IndyCar champion Dan Wheldon dies in massive crash at Las Vegas race [video]

I agree it was just one of those freak accidents, race cars have become very safe so when something like this happens it's just terrible.

CDspeed is right ovals are death traps. Driving 220 mph inches from a concrete wall is madness. F1 has worked over the years to make tracks safer with gravel traps and run-off areas. Only in the US you find this stupid arena racing. IRL should switch to road racing like everyone else in the civilized world. Too many drivers have died over the last 2 decades. I cannot recall one F1 death since Senna. Apparently the lives of the drivers is not a major concern in the US. The Las Vegas track should immediately be taken off the calender. Even before the race people were expecting something bad to happen and the worst did eventually happen. This is absolutely unacceptable in this modern age of racing. Only in arena racing do you see such a high death rate amongst drivers. This I hope is the last straw!

Monaco is very different at Monaco the speeds are much slower and the cars don't run 3 wide at 220 mph. The Nurburgring has not been an F1 track since Nikki Lauda's accident back in the 70's for safety reasons. If you are o.k with drivers constantly dying on ovals I question your passion for the sport. Deaths must be limited and ovals have a poor safety record. When was the last death at Monaco? F1 has made the sport much safer for the drivers its high time IRL does something to protect their drivers. Yes they have worked on the walls but that did not help Dan did it? The catch fences are still unsafe. Seven deaths in 17 years is way too much. That's one death almost every 2 1/2 years that is unacceptable its not the 1960's anymore. Back in 1998 & 1999 fans were killed by a tire and suspension parts that broke off a car and flew into the crowd ovals are not even safe for the fans. I can't think of anywhere else in the world where stupid arena racing exists besides the US and a few tracks built to bring IRL to Japan and Mexico.

You are very wrong in your comparison. There are about 20 F1 races a year. NASCAR runs about 90 between their three major oval series. IndyCar runs about 18. Without counting USAC and World of Outlaw Sprint Cars, and ARCA, etc., there is five times as many major oval races a year in the United States than the entire Formula One schedule.