IndyCar Racer Justin Wilson Dies After Pocono Crash

by Aaron Cole

Updated: December 31st, 2020 Published: August 24th, 2015

Justin Wilson died Monday from injuries sustained Sunday, when a piece of another crashed race car struck him. He was 37.

His family released a short statement thanking well-wishers and fans for their support after the crash. Wilson was a native of Sheffield, England and lived in Longmont, Colorado with his wife and two daughters.

“Justin was a loving father and devoted husband, as well as a highly competitive racing driver who was respected by his peers.”

Wilson was an advocate for track safety, not only for the racers but also for the spectators.

Wilson’s family announced Justin’s death on his website.

With deep sadness, the parents of Justin Wilson, Keith and Lynne, his wife Julia, and his brother Stefan share the news that Justin passed away today after succumbing to injuries suffered during the Verizon IndyCar event at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, August 23.

Justin was a loving father and devoted husband, as well as a highly competitive racing driver who was respected by his peers.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital, Pocono Raceway, Andretti Autosport, and the Verizon IndyCar Series as well as the entire racing community for the amazing outpouring of support from fans around the world.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wilson Children’s Fund care of INDYCAR.

Wilson Children’s Fund
C/O INDYCAR
4551 West 16th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46222

Wilson was a part-time driver in this year’s IndyCar series. His career spanned Formula 1, endurance and American Le Mans Series, including a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2012.

On Sunday, Wilson was struck by debris from Sage Karam’s crash, outside of turn 1 on lap 179 of 200. Wilson was airlifted to a hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where officials said he was in a coma Sunday and Monday.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Justin Wilson,” Andretti Autosport said in a statement released on Monday night. “He was a tremendous racer, a valuable member of the team and respected representative to our sport. While Justin was only part of the Andretti lineup for a short time, it only took a second for him to forever become part of the Andretti family. His life and racing career is a story of class and passion surpassed by none. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the Wilson family and fans worldwide.”

(Personally: Living in Denver and covering motorsports and cars, Justin’s personality was inescapable — not because it was so large, but because he was so magnetic. Wilson wasn’t only friendly, he was also very genuine — and even I know that’s rare. I sincerely missed seeing him at Pikes Peak this year partly because I looked forward to giving him grief for not racing the mountain on his bicycle. Take care, Justin. — Aaron)

(Photo courtesy JustinWilson.co.uk)

#Crash #Indycar #JustinWilson #Pocono

Aaron Cole

More by Aaron Cole

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 6 comments

JMII on Aug 25, 2015

RIP this is very sad. Like many of the IRL guys Justin seemed to be very friendly and generally a nice guy. Never heard anyone complain about his driving. He had true skills and competed in many disciplines (F1, Champ, Indy, 24 Hours, etc). He was one of the tallest drivers in the IRL and thus was consulted with Honda and Dallara in the development of the current car.

Like Reply
Pete Zaitcev on Aug 25, 2015

Even in his days of F1, Wilson was known for his fan-friendly posture, kinda like Berger. He was also a pioneer of crowdfunding in a way, financing his career with fans chipping in many years before Kickstarter was a thing. That's how I remember him anyway.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Probert They already have hybrids, but these won't ever be them as they are built on the modular E-GMP skateboard.
Justin You guys still looking for that sportbak? I just saw one on the Facebook marketplace in Arizona
28-Cars-Later I cannot remember what happens now, but there are whiteblocks in this period which develop a "tick" like sound which indicates they are toast (maybe head gasket?). Ten or so years ago I looked at an '03 or '04 S60 (I forget why) and I brought my Volvo indy along to tell me if it was worth my time - it ticked and that's when I learned this. This XC90 is probably worth about $300 as it sits, not kidding, and it will cost you conservatively $2500 for an engine swap (all the ones I see on car-part.com have north of 130K miles starting at $1,100 and that's not including freight to a shop, shop labor, other internals to do such as timing belt while engine out etc).
28-Cars-Later Ford reported it lost $132,000 for each of its 10,000 electric vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2024, according to CNN. The sales were down 20 percent from the first quarter of 2023 and would “drag down earnings for the company overall.”The losses include “hundreds of millions being spent on research and development of the next generation of EVs for Ford. Those investments are years away from paying off.” [if they ever are recouped] Ford is the only major carmaker breaking out EV numbers by themselves. But other marques likely suffer similar losses. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fords-120000-loss-vehicle-shows-california-ev-goals-are-impossible Given these facts, how did Tesla ever produce anything in volume let alone profit?
AZFelix Let's forego all of this dilly-dallying with autonomous cars and cut right to the chase and the only real solution.