Two years ago today, Justin Wilson died after suffering a head injury as a result of being hit in the helmet with flying debris from a crash at Pocono Raceway the day before.
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the tragic death of late IndyCar driver Justin Wilson. He died as a result of being hit in the helmet with flying debris that resulted from a one-car crash involving Sage Karam during the 2015 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Wilson’s death was a freak accident, as it had nothing to do with the actual on-track competition that the series was producing. The same could not be said for the death of the IndyCar driver who had passed away most recently at the time of Wilson’s death, Dan Wheldon. He died in a 15-car crash as a result of a massive pack race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the final race before the DW12 chassis era.
To this day, no IndyCar driver has died in the DW12 chassis era as a result of the actual on-track product of racing that the series was putting on. Wilson’s death truly was a freak accident that could have happened to anyone, and it really hit a lot of people hard as well as sparked a lot of conversation about IndyCar having open cockpits.
Following being hit in the helmet with the nose cone from Karam’s car, Wilson was extricated from his car and taken to the nearby Lehigh Valley Hospital via helicopter. Later that night, IndyCar announced that Wilson was in a coma. The next night, IndyCar announced that he had tragically passed away at the age of 37.
But this article isn’t titled “Remembering Justin Wilson’s death”. It’s titled “Remembering Justin Wilson”. So let’s actually do that.
Wilson won seven times throughout his career in IndyCar. His final win came in the 2012 at Texas Motor Speedway, and he pulled off the victory in epic fashion.
Ironically, in the final full race before his death, he battled Graham Rahal, the driver who he passed for the win at Texas, for the win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and came close to passing him for the lead on a late restart. However, he had to settle for 2nd place.
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From 2004 to 2007, Wilson drove in 54 Champ Car races, winning four of them. In his four seasons in Champ Car, he finished in the top 3 in the championship standings three times, including two 2nd place finishes. From 2008 to 2015 in IndyCar, he raced in 121 IndyCar races, winning three of them. His highest finish in the standings was 6th place in 2013.
Wilson was known as the “Gentle Giant”. At 6’4″, he was the tallest driver in the series, and he was always very friendly and caring. He is typically remembered as the friendliest driver in the paddock.
Since passing away two years ago now, he has been missed by the IndyCar community, its fans and drivers alike. The pain that we felt two years ago is, indeed, still here on today’s two-year anniversary of his death, and it reminds us all of the many risks and many dangers that IndyCar racing, and frankly all racing, carries.
He is still missed and will always be.
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