2001 CART Firestone Firehawk 600k 

RIP David Brown the astronaut interviewed in this video. He died a few years after this in the STS107 break-up on re-entry ....

It sucked that they had to do this. I feel sorry for all the fans but when Michael Andretti who was one of the most physically fit drivers at the time said he didn’t feel safe, you know they made the right call.

As soon as Paul said STS-107, I was like "Goddamn that's Columbia." How ironic that is ....

Kudos to CART for this decision. Avoided major disaster

Wow that's amazing that David Brown interviewed for this. RIP

I often wondered how CART's Texas 2001 race would have gone. Las Vegas 2011 gave me a pretty good indication. The banking's too high for 230mph+ open wheelers. Even if the G's were not the problem, there is a point when great racing becomes ludicrously dangerous and that point is four-wide, on a 24-degree oval, at 230mph+, in an open wheeler. There's a line between these drivers RISKING their lives and GAMBLING with it. Texas '01 and Vegas '11 cross that line. The danger level is just too much.

the cars were to bad ass for their own good

I often think that the "vector" that was formed when Dale Earnhardt hit the wall at Daytona was a contributing factor in his basal skull fracture. He was on the 33° banking going up hill. He took an even worse hit at Talladega a few years before that that didn't kill him, but he was on the flat tri oval. Different vectors and do odd things when added up.

Driven came out the same weekend...what a horrible weekend for CART. That movie killed the series.

Me and my dad were there for that cart race, paid good money for grand stand tickets and when the race was called we didn't even get a refund for the tickets, this was the start of the end of CART racing sadly.

Hard to believe that this was 20 years ago today. An event that should have never been allowed to happen in the first place.

if i remember correctly, CART ran a compatibility test in late 2000 after they released the initial 2001 schedule and the cars were running mid to high 220's, a little bit faster than the IRL cars of the time, but not by much. Unfortunately with chassis and engine development during the off-season that pushed the cars even faster.

Cancelling the race was the right call given the information they had BUT, CART were just way too arrogant and stupid in their preparation. They had been in this game long enough to know that you need to be prepared.

Safety Standpoint: Win Business Standpoint: Loss

I never realized the huge foreshadowing that this race has compared to Vegas 2011. Huge props to the drivers coming forward and for CART to stop this race. Big shame that this isn’t what happened in Vegas 10 years later.

According to Texas Motor Speedway at the time, they had asked CART if they needed more testing to go ahead and do all the testing they needed. CART refused to do additional testing, while promising TMS that the race would happen. CART's disorganization is what led to their collapse. Tony George wasn't exactly organized either, but it wasn't a total mess unlike this.

11:23. Look at the guy falling on the right side of the screen

Given the circumstances, they had no choice but to cancel the race on short notice. Where CART went wrong was they didn't properly test at the track and have some sort of speed restricting system BEFORE the cars turned up in Fort Worth. Paul Tracey did a lap of 236.678 MPH in practice, and with the dramatic changes in banking on a 1.5 mile ovals is complete madness. Had they been able to keep speeds to the high 220's the race could have happen

7:45 - Chase sequence music from the Plumbers Don't Wear Ties video game.

And why Randy Bernard couldn't make this kinda annoucement at Vegas in 2011 I will never understand

Anyone realize they use Eddie Guererro's old theme song from WCW?

That's what I thought when they said "STS-107." R.I.P. Dr. Brown.

17:35 RIP David M Brown he died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Notice the fact that this race was supposed to take place after the premiere of the worst racing film ever, Driven...

Yea... Vegas should have been canceled too.. Everyone knew it was scary on Friday practice and said someone is gonna get hurt... Sure enough.....

The interview with David Brown is a bit sad. He was apart of the Columbia space flight in January-February 2003 which broke up on re-entry and all crew on board were killed.

Also Scott Roembke died too in 2012.

These cars were built for high speed , low banked tracks like Indy, Fontana, and Michigan...not slower speed, higher banked NASCAR type speedways.

@azapro911 If you looked at the qualification and practice times for the supposed race. There are variations in lap times so you'll likely see the cars not racing close together than the IRL cars would. But then again we don't know what the racing looked like that day until I myself along with other gearheads were looking forward to see these cars race there and then we learned the consequences why they ended up canceling the race. @schumacher180racing @azapro911 The problem in 2011 at Las Vegas was threefold: 1. The aero package that creates pack racing and these underpowered N/A cars = pack racing, 2. The race track added banking than the previous Open-Wheel event (CCWS), 3. The race had 34 race cars on a 1.5 mile track (at the time they were all running together NASCAR style which was extremely dangerous). That alone claimed the life of Dan Wheldon. IMO they should have run that special event at Auto Club than the shorter Las Vegas circuit.

i miss CART, a shame this lawsuit helped end it. i remember watching this race, all weekend long during practices they were discussing the possibility of canceling because of the G's, i wasn't surprised, and honestly didn't care, i preferred the road races

I love Cart. But i hate the IRL. Please bring back CART! ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

if only they canceled Vegas. But when BB is in charge you should expect the worst

To cancel this CART race was a huge mistake, inevitable and their own fault. TMS request around a thousand times to test there before they're going to race. They never wanted to test there before the race weekend and you see what happened. I'm glad Eddie Gossage sued them, it was a stupid mistake by their selves.

problem with running the high downforce road-course package is that you would still be doing roughly 205-210mph or so, but the cars would be packed up like an IRL race ... imo the best recourse for CART would have been to remove The Hanford Device and kill the downforce and crank the boost UP to make the drivers have to lift off the throttle in the corners ... then again im no physicist

Sure, Eddie-you don't want to place the drivers at unnecessary risk. Weren't you the guy who just three years before answered NASCAR driver complaints with the statement "Shut up and race"?

I know this is going to sound like a rather redundant question, but WTF was up with 16:40?

5:40 LOLZ at Pat Carpentier!

Sorry but what happened in Las Vegas 2011 was just bad luck for our good friend Dan Wheldon. They were still in a pack but hey it was lap 10? Things already started to sort out and after so many IRL races in Texas, Charlotte, Chicagoland, Kentucky and to call the others it always went right, even when the series ran at Vegas from 1996 until 2000.

I don't mind the fact that they cancelled the race for safety concerns, but don't you think it's irresponsible to bring this stuff up AFTER they schedule a race? I mean, considering that CART is a multi-million dollar operation, this is something you think would have been brought up and investigated before they actually scheduled the event, especially when you consider the indirect costs incurred on teams, fans (travel expenses), vendors, and local businesses.

I don’t blame Texas Motor Speedway, I blame Hulk Hogan.

R.I.P Joseph Heitzler.

Had the cars featured some less horsepower (like 650-700). the speeds would have had a good compromise. That being said, 900 horsepower on a 1700 pound chassis with those G forces would have been disastrous.

Since then, CART/Champ Car started to die... slowly :'(

This was teh day CART died. Because of this it went bankrupt.

If only it was possible for the human body to tolerate those g-forces... it would have been a spectacular race! Oh well, for safety's sake, it was probably for the best.

Why they didn't install a chicane or 2 on the backstretch the morning of the race I'll never understand. Not ideal but they still could have put on a race and avoided legal trouble. Could have set out some barricades and given some practice sessions & then race.

Do you have the making of Driven that they had?

Indy Racing League (Now the NTT IndyCar Series) didn’t have a problem with that

And Okay, I admit, I already became an IRL fan since the first race in 1996 but watched CART as well until 2001 but the cancellation of this race and the shortened Fontana race, led me to leave the sport after 2001 and fully concentrate me on IRL of course besides F1.

Nascar at Fontana that day was better

The race which began the fall of CART

Reasonable People : You can just add more drag or put a restrictor on the motor CART : Nah, we'll just cancel the most anticipated CART Race in years for no reason.

The only reason why Dan Wheldon is dead is because some idiot didn't want to stay in the upper groove. Don't get me wrong, that race with 33 cars is irresponsibly dangerous, but all it took was for one guy to turn down at the absolute wrong time.

...Oi tdbem? Vamos dar uma de jack estripador kkk Por partes... 1. Houve corrida da CART no circuito TEXAS IRL em 2001? 2. Essa prova fazia part do calendario da CART 2001? Cm a RECORDTV na época não mostrou pra o Brasil EU SINCERAMENT NAO VI? 3. Essa prova valia pela CART? TODOS CART Correram? Correu alguem IRL Com carro CART quantos correram? Quem ganhou? POE A CORRIDA COMPLETA PRA GENT RELEMBRAR PORQUE COM CERTEZA EU NAO VI SE POR NO RU-vid EU VOU TENTAR GRAVAR OK? FICAREI MTO FELIZ FICAREI AGUARDANDO DESD JA ABRC FORT FELIZ2020 AMGS ATEMAIS

Drivers are some of the dumbest smart people on the planet. They have the ability to just lift or use the brakes but all it takes I'd that 1 guy to flat foot it for a lap and then they all have to. Should have bricked the cars up aero wise to slow them down.

Rubbing is racing.

99 cent McChicken

Formula 1 cars generate 5+ Gs during cornering and braking

This should of happen at vegas last year to fast and way to many cars if that happen im pretty sure Dan Wheldon would still be alive ....

@AlonsoRules The beginning of the end for CART was when Penske jumped ship after the 01 season. When Roger ****ing Penske, one of the founders of CART and one of the richest men in motor racing, jumps ship, you know **** is going to hit the fan.

To me, the 1996 US 500 was the beginning of the end for CART, and this fiasco sealed the fate of CART.

I respect the hell outta them for canceling it. That's a hard thing to do in every aspect of it- the business side, the fan side, and the reputation side. Obviously it would have been nicer to have had them be able to slow the cars down with more drag, but that would have taken too long.

When irl ran at Vegas in the 90s the track was different.. Lot less banking. Was actually a little wider than it was in 2011

God bless Dr Stephen Olvey...the best ever at this job. CART was so fortunate to have both he and Dr Terry Trammell leading its medical staff. Cancelling a race is obviously a HUGE deal, especially given the CART/IRL situation, but he simply would not let his drivers, all of whom he obviously knew personally, run on this track at this time. Dr Olvey was to face something even he I'm sure couldn't imagine later in the season in Germany with Alex Zanardi...his legs literally gone below the knees, rapidly bleeding out (thank god the cameras never zoomed in, it was like a horror movie scene.) His quick and exactly perfect on-site care and the decision to airlift him to Berlin (as opposed to the local Dresden hospital which was not equipped to handle such a trauma) without question saved his life. And that TMS guy obviously threatening CART and looking for a quick payoff settlement was so slimy....

Thats some Final Destination shit, its like the CART tragedy was averted and passed on to the Columbia mission.

That movie driven killed the series

That guy with the announcers David Brown sadly was killed during the STS-107 flight

If CART had tested this better and later rescheduled it after the cars were made safer, it would have been one hell of a race...

IndyCar should have listened like CART did for Vegas and we know what happened then.

ESPN did a pretty good job making something out of the broadcast

Well said! It's like what Eddie Gossage said, it's too hot in Texas. They had PLENTY of time to test and prepare for this event. CART should have known. They have no one to blame but themselves for causing this to happen.

they could have raced by just putting more drag on the car and just making it slower, C.A.R.T. was a great series and it should have continued today

Wow. The astronaut they interview perished in the Columbia disaster.

The death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona just 2 months prior scared the hell out of all of the drivers in every motorsport league.

they should have put the large high downforce wings and let them race!! CART shot themselves in the foot

Does anybody have the Indy Lights race that ran this weekend? According to what I've seen, that was one of the Top 5 greatest AOWR Feeder oval races *EVER*.

this was such a massive misstep by CART. Sorry but I dont believe that with all the technical minds in the paddock at that time they couldn't figure out a way to slow the cars down by 15-20 mph. Such a fail

Stupid people need to stop saying Wheldon got killed because the track was too fast. He got killed because open-wheel cars didn't have the halo yet and people were still dying on the regular from preventable impacts to the driver's head. The roll loop wasn't enough - HANS wasn't enough. Everybody knew it, because people kept dying. The list of these deaths is massive, starting all the way back with Tom Price vs. fire extinguisher at Kyalami in '77. I wonder if Grosjean had decapitated himself people would still be shrieking about the track instead of the need for a halo...

20:55 I think Paul almost passed out again from the Gs in the broadcast booth.

Who’s that chick 23:00?

It's weird the computer projections had lower speed projections than the IRL.

A couple of years later there was a private test with an IRL team using one of the proposed engine formulas of the time where the average speed was 231MPH and no vertigo reported. In reality only a small change was needed to reduce the G's but CART always cared more about being "pure" than being reasonable.

A CART deixou de existir por causa da incompetência de seus administradores, tinha grandes equipes e esses carros com esses motores V8 turbo eram espetaculares, até hoje não acredito que esses carros não são mais fabricados.

Wow, dunno why I never heard about this before.

The teams could've easily adjusted the gear ratios and gone around the turns at 200mph or even 180mph instead I'm just saying.

Obviously in that moment nothing could be done but do you think today with preparation like mandatory g suits and hick training would allow them to be able to handle it?

do u have the qualifying session of this

Just add a couple chicanes and race!

yeah but even if the race was not cancelled and a driver had been killed, these drivers get in the car every weekend knowing that what they do is dangerous , but the passion and love for racing outwieghs the risks, i just came from the 2013 INDYCAR race at texas and the cars still approaced 230.00 on the straights, i think this race was cancelled due to political reasons and cart told the drivers to go along with bullshit they had made up to cancel the race

Verdigo my ass.

Cart Was A Terrible Series