Another Solyndra Style Waste Of Money?

We, at The EDJE, have a neighbor whose family was happy to tell me, about six months ago, that they had private investments in Fisker Automotive, Inc.

News broke this week stating that Obama's Department of Energy was acting as a venture capitalist by issuing a 500 million dollar plus loan to a car manufacturing company on the heels of the bankruptcy announcement of Solyndra, a solar cell manufacturer where the Obama Administration thought it was a good risk to place taxpayer money at risk in a company that they knew would go bankrupt.

The Fisker Karma, front view. Image Credit: Fisker Automotive, Inc.

This excerpted and edited from Newsworks -

Tactics of Delaware carmaker Fisker questioned by ABC News
By John Mussoni - October 21, 2011

ABC News partnered with the Center for Public Integrity to do a series of reports that aired on various broadcasts over Thursday and Friday. It pointed to over $500 million in U.S. Energy Department loans for Fisker to build new-age fuel efficient cars.

The failed new energy company, Solyndra, is also casting a shadow over Fisker Automotive and other new technology companies. The ABC News report raised questions about how federal dollars are being spent in getting the Fisker assembly line up to speed in the old Boxwood Road GM plant in Delaware.

The report points to a General Accounting Office report saying there is not enough oversight on how the money is being spent. The GAO report also states there aren’t enough trained engineers who can analyze whether companies like Fisker and its chief competitor, Tesla Motors, are spending money appropriately.

ABC News focuses on the one Fisker assembly line already running in Finland. Some of those federal energy dollars were used on design plans. ABC interviewed Fisker head, Henrik Fisker who assured reporter Brian Ross the federal money was not being used to pay workers at the plant.

There is a tone of skepticism in both reports about whether there could be another company that fails despites federal backing.
----
Delaware has money tied to Fisker as well.

The state of Delaware has a big stake in Fisker’s success. Part of the deal struck in October 2009 was a $9 million grant that would off set utility charges while Fisker started the necessary changes needed to change the assembly process from what was left behind with General Motors to the Fisker assembly line. To date the state has paid $5 million, according to Governor Jack Markell’s office.

The state has also invested another $12.5 million in a loan to Fisker that will be converted to a grant if hiring goals are met. There have been 100 people hired so far in 2011. The goal is over 2,000 workers to be in place by 2013.
----
A Fisker spokesman told Fox Business Channel what the company meant to say was that full distribution would not begin until 2013. The spokesman said the company was still on track to begin production a year from now.

The Delaware facility looks about the same as it did when General Motors shut down the plant in July 2009. The water tower still has the GM logo. There are padlocks on the fences where hundreds of workers used to work.
[Reference Here]

Fisker Karma, rear view. Image Credit: Fisker Automotive, Inc.

When I came home, I could not wait to write the following:

"I just found out today in the news that you (and your dad) have nothing on me, in that, I am an investor in the Fisker Automotive, Inc. too! We have great taste.

This is NOT a Solyndra type of deal that the Obama Government made because there is actually a market for well conceived, well designed, limited production run boutique automobiles ... no matter the sales price. The solar panels that were supposed to be produced at the Solyndra could only be made for $6.00 in a $3.00 solar cell market price world.

I hope to see Henrik Fisker again at the LA Auto Show."

As per Fisker - Not a single dollar of the DoE loans has been, or will be, spent outside of America. All expenditures are reviewed by PwC (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) on behalf of the DoE. Image Credit: Fisker Automotive, Inc.

This excerpted and edited from Fisker website -

Fisker Statement re: Misleading News Reports
ID: 567 | 10.21.2011

There have been stories in the media today commenting on the Department of Energy (DoE) loan guarantees Fisker Automotive received. We wanted to give you some more information.
----
Not a single dollar of the DoE loans has been, or will be, spent outside of America. All expenditures are reviewed by PwC (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) on behalf of the DoE.

After receiving the DoE loan, Fisker made it a priority to create U.S. jobs which led to the purchase its own assembly plant in Delaware where we plan to establish production of our second, higher volume, line of vehicles (Project Nina).

There are currently over 100 workers reconfiguring the Delaware plant so that Fisker will be ready to begin hiring a skilled hourly workforce to producing its Nina platform vehicles in the U.S. for sale around the world. Many of these Delaware costs are covered by the DoE loans.

For the Karma program, the DoE loan money was used solely in the U.S. to fund design, engineering, and integration work.

Only private equity financing, of which we have raised over $600 million so far, has been used for costs not covered by the DoE loans, of which only a small part is production costs in Finland.

The majority of our private funding has been used to create jobs, including 650 people at Fisker’s headquarters in California, over 100 at the Delaware plant and many more at various suppliers throughout the U.S.

At the inception of the company, Fisker explored the possibility of producing the Karma in the U.S. However, there are no contract manufacturers like Valmet in the U.S., and none of the established domestic automakers were willing to partner with Fisker to provide a manufacturing option in the U.S. that would work for the Karma program. Our assembly arrangement for the Karma was in place before the DoE loans were approved, and has been widely reported on since 2009.

There is no link between Fisker Automotive and any political party. We are politically neutral – our focus is on building luxury electric vehicles.

More than 45% of the components of the Fisker Karma sedan are manufactured by approximately 40 suppliers located in the U.S. Some of our biggest suppliers in the U.S. include A123 Systems (Li-ion battery), General Motors Springhill Engine Plant (gasoline engine), Goodyear (tires) and TRW (regenerative braking system).
----
With the help of DoE loans, Fisker has already created hundreds of U.S. jobs, with thousands more in the near future. Ultimately Fisker is a high-tech American car company that we’re confident will be an American success story to be celebrated.
[Reference Here]

So, is Fisker Automotive another Obama/Solyndra style waste of taxpayer money? If the former design director of Aston Martin and the once president and CEO of BMW's DesignworksUSA, Henrik Fisker has his way, we think not.

... notes from The EDJE

[Article first published as Is Fisker Automotive Another Solyndra Style Waste Of Money? at Technorati]

Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals

A memorial to Dan Wheldon is displayed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the British-born driver was killed in an accident on Sunday. Image Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images via guardian.co.uk

Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals

The safety debate centers on the fact that IndyCar Dallara vehicles, which all have the same bodies and engines, can not avoid pack racing at very high speeds on a circuit as small and banked as the Las Vegas track, and this sets up a condition that is dangerous with open-cockpit, Indy-style cars. The wide track bed combined with steep banking and the mushroom shaped vortex wash that comes out from behind the cars, set up a very unstable mix.

Driving the Go Daddy No. 7, Andretti Autosport Dallara, Danica Patrick posted the fastest practice time with a staggering 224.719 mph on Oct. 13. After learning her time, Patrick's reaction proved prophetic.

"It's friggin' fast here," said Patrick. "Almost a 225 lap is like Indy speeds. The track is nice and smooth and we’ll be three-wide out there, which will be exciting. The race is going to be crazy and the crashes will be spectacular."

Danica, who will be driving in NASCAR next year, was not the only driver talking up the danger of the course in the days before the race.

"It's so fast and you're so close to each other, it's exciting," veteran driver, and IMS Radio commentator, Hewlett-Packard sponsored Davey Hamilton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, also noting that he expected four wide racing. "There's really no room for error."

Driver comments after the Wheldon tragedy where 15 cars were collected in a fiery mess confirmed the fear of this unstable mix.

"We all know this is part of the sport," driver Oriol Servia said of the danger. "We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat" out on the throttle.

"Within five laps people started to do crazy stuff," Dario Franchitti said immediately after the accident. "I wanted no part of it. I love hard racing, but that to me is not what it's about. I said before, this is not a suitable track. You can't get away from anybody. One small mistake and you have a massive wreck."

"Now we need to rethink the way we're doing things," said Tony Kanaan, who started on the pole.

The Dallara IR-05 was built specifically to be driven in excess of 230 mph and protect its driver in the event of an accident at those speeds. Its carbon fiber chassis was designed to break apart during a collision and absorb the forces of a series of massive impacts while keeping the cockpit surrounding the driver intact.

Since its introduction in 2005, only one driver, Paul Dana, had died behind the wheel of the Dallara before Sunday. In a freak accident during practice for the 2006 season opener in Homestead, Fla., Dana lost control of his car and hit a damaged vehicle that had come to a stop on the track in front of him head-on, at an estimated speed of 176 mph. In a bit of irony, Dan Wheldon went on to win that race. Since then, the cars had been used in 100 races and covered more than 500,000 miles in competition without any loss of life, and fe
But one thing the vehicles can’t do is prevent an accident like the 15-car pileup that took the 33-year-old Wheldon’s life.

Driver James Jakes, whose car was damaged in the incident, added that “unfortunately, it’s something I think a lot of us thought might happen. We practiced with no more than five or six cars in a group and now we’ve got 34 ... there was going to be some trouble.”

During the 15 car collection in turn #2, Wheldon’s car got airborne and came into contact with the catch fence above the wall. The metal mesh fence is designed to keep vehicles and debris from leaving the confines of the track, but can cause additional damage in the process.

“It is one of those things that when you are racing you are always aware that there are risks,” Dan Weldon teammate, Alex Tagliani said. “But you never think it is going to come to that."

“I am very sad and angry,” expressed Alex. What angered the 38-year-old was that no one listened to the drivers’ fears over the conditions before the race. Tagliani felt that, like NASCAR, when it revolutionized driver safety after the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001 at Daytona International Speedway, IndyCar must look at doing the same in its series.

“If we are going to come back to these (1 1/2-mile banked ovals) we are going to have to change the aero packages to slow the cars down,” continued Alex. “It is just not right that some one has to die to make those changes.”

One thing that Tagliani proposes is that drivers, team owners, track owners and IndyCar bosses get together in the off season to talk about what can be done to make racing both better and safer.

“There is definitely things that need to be discussed and things to look at,” Tagliani concluded. “We for sure have to talk to the series bosses. Right now my mind is so confused. We have to talk about racing these types of cars on these types of race tracks. I don’t think tracks like the mile and a half at Las Vegas is the right thing for us.”

On Friday, IndyCar President and CEO Randy Bernard announced that the series plans to return to Las Vegas for its finale in 2012, and the organization has not yet said if it is reconsidering that decision.

In an interview with Fox Sports in the wake of the crash, former CART/ChampCar driver and current NASCAR star A.J. Allmendinger said, “obviously, with the new car coming in, it needs to be safer, but there are tracks that they don't need to race at.”

A template situation that IndyCar could have learned from as it relates to high-banked mile and a half ovals happened in 2001. CART/ChampCar, one of the two open-wheel racing series that later combined to form IndyCar, was forced to cancel a race at the Texas Motor Speedway after drivers complained in practice about getting dizzy and blacking out from the g-forces created by the high speeds that their cars were capable of on the steeply-banked 1.5-mile oval. In this case the rules were changed to slow the cars down through downforce and engine set-ups at subsequent events held at the track.

(ht: various news services - FoxNews/Huffington Post/Toronto Sun - for quotes and background on the Dallara IR-05)

The two biggest words that stand out the most, if one were to read between the lines, in all of these post Dan Wheldon tragedy driver reactions to safety on banked ovals - Race Control.

Upon reflection ... Race Control has been the overriding story (race call miscues effecting championship points standings, recommended car set ups, and venue management) for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series World Championship season and the last season of the Dallara IR-05.

... notes from The EDJE


[Article was first published as Post Dan Wheldon Tragedy Reaction Review To Safety On Banked Ovals at Technorati]

Dan Wheldon Killed: The First and Final Laps, Tweet by Tweet

This was not the Fun Day at LVMS I had planned. The crowd was good, the staff in the Media Center at LVMS (as it is at all SMI Tracks) was First Class, Helpful and Friendly as always. The weather was almost perfect, and as we settled in to say good-bye and good luck (you won't be missed) to Danica Patrick (the Driver, not Racer). We had a change in plans. With the race just within the first laps we saw a open wheel car crash unlike anything I have ever seen in over 40 years of Motorsports. This was a crash like we see at Talladega when they talk about "The Big One". My first clue as I walked through the Pits after the green flag and about a dozen laps, was the very large "WOWs", OMGs, and Screams from the crowds (as you can't see the back side if the track from the Pits) that something big had just happened. The yellow came out for just a moment and changed to a "Red Flag" almost right away. Again something I have not seen in my life long involvement in Motorsports. At that point I knew there was something very wrong.

It took a long while to get the bad news we knew was coming. We have lost our good friend Dan Wheldon. The race will be blamed, the track will be blamed, but niether should be blamed. LVMS is a well built, well run Race Track. I hope we get to see Indy Cars Race there again one day. Dicken Wear.

RIP, Dan Wheldon

This was not the Fun Day at LVMS I had planned. The crowd was good, the staff in the Media Center at LVMS (as it is at all SMI Tracks) was First Class, Helpful and Friendly as always. The weather was almost perfect, and as we settled in to say good-bye and good luck (you won't be missed) to Danica Patrick (the Driver, not Racer). We had a change in plans. With the race just within the first laps we saw a open wheel car crash unlike anything I have ever seen in over 40 years of Motorsports. This was a crash like we see at Talladega when they talk about "The Big One". My first clue as I walked through the Pits after the green flag and about a dozen laps, was the very large "WOWs", OMGs, and Screams from the crowds (as you can't see the back side if the track from the Pits) that something big had just happened. The yellow came out for just a moment and changed to a "Red Flag" almost right away. Again something I have not seen in my life long involvement in Motorsports. At that point I knew there was something very wrong.

It took a long while to get the bad news we knew was coming. We have lost our good friend Dan Wheldon. The race will be blamed, the track will be blamed, but niether should be blamed. LVMS is a well built, well run Race Track. I hope we get to see Indy Cars Race there again one day. Dicken Wear.