CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Column by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — IndyCar photo —
It’s been just over 36 hours, and like so many fans, friends and faithful members of the IndyCar community, my heart is still hurting.
By now, I’m sure that any of you who are reading this know that American open wheel’s gentle giant, better known as 6’4″ Englishman Justin Wilson, tragically passed away on Monday night from the injuries he sustained during Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, after the nose cone from Sage Karam’s machine sheared off and came into contact with Wilson’s helmet.
The moment was a tragic accident, and one that reminds us not only just how human the drivers we cheer for and support on a weekly basis are, but how quickly things can happen in the sport we all love.
I had people ask me even on Monday night why I hadn’t written anything in response to the news, and my response was simple — just like those who knew him well, I didn’t have the words, nor the coherence of thought, to be able to explain accurately what I was feeling in response to Justin’s leaving us far too soon.
My heart was hurting. As I said above, it still is.
I’ll admit, at first, that I was frustrated. For the second time in five years, IndyCar had lost one of its brightest stars, one of its greatest talents and one of its most universally well-liked competitors and individuals. Justin Wilson was cut from the same cloth that Dan Wheldon was — he was genuine to everyone he came into contact with, he always showed a penchant to make time for everyone and he carried that irremovable smile from his face that brightened up the world wherever he went.
I felt it wasn’t fair.
The first question out of my mouth after the news broke on Monday night was to Race Chaser Online’s open wheel correspondent Joel Sebastianelli, and I asked him why things like what we saw on Sunday, and like what we saw at Las Vegas four years ago, had to happen to the “good guys” of the sport.
His response is one that has given me perspective on the entire situation: “Because, quite simply, there are no bad guys. Only those who go above and beyond the call of duty.”
Justin Wilson was one of those who went above and beyond to make sure that those in the IndyCar community — be it fan, friend or fellow competitor — felt appreciated and knew that he had their back if there was anything he could do for them along the way. He was pure class and he was a shining example for those coming up the ladder of the qualities that makes one not just successful in the sport, but respected as well.
It’s those attributes — attributes that are too few and far between in this sport — that makes the fact that Justin isn’t here anymore so hard to swallow.
But now that I’ve given myself a day to absorb everything that’s happened, I’m realizing just how much Justin is still teaching all of us, even though he’s not here to look us in the eyes and say what he has to say or offer that million-dollar smile at the race track.
If nothing else, the circumstances that life dealt on Sunday at Pocono have driven home to the whole racing community, I feel, the importance of taking advantage of every moment you have with the people you care about — especially in motorsports — because of how quickly things can happen. We saw it at Las Vegas and now we’ve seen it again, in even more of an improbable way.
It’s a solemn reminder that while we have come so far in safety and innovation, we still have a section of road to travel, and try as we might, we will never truly make the sport we love so much 100% non-lethal. (There is a time to discuss this point in depth, but now is not yet that time.)
Most of all, it allows us to truly appreciate the still-growing legacy of a driver who excelled at every form of motorsport he competed in, but made as much or more of an impact off the track as he did on it.
Yes, we’ll remember Justin’s seven Indy car victories (four in CART and three in the Verizon IndyCar Series), each as improbable as the next; his Rolex 24 triumph as part of Michael Shank Racing’s super-team that did; and his 2003 stint in Formula One that — while it never netted a victory — began to lend credence to the belief that JW was one of the most versatile drivers in the world; but we’ll remember every bit as much the light he brought to the world and the lives he touched, whether it was those with dyslexia that he gave guidance to or his decision to have his organs donated that ultimately saved six lives, as his family revealed earlier Tuesday.
Justin’s brother Stefan tweeted that his brother “keeps setting the bar higher and higher,” even after his death. How true that statement really is.
It also is a showcase for the biggest lesson that, as hard as it is to learn, has allowed me to come to terms — and ultimately begin to find peace — with the events that unfolded on Sunday afternoon.
Regardless of where your beliefs lie, Justin Wilson’s passing, though even my frustration kept me from admitting it at first, was part of something so much greater — and while we may say that he was taken from this earthly home far too soon, in actuality, the timing was ultimately just as it should have been, because it led to a half dozen people who Justin likely never had the chance to meet having him to thank for being able to live their lives to the fullest in his honor.
And speaking of moving forward in his honor, this weekend the series he loved and relished competing in so much goes to Sonoma Raceway to crown a champion, and while it will be painfully difficult to run Sunday’s race and not see IndyCar’s “badass,” as he was referred to by his peers, fighting tooth-and-nail on track with him, I am confident that Justin would not want any of us to shed a tear due to his absence, but instead relish the competition and joy found in the intensity and drama of a season-ending race that has so many stories still to be written.
Justin may not be a physical part of this weekend’s chapter, but he will be an emotional and spiritual part of it in more ways than any of us in the racing community can begin to fathom, and his shining legacy will be one that is talked about and remembered in the annals of motorsports for decades to come.
And that, my friends, is reason to smile through our heartache.
Godspeed Justin. We love you, we miss you, but we know your legend lives on through the world you always strove to make a brighter place — and that, sir, may well be your most “badass” quality of all.
The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, Speed77 Radio, the Performance Motorsports Network, their sponsors or other contributors.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s. He is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
