{"id":321,"date":"2011-10-16T21:35:09","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T01:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?p=321"},"modified":"2017-01-24T18:19:56","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:19:56","slug":"dan-wheldon-two-time-indy-500-winner-requescat-in-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2011\/10\/dan-wheldon-two-time-indy-500-winner-requescat-in-pace.html","title":{"rendered":"Dan Wheldon, Two Time Indy 500 Winner, Requescat In Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sad news out of Las Vegas, Nevada today. Dan Wheldon, 33 years old, was killed in a fiery crash that involved 15 other cars at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this afternoon. Join me is saying a prayer for his soul and for his loved ones who have lost a cherished family member, husband, and father.<\/p>\n

As long time readers of this blog know, I\u2019m an auto racing enthusiast of sorts. During the running of the most recent 24 Hours at LeMans, I showed you a miracle<\/a>. And a month before that, during the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, I posted on the goings on of that, the greatest, most legendary auto race of all time. I called it the Gearhead Feast Day.<\/a> Dan Wheldon, who was feted as the Rookie of the Year in 2003,\u00a0won the Indy 500 twice in his career. \u00a0The first time was in 2005, the same year when he was also the points Champion of the Series.\u00a0\u00a0The second time was just this past year, in an amazing finish<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already seen a few provocative posts that ask questions like \u201cis it time to ban this \u2018sport\u2019,\u201d etc. To which I answer in this way: Dan was a gifted race car driver. You or I could not do what he did. This was his calling, and he was extremely good at it. Yes, motor racing is dangerous, but so are a lot of other sports, and a lot of other occupations.<\/p>\n

Imagine telling Kobe Bryant that he couldn\u2019t play basketball because it was too dangerous. Too far fetched? Okay then, tell Tim Tebow that football is too dangerous so you can\u2019t pursue your dream now because too many people get hurt at this game. But back to autoracing, consider these words that Oscar winning actor Paul Newman said about his love for automobile racing. You did know that Paul Newman was an outstanding race car driver, didn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

\"\"His ability to drive a race car, and drive it very well, was discovered when he was making the film,\u00a0Winning<\/a>, <\/em>in 1969. Here\u2019s what he said about the discovery. It was, \u201cthe first thing that I ever found I had any grace in.\u201d<\/a> The same can be said for many who have died practicing their callings.<\/p>\n

For example, I have a friend who tried to run away from his calling to be a helicopter pilot in the Army. He left Active Duty, went to law school, became a police Captain, and then became a prosecutor for the District Attorney\u2019s office in his town. He even became a Judge Advocate General, or JAG, in the Reserves. But sort of how Jonah couldn\u2019t run away from going to Ninevah, my friend couldn\u2019t run away from his gifts, and his passion to use them.<\/p>\n

So he gave up his commission and left off being a JAG, so he could fly choppers again as a Chief Warrant officer in the Reserves. And his civilian job? Now, he\u2019s the pilot of a medevac helicopter, the kind that whisked Dan Weldon to the hospital today, and me to the hospital back in 2001. My friend was born to be a pilot, see?<\/p>\n

Well, Dan Wheldon was born to be a race car driver. His vocation resulted in the loss of his life today, and at an early age ( the same age that Our Lord and Savior lost his life), but something tells me that Dan Wheldon wouldn\u2019t have had this transpire any other way.<\/a><\/p>\n

So join me in saying a simple prayer for his soul, and for the comfort of his loved ones, and team members who he has left behind. Requescat in pace<\/em>, Dan. And hey kid\u2026you were good.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sad news out of Las Vegas, Nevada today. Dan Wheldon, 33 years old, was killed in a fiery crash that involved 15 other cars at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this afternoon. Join me is saying a prayer for his soul and for his loved ones who have lost a cherished family member, husband, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[33,31,32,11],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living","tag-graces","tag-in-the-news","tag-passings","tag-prayer"],"yoast_head":"\nDan Wheldon, Two Time Indy 500 Winner, Requescat In Pace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sad news out of Las Vegas, Nevada today. 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