In a glaring reminder that no matter how safe race cars are made there is still a huge elemewnt of danger that if not taken into account can lead to life threatening injuries or even death. In practice for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Paul Dana struck a spun out and disabled Ed Carpenter straight on, spliting Dana's car in two peices and flipping over the cockpit section breifly until it came to rest on it's wheels. Both drivers were airlifted to an area trauma center where Dana was pronounced dead.

Paul Dana was a 30 year old rookie who is a former journalist and competed in 3 IRL races for Ethanol Hemelgarn last season with a best finish of 10th at Homestead. This year would have been his first full season racing for Rahal-Letterman racing alongside Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice.

Our deepest condolences go out to the Dana family on thier tragic loss.