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Latest:
04/01/05 No Forgetting - Joe Renna

2004 News:
02/07/04 Renna Memorial Tournament this Weekend
02/06/04 Debbie Savini / Ganassi News Update
01/20/04 Memorial Golf Tournament Announced
01/15/04 Jan 15, 2004: See Corrections & Clarifications item
01/15/04 Brack making strides in recovery from bad crash
01/14/04 Jason Priestly
12/23/03 IRL told family of bird on track
12/22/03 Open Wheel's owners optimistic
12/20/03 IRL issues report on Renna (G. Kelly)
12/19/03 IRL report: Driver error cited in Renna's crash
12/19/03 Official Release: Renna Accident Review Complete
Report Broken Links
Previous News:
12/13/03 AUTO RACING: Washington Post
12/13/03 AUTO RACING: IRL to cut speeds
12/12/03 IRL aims to reduce speeds in 2004
12/12/03 Drivers, engineers like IRL's move
12/12/03 Accidents prompt IRL to cut speeds
12/12/03 SAFER walls may not be the answer in IRL
12/11/03 An Intriguing Year: Tony Renna's death overshadows an exciting IRL season
12/11/03 Indy Racing League Final Standings
12/11/03 Penske recovery a blueprint for 'Target Twins'
11/28/03 IRL drivers not worried about Miami tire wear
11/26/03 It's time to hand out NASCAR's real awards (excerpt)
11/26/03 2003 IndyCar Season - More wheel-to-wheel action
11/21/03 "Joe Renna said his son, Tony...."
11/18/03 Top 10 stories of 2003
11/18/03 Still no answers in Renna's crash
11/16/03 Auto Racing notebook
11/16/03 Soft walls are a concrete solution
11/15/03 IRL will try to improve safety for 2004 season
11/15/03 Actor Priestley gives up racing, takes on luxury Ucluelet resort
11/14/03 IRL: Manning targets Indy 500 win
11/14/93 Crashes concern IRL
10/23/03 Deland's Renna dies after Indy crash
10/23/03 Not only racing professionals, but race fans are mourning the death of driver Tony Renna
10/22/03 IRL Driver Killed During Testing  By STEVE HERMAN
10/22/03 Indy drivers shocked by US death crash
10/22/03 PR-IRL-Renna Announcement from the Speedway
10/23/03 PR-DEREK DALY-Statement on Tony Renna
10/22/03 PR-IRL-Tony George Statement on Renna
10/22/03 PR-FIRESTONE-Tony Renna statement
10/23/03 Soft-spoken Renna touched many in area By GODWIN KELLY
10/23/03 Indy car driver Tony Renna, DeLand, dies in crash By GODWIN KELLY
10/23/03 Renna loved racing enough to accept death By BOB POCKRASS
Report Broken Links
News Files:
10/01/03 Renna Signs With Team Target
10/26/03 Renna's fans want the world to know him too
10/28/03 Tony Renna's qualities were an inspiration
10/27/03 Tony Renna: A Racer on the Verge of Victory
10/26/03 Difficult celebration for Dixon
10/26/03 Ganassi NASCAR team also feels loss of Renna
10/23/03 Injured Brack mourns death of Renna
Report Broken Links
Crash Facts:
10/24/03 Crash's blunt force killed Renna
10/24/03 NATIONAL SPEED SPORT NEWS - Testing Crash Claims Renna's Life
10/23/03 Aerial photos of turn 3 Indy crash site
10/26/03 IRL: Renna Below Racing Line When Killed
10/27/03 IRL: No Trend Exists
11/01/03 Renna investigation incomplete
11/01/03 Renna's crash speed 227 mph
MEMORIALS:
11/01/03 Friends remember racer Tony Renna
10/28/03 Race driver's family, friends bid farewell
11/01/03 Renna farewell comes home
10/28/03 Racing Fans Gather For Renna Memorial
MEMORIAL FUND
11/06/03 Engineers agree on this: Change needed
Report Broken Links

LATEST NEWS:

Honda Grand Prix in St. Petersburg
Published April 1, 2005      No forgetting

After his son's death, Joe Renna finds comfort by embracing the driver who replaced him.

ST. PETERSBURG - This would have been Tony Renna's homecoming. This would have been the weekend his family assembled from DeBary and Milwaukee and New York and Los Angeles to watch the third race of his second full season in the Indy Racing League.

There were friends and memories across the bridge in Tampa, where they had lived for six years, where his older sister, Nicole, was born. They would have talked about how it all began on those long van rides together to quarter midget tracks from Connecticut to California.

But only Joe Renna will pace the edge of the red-and-white Chip Ganassi Racing pit box today when practice begins for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. When the No.10 Toyota flashes past, Tony Renna's 65-year-old father will crane to watch it curl out of sight and glint at a monitor to check its speed. With each glance there will be a reminder of what was, would could have been. But it's getting better with every lap.

"It was kind of tough knowing that there goes that No.10 car and that's where he should be, " Joe Renna said.

Nineteen months after Tony Renna was killed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his first day on the track with his new team, his father still attends a handful of races to support the man who replaced his son, Darren Manning, to honor his memory and simply to be around a sport that has meant so much to his family for more than 20 years.

"Motor racing has been part of our family life since he was 6 years old," Renna said. "It's been part of my life and it's just not something I can give up."

* * *

The shame of Tony Renna's story goes beyond the death of a vibrant, well-liked 26-year-old. The cruelty lies in the fact that he appeared on the verge of a dream he and his family had lived together since before he won his first quarter midget race at age 6.

Tony was born in Apple Valley, Calif., in 1976, the year after the family moved from Tampa where Joe, a journeyman jockey in the late 1950s and early '60s, ran a meat company.

Renna won the Skip Barber Formula Ford Florida Series title as a high school senior at Father Lopez High in Daytona Beach, and competed in Formula 3 in England until the campaign became too expensive for his family.

By 2000, he had moved onto a spot with PacWest Racing in the Indy Lights developmental series, and finished fifth in points as a teammate of Scott Dixon, the 2003 IRL champion and a future teammate at Ganassi.

Renna signed with the IRL's Kelley Racing in 2002 and served as driving coach for actor Jason Priestley in the Infiniti Pro Series. He replaced Al Unser Jr. for two races when Unser checked into an alcohol rehabilitation clinic. Renna finished 10th in his IndyCar debut at Nashville and was installed in a third Kelley entry when Unser returned, managing four top-10 finishes in six starts.

Financially troubled Kelley Racing could only field a car for Renna in the Indianapolis 500, but he used the opportunity to create the break of his career. Renna qualified eighth and finished seventh, beating teammates Unser and Scott Sharp and more important, impressing Ganassi.

Renna's future apparently rolled out before him when he signed on Oct. 1, 2003, with the defending series champion team owner, but he was killed on Oct. 22 when his car went airborne at 227 mph and hit the catch fence.

"He finally gets with a team that has all the resources, all the engineering, everything, and he doesn't get the chance," Renna said, pausing. ". . .That's motor racing."

An IRL review of the accident did not definitively explain the cause.

* * *

Renna admits the first year after his son's fatal crash was the worst. Racing conjured more pain than catharsis, but slowly, he said, the pain has subsided.

"It gets better, it really does," Joe Renna said.

Joe Renna grew up a race fan, reveled when both of his daughters, Nicole, now 32, and Katie, 25, and then Tony started racing quarter midgets. It was a happy time, of family and of racing, of long weekends in the family van with a trailer and a cart tagging along behind. "Dad was the wrench," he said. "Mom was the PR and the scorer, the girls washed the car and boosted the brother."

Tony won 278 trophies in those years. Joe had warehoused them for his son, asked him what should be done with all these memories. After his death, he decided to donate them to a local quarter midget association, told them to peel off the labels and make them memories for some other little kid. But he kept one for himself.

"I have his first trophy, the first one he ever won," Renna said, his voice trembling slightly. "He was 6 years old. It was quarter midgets, August 1983. I'll never give that one up. No sir."

* * *

Even as the Rennas grieved, their thoughts turned to a stranger, Darren Manning, a 29-year-old former CART driver hired by Ganassi to fill Tony's seat. When Joe Renna learned that Manning would test at Homestead-Miami Speedway three months later, he drove 300 miles from DeBary to offer his support.

"I went out to Miami for the test to welcome Darren taking his spot," Renna said. "It was tough but I didn't think about myself, I was thinking more about Darren. Darren was a kid who had to be focused on what he needed to be doing and he didn't need to be thinking about Tony."

The moment was already awkward for Manning. Replacing someone who has lost his life on the track brings with it a tangle of emotions. Manning had wanted the Ganassi ride before Renna earned it, and replacing him this way brought a certain guilt.

"It is a very difficult situation," Manning said. "It's something very few people, very few times have ever had to deal with, really. David Coulthard raced great after Alex Zanardi's tragic accident. It was mixed emotions because I was excited I got to drive, but I had never been in a situation before where I was replacing someone who was involved in a fatal accident. Obviously, I was upset but the team welcomed me with open arms."

The transition was made easier when the Rennas, most notably Joe, did the same. The message was simple: "It's okay."

"They were very supportive after his accident," Manning said. "Tony's father and I had a nice chat and he wished me all the best and he told me if there was anything I needed from him ... he treated me like one of his own, really."

* * *

While many in such a situation would never want to see a racetrack again, Renna went back to cope with his loss.

"Joe has always loved racing," Tony's mother, Mary Renna, said. "Even before we were married, he was a race fan. He has pictures of Mario Andretti from long before I ever knew him. That part of him probably is really, really helpful. It probably is part of his therapy that he is able to go back and he is able to be around that whole scenario."

Tampa resident Ralph Liguori, 78, a Renna friend who helped teach Tony to race as a child, said those who don't race or love racers just can't understand.

"I know it sounds ridiculous to the lay person, but ... that's life," said Liguori, who raced stock and open-wheel cars. "It's so hard to explain.

"If your father or mother went to the bathroom to go relieve themselves and they drop dead in there, would you never go to the bathroom again?"

But coping has kept Mary Renna away from the track. Little reminders find her anyway.

"For me as a mom it was doubled-edge sword because the person who took Tony's place in a way honored Tony's memory. We know that Darren is a fine young man, an excellent racer," she said. "The other part of it, of course, is every time I go into a Target (Ganassi's sponsor) or I see a Target store and I see Scott and Darren's picture there ... I think, "Wow, that was supposed to be Tony.' Or I turn on the TV and the races are going, and it's tough for me because I think Tony's sitting in one of the cars."

The Rennas have been divorced for eight years, with Mary Renna living in Milwaukee, but they remain friends, likely even closer since Tony's death, she said.

The IRL community rallied around the family after the accident, Joe Renna said. League CEO Tony George dispatched a jet to gather the family and Renna's fiancee, Debbie Savini, around the country and bring them to Indianapolis. Ganassi leaves a seat in his suite and offers to pick up air fare, but Renna refuses. The IRL issues Renna and Nicole credentials.

"Motor racing is just a family," he said. "I can't tell you how much these people have done for me."

It keeps getting better. One lap at a time.

*  *  *

Renna Memorial Tournament 2004
February 7, 2004

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The life of the late Tony Renna will be remembered at a golf tournament aimed at raising funds for a scholarship that bears the name of the rising IndyCar Series driver. The event, scheduled for Feb. 8 at Pelican Bay North Country Club in Daytona Beach, Fla., is sponsored by Father Lopez Catholic School in Daytona Beach.

The school renamed its annual tournament in January to honor Renna, a native of nearby DeLand, Fla., and a 1995 graduate of the school. Renna was killed in private testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in October 2003.

“The point is to remember one of our former students forever,” said Bob Booth, one of the tournament’s organizers. “Tony’s name will be on a scholarship that will help someone go to the school. His family will play a role in selecting that student, and it will go on forever.”

Members of Renna’s family and his fiancée, Debbie Savini, will attend the event, which will be followed by a dinner.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Renna scholarship, the Tony Renna foundation and the Father Lopez Booster Club.  http://www.racefan.com/primedia/pm_topstory.asp?StoryID=109045

INDYSTAR.com News Update
February 6, 2004
Debbie Savini, the late Tony Renna's fiancee', has been hired as the public relations director for Chip Ganassi's new Grand Am program. Renna was driving for Ganassi's IRL team at the time of his fatal accident in October.   Full Story:  http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/118200-2119-036.html
Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at (317) 444-6184 or e-mail at steve.ballard@indystar.com .

*(Jan 15, 2004: See Corrections & Clarifications item below.)

Tony Renna's fatal accident Oct. 22 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway occurred when his race car slid sideways through the infield grass and flipped into the spectator fence, according to an Indy Racing League report to be released today.

A copy of the report obtained Thursday by The Star indicated the cause of the third-turn crash was driver error.

Renna apparently lost control of the car, tried to correct the steering wheel and became airborne when he bounced over the uneven sod.

In 1999, CART driver Greg Moore was killed at California Speedway when his car flipped into a barrier after bouncing through the grass.

Renna's crash was different in that the car rotated an additional 30 degrees in the air, causing a rear-first lift. The car then struck a fence support post above the 4-foot-high wall with its bottom, splitting it at the cockpit area. The bottom is the weakest point of most cars as it is the least likely to be struck in a crash.

The impact was so fierce that the front half of the Ganassi Racing G Force/Toyota was caught in the fence when officials arrived at the scene.

Renna, 26, of DeLand, Fla., died of blunt force injuries to his head and chest, according to Marion County coroner John McGoff.

Renna was traveling at a speed of 227 mph, the IRL's report said, and there were no mechanical failures to his car.

That he skipped through the infield explains why there was grass on the track afterward.

There were no other injuries, in part because the crash occurred in the early minutes of a private testing session, when few people were present.

The IRL, which does not have a replay of the crash or a witness who saw it develop, has based its report on computer information from an accident data recorder mounted in the side of Renna's car. The device can record car parameters at 1,000 samples per second.

Renna's car speed was in the normal range of other accidents at the Speedway in recent years, according to the report.

However, the data "could not produce a 100-percent conclusion" as to what happened, the report says.

Absent from the report are the G-Forces absorbed on impact. IRL driver Kenny Brack incurred a mind-boggling 193 Gs when he struck a fence post at Texas Motor Speedway just 10 days before Renna's accident. Brack fractured his lower spine, sternum, right leg and both ankles. He is expected to be out of racing for about six months.

Also absent from the Renna report was a reference to air temperature. The incident occurred at 9:20 a.m., when the temperature wasn't much above 50 degrees, the minimum allowed by the tire manufacturer. Race tires can react unpredictably in cold weather, although Firestone officials were at the track at the time of the crash.

League spokesman John Griffin said the IRL will not show the damage to Renna's car. But league senior vice president Brian Barnhart has insisted since the accident that the Speedway's fence did its job and kept almost all of the debris out of the grandstands.

Joe Renna, the father of the driver, declined to comment Thursday through a family spokesman.

The IRL has made a move to reduce speeds for the 2004 season by cutting engine capacity. The new rule could slow cars at the Speedway by 10 mph.

Renna became the 41st driver and the 67th person overall to lose his life at the Speedway, which opened in 1909. He was only the third to die in testing.

*Corrections & Clarifications

January 15, 2004 - Pg A2: A Dec. 19 story on Page D1 about Tony Renna's fatal accident at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway incorrectly summarized information in a press release from the Indy Racing League. The IRL's press release did not mention driver error. It said data "did not produce a 100 percent conclusion" as to the cause of the crash.

Brack making strides in recovery from bad crash
MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer     January 15, 2004

As Kenny Brack's car pinwheeled down the backstretch at Texas Motor Speedway, there was only faint hope that the driver would be alive when emergency workers reached the wreckage. Brack became airborne at close to 220 mph and slammed into steel fencing above the wall, shredding his Team Rahal race car. The former Indy Racing League champion and Indy 500 winner survived the October crash in the IRL season finale, but was pulled from the smashed cockpit with fractures to his back, a thigh, his breastbone and ankles. He has yet to watch a video of the crash: "It's not something that bothers me. I already know the outcome."

Brack knows exactly what happened -- and just how lucky he is to have survived the worst crash of his racing career. "You know, it just hit in a certain way that made it really, really violent," he said earlier this week during a teleconference. "But the car did its job. At least it protected its driver as much as it could."

Ten days after Brack's crash, Tony Renna was killed in an eerily similar crash during a private test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Renna -- a youngster seemingly getting his big break with the elite Chip Ganassi Racing -- died instantly after flying through the air and slicing across the catch fencing.

Brack's crash began with a bump from another car in heavy traffic. Renna was alone on the track. The two crashes prompted an investigation by the IRL that led to engine rule changes for 2004 intended to cut horsepower by about 10 percent and slow the cars by at least 10 mph.

Brack plans to be back in a race car sometime in 2004 and said there will be no hesitation about getting back on the track once his recovery is complete. "Oval racing is the most dangerous form of motorsport there is because of the speeds and the lack of runoff areas and stuff like that," he said. "That's something that we have to deal with every lap we run. "OK, maybe you get a little injured or whatever, but you still walk away with everything intact, so to speak, and it's possible to come back to a normal life and a career in racing."

Brack has been through a series of surgeries, and his indomitable spirit has helped him through a painful rehabilitation. The 37-year-old Swede finally got back to his home in Columbus, Ohio, last month. "Obviously, as soon as I got out of the hospital bed, got home, that's when the recovery really started," Brack said. "I think you can see several hundred percent difference in the last month in my energy level and mobility."

Brack is now getting around with the help of crutches, and he expects those to be gone soon. "My right ankle isn't healed up completely, yet. We're waiting to take the last X-rays, which will be in a couple of weeks. Once I can weight-bear on the right leg, I will be walking like anybody else that has got two legs and no injuries."

All that time in bed did lead to another problem for Brack, who was back in a hospital over Christmas and New Year's having his gall bladder removed. That proved to be convenient, though, as Brack only had to be wheeled a few floors down on New Year's Eve to be with wife Anita at the birth of their first child -- daughter Karma. "It was a good thing I was in the same hospital. That was obviously the high point of our year," Brack said.

Now he is concentrating on getting fit enough to get back in the race car, which will be driven by Buddy Rice until Brack returns. Brack has remained positive and determined to return to racing throughout his ordeal.

"I still think that I'm very competitive on the track. You know, it's my life, basically," he said. "I just want to try to get back into that position." And he's anxious to accomplish that goal.

"I wanted that yesterday," he said. "But I've got to wait until my bones are completely healed and I feel completely a hundred percent healed back up. ... You kid yourself, you might have another bad wreck or you're not going to do the team any good. So, I'll wait. But, hopefully, it will happen soon."

'Ryan Banks' (Jason Priestly) Spoofs Dating Shows   By Jay Bobbin

A devastating auto-racing accident kept Jason Priestley down for a while, but he's definitely not out. Fully recuperated from the 2002 Kentucky Speedway mishap that left him with a fractured spine, broken bones and a concussion, the former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star is joining the cast of the FOX series "Tru Calling." Before his episodes begin airing, he'll be seen in the ABC Family romantic-comedy movie "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks" Sunday, Jan. 18. The satire of unscripted dating shows casts Priestley as actor Banks, whose career suffers from his womanizing. He agrees, on the advice of agent and best friend Todd (Bradley Cooper, "Alias"), to do a reality show in which female contestants vie to become his companion. One contender is a Boston bookstore owner ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alumna Emma Caulfield, who played one of Priestley's girlfriends on "90210"). Todd ends up falling for her, though she seems destined to be chosen by Banks -- generating problems between the two men. Priestley admits he's not especially a fan of the reality show genre, but he adds, "My girlfriend loves it. I've never been into things like 'Survivor,' but I did watch the first 'Joe Millionaire,' because that nny. As much as these shows are about 'real' people doing 'real' things, they're edited, so someone is getting to put a spin on them before they go on the air. You can create whatever you want; all you have to do is steal a reaction shot here or another shot there. You can create an alternate reality, and 'Ryan Banks' gets into that." Co-star Cooper's presence was appreciated by Priestley: "He's an awesome actor, and what a great guy. A lot of times when you go in to make one of these movies, you don't know who you're going to end up with on location for a month. It's kind of a crapshoot, but Bradley is just first-class." Priestley knew the score with his leading lady, though: "Emma and I go way back, so I knew what I was getting into there. She's great. She's done very well since '90210.'" In "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks," Priestley doesn't stray all that far from his Brandon Walsh persona on "90210," but he has embraced vastly different roles in independent films such as "Love and Death on Long Island" and the recent "Die, Mommie, Die." He reasons, "If I played one character for the rest of my life, that would be boring and, to me, not what it is to be an actor. I think that in order to get better as an actor, you really have to push yourself to take chances and tackle things that make you scared. If you do it well, from that success comes greater knowledge and confidence, and a greater understanding of what you're doing." "Tru Calling" will feature Priestley as a new morgue employee who opposes Tru's (Eliza Dushku) efforts to help people avoid their deaths, and the actor is looking forward to countering his usual image on a more regular basis. "Tru needs an adversary," Priestley believes. "I really like shows that are a little dark and twisted -- I still don't know how I ended up on '90210' -- so for me to go in there and play, for all intents and purposes, the Grim Reaper will be really fun. I signed a big development deal with Fox, and doing 'Tru Calling' is part of that." While it ended with his career re-energized, Vancouver, British Columbia native Priestley cites 2003 as "kind of a strange year" for him. "For the first half, I was still recovering from the accident, but I did go to Canada and make a movie. Then there was the '90210' reunion special, I made two more movies in the fall, and I finished the year off with 'Ryan Banks.' I started seeing these posters everywhere saying, 'Do you want to marry Ryan Banks?' and I just found it hysterical." On the racing front, Priestley has reversed his earlier thoughts of getting back on the track after recovering from his accident. "On Oct. 22, my friend Tony Renna passed away at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he was the second really close friend of mine who died in a race car in the past four years. Greg Moore was the first, on Halloween 1999. Being 34-years-old and on the downhill side of my racing career, I think at this point, it just makes more sense for me to leave my smashed-in and bloodied helmet hanging on the wall. "I sort of feel like I've done it," Priestley concludes. "I traveled the world, raced in hundred of races, held trophies over my head and got sprayed with champagne. Maybe it's just time for that chapter to close, and for me to get back to the other things I love to do."

IRL told family of bird on track
By Robin Miller   Special to ESPN.com   Tuesday, December 23

Open Wheel's owners optimistic
By BRANT JAMES, St Pete Times Staff Writer   -   Published December 21, 2003

PIT STOPS: Indy Racing League officials said Friday that a review of accident data recording information was unable to pinpoint the reason why Tony Renna's car went in the grass, then airborne and into the debris fence, killing the DeLand resident on Oct. 22 during a tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.                         Read complete article here.

IRL report: Driver error cited in Renna's crash*
Posted: Friday December 19, 2003 2:05AM; Sports Illustrated / Indianapolis Star
*ATTENTION: This released article is not shown due to the inaccuracies quoted in the article according to the IRL, Tony George, and close family sources. The official accident report released by the IRL is below:

INDY RACING NEWS:
Official Release: Renna Accident Review Complete

A comprehensive review of Tony Renna’s fatal accident is complete, officials from the Indy Racing League® announced Dec. 19.

Renna suffered fatal injuries Oct. 22 in an accident in Turn 3 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during tire testing. Renna was turning his first laps in a Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.

The combined data from various technical resources provided IRL officials insight into what happened during the crash. However, the data did not produce a 100-percent conclusion as to why the tragic accident occurred. There are many unknown possibilities that could have contributed to the cause of the accident.

The Renna family has been informed of the findings.

“We appreciate the due diligence of the League and their investigation,” the Renna family said in a statement forwarded to the League.

The accident review focused on why the car went into the air and what happened to the car during the accident, and while the cause of the accident is unknown, IRL officials were able to gather valuable information.

“The goal of an Indy Racing League® accident review is to learn as much as we can about what happens during a crash, not necessarily why a crash happened,” said Brian Barnhart, senior vice president of racing operations for the Indy Racing League. “The League focuses on what happens during the crash because that is where we learn more about chassis integrity and other safety initiatives.

“The review of this accident was more difficult and prolonged because it was a private test. Although we are confident we’ve pieced together what happened during the accident, it appears we will not know why the crash started. That is the frustrating part of this effort.”

The accident review revealed that Renna’s car entered Turn 3 at 227 mph. At a point just past the apex of the turn, the car did a 90-degree spin to the left into the infield grass. The car began to skip through the grass as it traveled sideways, allowing air underneath the car and causing it to lift into the air. While in the air the car spun approximately another 30 degrees to the left.

The car traveled across the track through the air and made contact with the debris fence on the outside retaining wall in Turn 3. IRL officials said it appears that the most significant damage and resulting fatal injuries were caused when the bottom of the car made direct contact with one of the debris fence support posts, which is part of the Speedway’s fence system.

The spectator debris fences at the Speedway worked as designed, and because Renna’s car struck the fence and not the wall, it did not impact the Speedway’s SAFER Barrier, Barnhart said.

Officials said the car’s speed was in the normal range of other accidents at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the last few years.

“The IRL continues to review all race incidents during the year to evaluate safety, but each individual accident usually has a unique set of variables,” Barnhart said.

IRL officials were able to download all the data from the ADR2 (accident data recorder), which is in every IRL car. The ADR2 can record vehicle parameters at 1,000 samples per second just prior to, during and after an accident-triggering event. The system records data from both of the vehicle’s internal sensors, as well as information from the car’s on-board data acquisition system.

As the car entered Turn 3, all the data indicated there were no mechanical failures on any of the car’s equipment that are monitored by sensors. However, while the data acquisition systems are comprehensive, there are elements of the car that are unable to be tracked by the systems. Because of this, it is impossible to completely rule out mechanical failure as a cause of the accident.

“The list of items on a car that can fail, and that aren’t monitored by sensors, is significant,” Barnhart said. “Several of those failures could cause a crash. In addition, unforeseen factors can also come into play and contribute to the cause of the accident.”

The ADR2 system also allows officials to retrieve data from an earpiece sensor system that measures dynamic forces to a driver’s head during an accident. It uses small sensors integrated into the left and right radio earpieces worn by IRL drivers.

The Target Chip Ganassi team’s research data device, which was damaged in the incident, had to be sent to the manufacturer for data retrieval, and that information was returned to the IRL to be analyzed. The device contains all suspension-related information.

“Tony Renna was an experienced and talented race driver, doing his job and trying to achieve maximum speed from his car,” Barnhart said. “He was highly respected by his peers and was a young, rising star in the Indy Racing League. He will be missed.”  Indy Racing News

washingtonpost.com NEWS & NOTES
AUTO RACING: Saturday, December 13, 2003; Page D02
The Indy Racing League will cut engine horsepower by 10 percent to reduce speeds by 10 mph next season, a move accelerated by the death of driver Tony Renna and serious injuries to former Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack in separate crashes two months ago.

AUTO RACING: IRL to cut speeds
Sports roundup - Compiled by Kellie Kenney   -  Posted December 13, 2003 Orlando Sentinel

The Indy Racing League will cut engine horsepower to reduce speeds next season, a move accelerated by the death of driver Tony Renna and serious injuries to former Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack in separate crashes two months ago.

Brack broke his back, a thigh, his breastbone and both ankles when his car made contact with another, spun into the air and crashed during the season-ending race at Texas Motor Speedway. Ten days later, Renna was killed in a similar crash when his car went airborne at close to 220 mph during private tests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

IRL aims to reduce speeds in 2004 12/12 13:14:34 ET   SportsNetwork.com

Tony George, the CEO of the Speedway and the IRL, told the Indianapolis Star "a change had to be made more than anything for our own peace of mind." George said "the goal is to have top speeds at Indy below 220 m.p.h." 

Drivers, engineers like IRL's move
By Robin Miller    Special to ESPN.com   Friday, December 12

Engine changes, set to take effect at Indy 500, will make cars go 10 mph slower.

By Curt Cavin  curt.cavin@indystar.com     December 12, 2003                

In the wake of two horrific crashes in October, the Indy Racing League is slowing its cars in time for the 2004 Indianapolis 500. League officials confirmed Thursday that engines are being reduced from 3.5 liters to 3.0 liters, effective in May. Engine manufacturers predict the move will cut horsepower by more than 10 percent.

The change should lower speeds by more than 10 mph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Helio Castroneves won the pole this year at 231.725 mph. The reduction is driven by the death of promising young driver Tony Renna at the Speedway on Oct. 22 and Kenny Brack's horrific flip at Texas Motor Speedway 10 days prior to Renna's accident.

Tony George, the CEO of the Speedway and the IRL, said a change had to be made. "More than anything for our own peace of mind," he said. The news of the reduction comes as the IRL is set to release its findings from Renna's accident. George said he had not read the full report and was not prepared to comment.

The IRL will have two races before the engine change is implemented, allowing the manufacturers time to use some of the crankshafts that will become obsolete. The manufacturers declined to say how much extra cost they will incur, but they support the decision.

Speed traps
This is the third time the Indy Racing League has altered its V-8 engine since its inception in 1996. That year, the IRL used CART's existing turbocharged engines. Pole speed at Indy was 233.718 mph (by Scott Brayton), with Arie Luyendyk running 239.260 mph in practice.
• In 1997, IRL went to 4.0-liter normally aspirated engines; Indy pole speed fell to 218.263 (by Luyendyk).
• In 2000, IRL went to 3.5-liter normally aspirated engines; Indy pole speed fell from 225.179 in 1999 (Luyendyk) to 223.471 (by Greg Ray).
• In 2004, IRL will go to a 3.0-liter normally aspirated engine. Last year's pole speed was 231.725 (by Helio Castroneves).

"With the accidents that have happened and the potential for cars flying into the audience . . . there's no way we can criticize that this is the right thing to do," Toyota's Lee White said. "We have to control the speeds, and this is the best way."  White said his staff expects the speeds to fall 15 mph to 17 mph at the Speedway.

Said Chevrolet's Joe Negri: "We have no problem with it." George said the goal is to have top speeds at Indy below 220 mph, where they have not been since the first year of the IRL's new equipment formula in 1997. Arie Luyendyk won the pole that year at 218.263 mph.

Two IRL drivers recently tested in excess of 230 mph. Without restrictions, George feared qualifying speeds in May would reach into the mid-230s. "We were already at the upper end of our (targets)," George said. "We got there about a year quicker than we anticipated, perhaps because of the increased competition."

In other speed-containing measures, IRL senior vice president Brian Barnhart said aerodynamic changes will be announced in early February. Reducing the width of the Firestone tires is being discussed. Negri applauded the IRL for not changing many of the other key engine components, like the cylinder heads, which would force the manufacturers to design a new engine and escalate costs. He said the change will be similar to 2000, when the IRL went from 4.0 liters to 3.5 liters. "That basically wasn't painful at all," Negri said.

The reduction, which refers to the pistons' travel distance, should be worth about 90 horsepower, White said. Toyota initially requested the change to 3.0 liters for the 2003 season, its first in the IRL. The issue arose again in August at the league's race at Kentucky Speedway.

Indy is the track where speeds need the most control. Not only is the 500 attended by 300,000 people, but its 5/8-mile-long straightaways allow for some of the season's fastest racing. Team Penske president Tim Cindric said changing the engine capacity will be beneficial if the IRL continues to allow the rear wings to be adjusted by at least five degrees. "Because some people get (the sweet spot) right and some don't, it separates the cars in qualifying and, more importantly, in the race," he said."With drivers at different levels, too, there's even more opportunities to pass."

Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at 1-317-444-6409.

SAFER walls may not be the answer in IRL               David Coffin Pitstop   Posted on Fri, Dec. 12, 2003 I'm on the IRL IndyCar Series email list and I received their notebook items Thursday in which it was announced the new SAFER Barrier was being installed at Phoenix International Raceway. On the surface, that's good news. The SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) Barrier has been developed by the Indy Racing League in conjunction with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility and was used for the first time during the 2002 Indianapolis 500 on the outside retaining wall of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The all-oval IndyCar Series will race at Phoenix March 21, 2004 and NASCAR's Nextel Cup appearance at PIR is scheduled for Nov. 7. NASCAR joined the IRL in development of the project in 2000. Ideally, the barrier absorbs much of the energy from the impact of cars that hit the wall during racing incidents. It is hoped that it will cut down on the seriousness of injuries we see all too often when cars go slamming into the present concrete walls on the oval courses. Its functionality is predicated on cars actually hitting the wall, which is the case in NASCAR incidents but, again, all too often not so in IndyCar accidents. Witness Mario Andretti's frightening flight when he was testing a car for son Michael's team at Indy this year, Kenny Brack's airborne experience at Texas Motor Speedway and young Tony Renna's death at Indy while testing when he sailed through the air and slammed into the fencing above the wall. Andretti escaped with only a scratch on his chin when his car hit a tiny amount of debris on the track and soared above the height of the fence and essentially disintegrated, sending debris into the empty stands. Brack suffered multiple fractures to his sternum, lumbar vertebrae, leg and both ankles when he rode up over the wheel of another car and sailed into the fence, fortunately sending debris into an empty portion of the stands during the season-finale at Texas. Renna had just signed to drive in the IRL for next season and was on track alone. Investigators still don't know exactly what happened but it was clear his Indy Car took flight and was destroyed when he hit the catch fence above the SAFER-Barrier protected wall. The IRL does produce some exciting wheel-to-wheel racing but it is all too easy to send the cars into unscheduled flight, most of the time with horrific results. Former CART and Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve of Canada is without a ride for 2004 and it appears he has no viable options to return to F1 next year because he said he will not buy a ride. Asked if he might consider the IRL, he allegedly said no thanks because it's too unsafe. Autosport posted a Q&A with Kevin Kalkhoven on its web site Thursday addressing the current state of affairs with CART. Kalkhoven is one of the principals, along with Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe, in Open Wheel Racing Series LLC, which is attempting to buy CART and privatize the series. Last week, OWRS rescinded its previous buyout offer and tendered a new proposal, which the CART Board of Directors is considering and may provide an answer as early as today. Basically, Kalkhoven said not to worry. OWRS is still committed to trying to purchase the series and keep it running. "There's no lack of commitment on our part," Kalkhoven told Autosport. "In fact, I personally have guaranteed a large amount of money, if necessary, to keep CART running - independent of everything else - for the next 60 days." He continued, "I do believe that we can build a strong series. I can't begin to tell you the number of letters, emails, voice mails - I mean some of them incredibly touching - from people who really want to see this thing be preserved; that this is too damned good to let go..." Gill Campbell, General Manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, was out of the country when the latest developments occurred last week. She has an obvious vested interest in what's going on because the longer the track has to wait for a resolution, the more pressure they are under to raise the promotional dollars needed to put on what is usually the biggest event of the season at MRLS. "I have been in contact with David Clare, COO of CART, as well as the principals of OWRS and I continue to be cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the sale of CART," Campbell said Thursday. "We are looking forward to featuring Champ Cars at this September's Grand Prix of Monterey, just as we have every year since 1983. "Open-wheel racing has a tremendous following among our fans and the Champ Cars continue to be the fastest machines competing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Everyday, we receive phone calls and email messages from fans who are anxious to hear news about the sale. Hopefully, we'll have some good news to give them for Christmas." Like Campbell, my glass is always half full. Conversations I have had with Kalkhoven, Gentilozzi and Forsythe -- all of whom I like personally and highly respect as businessmen -- cause me to remove the word "cautiously" from in front of optimistic, however.

IRL drivers not worried about Miami tire wear
November 28, 2003 at 10:01:57 PST
Columnist Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun.

Excerpt: ........"In the wake of Kenny Brack's serious accident in the season finale at Texas Motor Speedway and Tony Renna's fatal crash during a test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month, there has been increasing talk of the need to slow down the IRL cars.........."
Complete Article: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/births/2003/nov/28/515934572.html

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

It's time to hand out NASCAR's real awards
Posted on Wed, Nov. 26, 2003
BY ED HINTON   The Orlando Sentinel
Excerpt: ...........Life Isn't Fair gold sympathy card to Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George, who has been a world leader in safety innovation in recent years, but this year was the only major racing mogul to lose a driver. Young Tony Renna was killed during a test at Indy when his car flew over the revolutionary "soft wall" barriers which George commissioned and financed and which likely would have saved Renna's life........

Full article: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/7357926.htm

Excerpt from: Yeley breaks USAC records on way to NASCAR article
Pit Pass: Curt Cavin & Steve Ballard   November 21, 2003

. . . . Joe Renna said his son, Tony, a Florida native, felt very strongly about his ties to Indianapolis even though he lived here only about a year before his fatal accident at the Speedway on Oct. 22. "That's why we decided to leave his remains there," Joe Renna said . . . .
Click Here For Complete Article

Top 10 stories of 2003
By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer     Published November 18, 2003

1. Goodbye Winston, hello Nextel
2. Heir France
3. Realignment
4. Tracy wins first, possibly last CART title
5. Younger guns
6. Old dogs
7. DeLand's Tony Renna dies in tire test
8. Rage against the machismo
9. Points of contention
10. Rules, rules

Tony Renna was on the first day of his dream job when his IndyCar went airborne during a tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and crashed into the catch fence. Renna was one month from his 27th birthday, one month from marriage and a few months from embarking on his Indy Racing League career full time with the Chip Ganassi Racing team when he became the latest driver to die on the track.
Complete Top 10:  http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/18/Sports/Top_10_stories_of_2003.shtml

Joe Renna still wants to know why the Indy Racing League car driven by his late son flew into a fence last month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But he is facing reality.

Nearly four weeks have passed since Tony Renna's fatal accident and the IRL still doesn't have an explanation. League officials haven't been able to extract the electronic data from one of the car's two black boxes and there is no video to review.

The 26-year-old driver died of blunt force injuries to his head and chest, likely when the car struck fence posts above the 4-foot-high wall. The final autopsy has not been completed.

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's senior vice president of operations, said Monday he doesn't know when the investigation will conclude. Joe Renna vowed to be patient.

"I'm eager to hear what they have to say, but I haven't bothered Barnhart about it," he said in his first interview since the crash. "I know they're working diligently on this case, and if they're lucky enough to find anything, that will be good."

Barnhart said the black box, which registers chassis positioning, has been sent to its manufacturer in England. He said the IRL staff has met almost daily to discuss the crash.

"There are so many things that we're looking at, and there are too many variables to predict (when it will end)," Barnhart said.

Barnhart said he does not expect major adjustments to the cars for next season, in part because he thinks Renna's flip was an aberration. He said the other four cars that went airborne this season got off the ground with help from outside factors such as wheel-to-wheel contact with another car.

Barnhart said the Renna family will be among the first to see the results of the investigation.

Joe Renna said his family, including Tony's fiancée, Debbie Savini, has slowly come to terms with the tragedy.

Part of the recovery has come in the form of supporting Darren Manning, whom Ganassi Racing chose to replace Renna. Manning will test the Target-sponsored car for the first time Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Joe Renna, who lives in De Bary, Fla., will be there.

"That young man right now needs to know he has our support," Renna said. "No race car driver wants to take a position like that, but he has our support."

Renna noted the similarities between his son and Manning, a 28-year-old driver from England who spent this past season excelling in Walker Racing's low-budget program in the Championship Auto Racing Teams series.

"(Manning's) a good kid who's never had a lot of money, but he's done well with what he's had," Renna said. "With Chip Ganassi, you've got the resources and the engineers. This (ride) is a driver's dream, and I'm sure this kid feels the same way about it as Tony did."

Manning has dedicated the 2004 season, his first in the IRL, to the memory of Tony Renna. Joe Renna called it a "thoughtful" gesture.

"We've always been a very close family, and we've all been through racing at least 20 years," Renna said. "But it's not been easy."

Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at 1-317-444-6409.

Jimmie Johnson can't avoid the spotlight, but he sure does try.

"I don't worry about getting a lot of attention," the second-year Winston Cup star said, shrugging. "What we're trying to accomplish is to win races and do the best we can as a team. If people notice, that's great. If not, that's OK, too."

It would be hard not to notice what Johnson and his No. 48 Chevrolet team have done since reaching NASCAR's top stock car series.

A year ago, he and Ryan Newman locked up in a classic season-long rookie battle.

Johnson won four poles, three races, had 21 top 10 finishes and wound up fifth in the standings and second in the rookie points. Newman was named rookie of the year and got most of the acclaim with a win, six poles and 24 top 10 finishes that carried him to sixth in the season points.

It's been more of the same this year.

Newman went into Friday's qualifying for the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a series-high 11 poles, eight victories and 22 top 10s -- second only to new Winston Cup champion Matt Kenseth's 25. Newman is fourth in the points.

Johnson's season has been less spectacular but equally effective.

He went into Homestead with two poles, three wins, 19 top 10s and -- most important -- is second in the standings.

His hold on second place is precarious. He's just 38 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., 103 in front of Newman and 137 ahead of Jeff Gordon, Johnson's teammate, car owner and a four-time series champion.

"Jimmie is doing a great job, but we've got an outside shot at finishing second and we're going to give it everything we have," Gordon said. "The way those guys compete, though, it's going to be hard to take it away from them."

Holding onto second place would mean a lot to Johnson.

"If you look at it financially, the difference from second to sixth is $920,000," Johnson said. "And we set goals to try to do better than fifth place, where we finished last year.

"It's important to meet those goals to build for a championship year next year."

Safety counts

One wreck left a driver dead, the other put a competitor in the hospital for weeks.

Two crashes in 10 days in the Indy Racing League have raised questions about safety and left officials scrambling to reassess cars and racetracks.

First, former series champion Kenny Brack barely escaped with his life Oct. 12 in a wreck at the season-ending race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Then, 1 1/2 weeks later, Tony Renna, in his first day driving for the elite Chip Ganassi Racing, died in a crash during tire testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's head of racing operations, said the IRL is "exhaustively researching, both internally and externally, every avenue possible to examine our cars and the construction of our cars and the facilities."

That includes taking cars to the wind tunnel, talking to engineers and exploring ways to protect the drivers better in these types of crashes.

"We're not sticking our heads in the sand and running away from this," Barnhart said. "We are absolutely doing everything we can, which is not going to be an overnight or a week or two search."

Although different situations, the accidents did have similarities.

Brack and Tomas Scheckter bumped at more than 200 mph, sending Brack's car soaring into the fencing above the concrete wall at Texas. While the car shattered, torn apart by the fencing, the battered driver's compartment remained intact. Pieces from the car were thrown over the wall but did not injure any fans.

Brack is recuperating at an Indianapolis hospital from two back operations and an assortment of other injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery and says he may drive again.

Renna's car, traveling close to 220, also went airborne, hitting the steel fencing above the wall. An autopsy showed Renna was killed on impact when his driver's compartment split in half and the car was virtually shredded by the fencing.

Safety improvements at tracks have included energy-absorbing barriers for the walls. But Brack and Renna missed the concrete walls entirely.

Furthermore, many questions remain about Renna's accident. Since it occurred during a private test, there were no eyewitnesses and no video. Nor is there any on-board data available because the black box was badly damaged.

Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Actor Priestley gives up racing, takes on luxury Ucluelet resort
John Mackie   Saturday, November 15, 2003 Vancouver Sun

Jason Priestley has been an actor, a director, and a race car driver. Now he's a budding eco-tourism mogul.

Priestley and his family have taken over 15 of the 25 strata-title units at the ill-fated Roots Lodge at Ucluelet, and are relaunching it as the Terrace Beach Resort.

The 34-year-old Priestley was one of the original investors in the Roots Lodge, which is in an idyllic natural location on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Long Beach.

The lodge was launched amid great fanfare in 1999 but soon foundered, resulting in a slew of foreclosures and lawsuits against the project's developer, Mark Consiglio.

Rather than walk away and risk losing his investment, Priestley bought up several of the lodge's high-end beach cabins, condos and lofts and packaged them into a new resort.

Priestley and his family have about $2 million invested in the new resort, which is being run by Jason's dad, Lorne.

"I love Ucluelet, it's beautiful up there," said Priestley from Victoria, where he's filming a movie.

"I decided to get more involved, and invest more money and try and turn that property into the first-class resort that it should be, instead of the circus it's been up until now."

There won't be any theme rooms named after characters on Beverly Hills, 90210.

However, the resort does offer state-of-the-art luxury.

The beach cabins, which rent for $279 per day in the off-season and $349 in the summer, feature multiple levels, queen size beds, TVs, DVDs, CDs, jacuzzis or soaker tubs, electric fireplaces, kitchenettes and propane barbeques.

They can be viewed on the Internet at www.terracebeachresort.ca.

"The waterfront cabins we have, you'll find those nowhere else," said Priestley, who was born in Vancouver and grew up in Ladner and North Vancouver.

"They're just beautiful little cabins, right there on the ocean.

"The location [of the resort] is perfect. It's right on a park, and the little harbour it's on, the bay is beautiful."

Priestley is incredibly busy these days, which he says is "just the way I like it."

He's currently in Victoria filming a TV movie for ABC, I Want To Marry Ryan Banks (he's Ryan Banks).

Last week, he was in Calgary filming a TV movie for CTV called Chicks With Sticks (a "girl hockey" movie where he plays a female hockey player's "boyfriend guy").

He just finished filming another movie in Victoria for MuchMusic, which is tentatively dubbed the MuchMusic Movie.

The big news, though, is that he has decided to give up auto racing.

Priestley suffered some horrific injuries in August 2002 when his race car crashed at 290 kilometres an hour at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

He broke his nose, back and bones in both his feet in the crash, and suffered a concussion.

However, he had been talking about going to back to racing as recently as last month.

"It wasn't my accident that really made me give it up," Priestley said.

"[Racer] Tony Renna was a really close friend of mine, and he just passed away a couple of weeks ago [in a crash at the Indianapolis Speedway].

"You know, I've buried two of my friends in four years [Renna and Greg Moore], and I don't want to join that club."

Priestley's father was surprised but delighted that his son has decided to give up racing.

"That's the first time he's given that clear an answer," Lorne Priestley said.

"He's waffled with everybody else."

Lorne Priestley said the family had been adamantly opposed to Jason racing after the accident.

"I told him if he wanted to race again he'd have to do it over my dead body," he said.

jmackie@png.canwest.com 605-2126  © Copyright  2003 Vancouver Sun

IRL: Manning targets Indy 500 win
by Flagworld    November 14, 2003  source: autosport.com
Ganassi star to race in memory of Tony Renna

New Ganassi Racing driver Darren Manning has set himself the modest target of taking victory in the Indianapolis 500 in his first season in the IRL IndyCar Series next year.

The Indianapolis-based Briton has pledged to race next season in the memory of Tony Renna. Manning was given his chance with Ganassi after the American driver was killed in his first test for the team, and Manning admits to mixed feelings about landing the drive in such circumstances.

"It was a lot of mixed feeling really," said Manning," excitement that I was going to get the drive, but a lot of sorrow. I didn't really know what I was feeling. Everybody has been very supportive and I want to be as supportive as possible to all Tony's family and friends and obviously I will be racing in Tony's memory as well."

Talking about his goals for next season, Manning said: "Hopefully a lot of race wins and maybe even the championship. Definitely the Indy 500 anyway. I have already got that one pencilled in."

Although Manning has yet to drive at the famous track, he did go to this year's race - as a spectator.

"I was up there in the grandstands with a load of my mechanics from Walker [Racing, his team in CART]. Just to be on that side of the fence was something else. It's definitely been a dream to race there. It's going to be the highlight of my career so far, definitely."

Manning is the third Briton to be confirmed for the IRL next season, alongside Andretti Green star Dan Wheldon and new Panther signing Mark Taylor.

"We're taking over America, aren't we?" said Manning. "There will be plenty of bacon butties and cups of tea, I am sure."

Crashes concern IRL
Officials look for the answers to safety issues
By MIKE HARRIS    Associated Press Writer  - Nov. 14, 2003

One wreck left a driver dead, the other put a competitor in the hospital for weeks. Two crashes in 10 days in the Indy Racing League have raised questions about safety and left officials scrambling to reassess cars and racetracks.

First, former series champion Kenny Brack barely escaped with his life Oct. 12 in a wreck at the season-ending race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kenny Brack's car, left, disintegrates after colliding with Tomas Scheckter and then hitting the wall in turn 3 late in the IRL Chevy 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, in this Oct. 12 photo. Two horrific accidents at the end of the season have Indy Racing League officials scrambling to reassess the safety of their cars and racetracks.    AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, DARRELL BYERS

Then, 1 1/2 weeks later, Tony Renna, in his first day driving for the elite Chip Ganassi Racing, died in a crash during tire testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's head of racing operations, said the IRL is "exhaustively researching, both internally and externally, every avenue possible to examine our cars and the construction of our cars and the facilities."

That includes taking cars to the wind tunnel, talking to engineers and exploring ways to protect the drivers better in these types of crashes.

"We're not sticking our heads in the sand and running away from this," Barnhart said. "We are absolutely doing everything we can, which is not going to be an overnight or a week or two search."

Although different situations, the accidents did have similarities.

Brack and Tomas Scheckter bumped at more than 200 mph, sending Brack's car soaring into the fencing above the concrete wall at Texas. While the car shattered, torn apart by the fencing, the battered driver's compartment remained intact. Pieces from the car were thrown over the wall but did not injure any fans.

Brack is recuperating at an Indianapolis hospital from two back operations and an assortment of other injuries. He is expected to make a full recovery and says he may drive again.

Renna's car, traveling close to 220, also went airborne, hitting the steel fencing above the wall. An autopsy showed Renna was killed on impact when his driver's compartment split in half and the car was virtually shredded by the fencing.

Safety improvements at tracks have included energy-absorbing barriers for the walls. But Brack and Renna missed the concrete walls entirely.

Furthermore, many questions remain about Renna's accident. Since it occurred during a private test, there were no eyewitnesses and no video. Nor is there any on-board data available because the black box was badly damaged.

"You can only do so much to reconstruct with skid marks and the physical evidence of the car," Barnhart said.

Despite the accidents, Al Unser Jr. believes the current IRL cars are the safest he has ever driven.

"The IRL has made so many advances to make these cars safer and safer every year," said Unser, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and a veteran of 21 years of IndyCar racing. "The fact is that these last two have been really freak accidents."

PREVIOUS NEWS:

DeLand's Renna dies after Indy crash
By Tim Povtak | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted October 23, 2003

Many fans simply said Renna was so young and had so much to live for. "It's just a very sad thing to hear.  It's tragic,” said one fan. Back To Top

Renna is the first Indy driver killed since Canadian Greg Moore died in 1999 in a CART event in California.
Back To Top

Oct 22, 2003 07:56 pm - Posted by Mary Campbell, RIS Editor


INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003 – IRL IndyCarTM Series veteran Tony Renna suffered fatal injuries in a crash during Firestone tire testing Oct. 22 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Renna, 26, from DeLand, Fla., crashed in Turn 3 of the 2.5-mile oval at approximately 9:20 a.m. local time. He was transported via ground to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Renna was making his debut with Target Chip Ganassi Racing during the test. He was named Oct. 1 to drive the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone in the 2004 season as teammate to 2003 IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon. Renna and Dixon were teammates in Indy Lights in 2000
when Dixon won the championship and Renna finished fifth.

Renna was under contract with Kelley Racing since May 2002 before joining Ganassi. He competed in seven IndyCar Series races with Kelley Racing, scoring five top-10 finishes, including a career-best fourth in 2002 at Michigan.

He started eighth and finished seventh as a rookie at the 87th Indianapolis 500 in May 2003. Back To Top

PR-DEREK DALY-Statement on Tony Renna
Oct 23, 2003 12:45 am - Posted by Michael F. Hollander, Editor, RIS

Statement by Derek Daly on the Tragic Passing of Tony Renna

My heart goes out to the family, friends, teammates and all who knew Tony Renna. I was first introduced to Tony through our driver development program in 1996. Prior to his IRL career, Tony worked for the Derek Daly Driving Academy as an instructor.

Tony was always striving to not only become a better driver, but more importantly a better person. As a fellow driver in the world of motorsports, I know how unpredictable and uncertain racing can be, but you are never prepared for news like this. I will miss Tony and all that he brought to our sport.  Back To Top

PR-IRL-Tony George Statement on Renna
Oct 22, 2003 07:59 pm - Posted by Mary Campbell, RIS Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003 – A statement from Tony George, president and chief executive officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, about IRL IndyCarTM Series driver Tony Renna, who suffered fatal injuries in a crash during Firestone tire testing Oct. 22 at the Speedway:

“Tony Renna was a rising star in IndyCar Series racing. All of us involved in racing feel a great loss. On behalf of my family and the staff of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League, our prayers and best wishes go out to his family, friends, team and fans.”     Back To Top

PR-FIRESTONE-Tony Renna statement
Oct 22, 2003 08:21 pm - Posted by Michael F. Hollander, Editor, RIS

Firestone Statement Regarding Death of Tony Renna

Quote from Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing:
"We were incredibly saddened to learn that Tony Renna lost his life today during a testing session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and his fiancé, to his team, and to his many friends and fans. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and everyone who has been touched by Tony's life.

"Times like these are always difficult, and this loss in particular will be felt deeply by the Firestone family. Tony was a good friend to Firestone and had spent many hours attending events and volunteering his time on our behalf. He was always willing to give of himself or lend a hand when we called upon him, and his unselfish and giving nature makes this tragedy all the harder to bear. He was a talented driver who will be long remembered by all who knew him or had the privilege of working with him."
Back To Top

Soft-spoken Renna touched many in area
By GODWIN KELLY MOTORSPORTS EDITOR
Last update: 23 October 2003

DAYTONA BEACH -- Unlike many people, DeLand's Tony Renna realized his career goal by racing in the 2003 Indianapolis 500 and scoring a seventh-place finish.

Renna Signs With Team Target
Target Chip Ganassi Racing today announced the signing of Tony Renna to pilot the #10 Target Toyota Panoz G Force next year in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Renna, 26, spent this season as a test driver for Kelley Racing and also drove to a seventh place finish in the 2003 Indianapolis 500. Team owner Chip Ganassi is excited to have the Deland, FL native join his organization.

“I’m thrilled to have Tony on board here at Team Target,” Ganassi said. “He’s a talented driver who has the ability to win races. He’s going to make a great addition to the team. Scott (Dixon) and Tony have been teammates before and I think they will be a great combination for us for the future. I feel that he has the talent to win races and contend for a championship.”

Renna and Scott Dixon were teammates in 2000 for PacWest’s Indy Lights team, with both drivers scoring top-5 finishes in the championship. Dixon won the championship that year with Renna finishing 5^th. Dixon is happy to have Renna as a teammate.

Tony and I have always had a good relationship and it’s great to have him as a teammate again. We’ve spoken quite a bit this year and if I had to choose a teammate, Tony would probably be the guy I’d choose. We get on very well, and I’m really looking forward to next season.”
Renna was the series champion of the Skip Barber Formula Ford Series back in 1994, scoring eight victories and three second-place finishes. He captured his first Indy Lights victory in 1998 at Michigan and had three podium finishes in 2000 as a teammate to Dixon in Indy Lights. Renna was a rookie in this year’s Indianapolis 500 this season and was impressive, qualifying 8^th and finishing 7^th. Renna is looking forward to joining Team Target.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” said Renna. “They are a first-class organization and are dedicated to one thing…winning. When the opportunity came up, it was hard to keep the smile off of my face. I wish that the season was starting now, not ending. I have to thank Chip, Target and the whole organization for giving me the chance to drive here. Teaming up with Scott again is going to be a lot of fun.”

Dixon and Team Target head to Texas Motor Speedway next week tied for the championship lead with one race remaining. The team is vying for their 5^th championship in the last 8 years. The race can be seen live on ABC Sports beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. The race can also be heard across the country on the Indy Racing Radio Network.    Back To Top            racing.target.com

Renna's friends want world to know him, too
By GODWIN KELLY MOTORSPORTS
Last update: 26 October 2003

Did I know Tony Renna? Until Wednesday afternoon, I knew who Tony Renna was -- a young, talented driver who hungered to be an Indy Racing League driver.

Most of us knew that. Did I know the man personally?

No, I met him once and we talked on the phone a few times when he would call in with career updates.

I never really knew Tony Renna the person until Wednesday, several hours after he was tragically killed while tire testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

When word of Renna's death reached our area, I talked to several local people whose lives had been touched by the 26-year-old driver.

I kept hearing the same words and description over and over.

Nice guy. Quiet. Kind. Generous. Loved his family. A role model for kids to follow. A racer's racer.

He was a guy who would not let go of his dream of driving for a top IRL team, becoming a regular at Indy and someday accept the championship trophy.

"Tony stuck to it," friend and mentor Terry Earwood said. "He never gave up."

OTHERS KNEW RENNA

I didn't know Tony Renna the person but Roger Penske, who has a billion dollars and owns race teams in IRL and NASCAR, knew the kid from DeLand.

"Tony left us while pursuing his dream to be successful at the highest level -- a dream most of us share," Penske said. "In the racing community, our competitors and teammates become extensions of our families, and Tony will remain in our thoughts and prayers."

Kenny Brack owns the resume that Renna wanted to rewrite with his own name at the top. Brack was the 1998 IRL champion then captured the 1999 Indianapolis 500.

Brack was involved in a horrifying crash at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago and suffered numerous breaks and fractures but survived to race another day.

Brack knew that after signing with Chip Ganassi Racing on Oct. 1, Renna would become a force in open-wheel racing. Renna never got that chance.

"Tony was an up-and-coming star in the IndyCar Series and it is a shame to lose such a talent," Brack said in a release from his hospital bed. "He will be greatly missed."

The list goes on and on.

ONE MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

He always had a smile on his face and a deep passion for his racing," IRL team owner Eddie Cheever said. "He was one of the future stars of our sport. His energy and fighting spirit on track will be greatly missed."

And this from Bobby Rahal: "Tony was a bright, young racer with a tremendous future in motor racing."

Young. Energetic. Enthusiastic. Those words poured out of my telephone and computer last week. Tony Renna made a big impression during his short life.

While Renna was physically taken away, his spirit will forever be meshed with the IRL.

"We won't forget him," car owner Kim Green said. "I just feel sad that Tony never was able to spend a full season in top-level IndyCar Series racing, because I think he would have made everyone very proud of him."

After listening to those who knew Tony Renna the person, it sounds to me like he accomplished that goal.

godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com

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Tony Renna's qualities were an inspiration

October 28, 2003        Johnny Reisert     Bedford

As always, when an auto racer loses his life in the pursuit of his dreams, it is a sad and tragic event.

Tony Renna's qualities are an inspiration to many. Today's youth could learn a valuable lesson from this man. In life, Renna strove to be the best and achieve his dreams. To do so involved the inherent risk of death and injury. Despite this possibility, he worked hard to achieve his dreams.

In today's world, it's refreshing to see a young person persevere and sacrifice to achieve his dreams and become a professional racing driver. Being a racer myself, I admire those brave and persistent souls who aspire to be the best.
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Tony Renna: A Racer on the Verge of Victory
Oct 27, 2003 03:05 am - Posted by Tom Beeler, RIS IRL Series Editor

Special to RIS by Jim O'Bryan, Racing for America

RUNNING WITH RENNA - MY TIME WITH TONY ON HIS ROAD TO THE TOP

I work with Racing for America, an organization which assists to help young American drivers at all levels of racing competition achieve their full potential and reach the highest levels of success possible.

Racing for America has always been based on private membership money, and we never had a ton of it, so every dollar has to be spent extremely wisely. It was always a fight to find enough money, so we had to find some very innovative ways to accomplish our mission.

Renna's crash speed 227 mph Staff Report Last update: 01 November 2003

While Indy Racing League officials stress the investigation of Tony Renna's fatal crash is ongoing, they did release some information to the Indianapolis media. Renna, a former DeLand resident, was tire testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Oct. 22 when his Ganassi Racing entry went airborne and crashed hard into the Turn 3 catch fence. Brian Barnhart, IRL senior vice president of operations, told the Indianapolis Star that the 26-year-old driver was apparently below the normal racing line when he lost control of his car and crashed. Barnhart said Renna's crash speed, originally estimated at 218 mph, was pegged at 227 mph. Barnhart, who has not contacted the Renna family with details of the accident, was not available Friday for comment. Since Renna crashed in a closed tire test, there is no video of the accident and few eyewitness accounts. And the IRL is having trouble downloading data from the "black box" in Renna's car. It suffered extensive damage in the crash. "We've got the skid marks and the angle of attack, but we want to use the (computer) numbers to supplement that and understand what happened," Barnhart told the Star. The IRL's primary concern is why Renna's car jumped into the air and into the catch fence above the concrete retaining wall. While Renna had limited IRL experience, he successfully passed the IMS rookie testing program then finished seventh in this year's Indianapolis 500.               Back To Top

N-J/Chad Pilster

Mary Renna reaches to hug a priest while her husband, Joe, looks on Friday at St. Peter Catholic Church in DeLand. The couple attended a memorial service at the church for their son, Tony, who was killed in a racing accident in Indianapolis.

Friends remember racer Tony Renna
By KEN WILLIS
Sports Columnist
Last update: 01 November 2003

DELAND -- Earlier this week in Indianapolis, they gathered to say goodbye to Tony Renna the racer. Friday in DeLand, they said goodbye to Tony Renna the friend, the son, the brother, the "boy next door."

Speakers took turns reminding everyone what was lost in that horrible crash 10 days ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "His smile is his greatest legacy," said one. "Charm oozed from every pore," said another.

"He had a stream of sweetness," said yet another. "All I can add," one more longtime family friend said through tears, ". . . this was a great kid."

St. Peter Catholic Church in DeLand was full of mourners Friday. People try to find slivers of happiness at times like these, but because there's nothing more unnatural than parents burying a child, it was only natural that sadness ruled the day.

Renna was killed Oct. 22 at age 26, doing something that had become as automatic as putting one foot in front of another -- driving a race car at a high rate of speed. But something went terribly wrong in Turn 3 at Indy's famed Brickyard, the "Holy Grail" for Renna and so many other racers.

A long line of photo collages inside St. Peter's social hall included many shots of the young Tony Renna, the younger Tony Renna, and the still younger Tony Renna, who first took to racing at age 6. There were pictures of Tony with family, friends, fellow racers and, most wrenching of all, Debbie, the woman he was to marry later this month.

There was a little room left along the row for more photos, but that row will remain unfinished. Renna's might have been a life lived full, but it wasn't a full life lived. Though he had a long history of success in a variety of lesser-known racing endeavors -- quarter-midgets, go-karts, sprints -- he had only just reached the cusp of big-league notoriety, recently signing to race full time for Indy Racing League powerhouse Ganassi Racing, for whom he was testing at the time of his accident.

This is like Billy the Kid going down in his first showdown. Renna had run a handful of IRL races and shown tremendous promise -- four top-10s in six 2002 races, and a seventh-place showing in this past year's Indy 500, his first appearance in the "big race."

But for the most part, racing's large civilian following never got a chance to know what the insiders had learned -- that Tony Renna was as good a person as he was a racer, and he was one heck of a racer.

Longtime friend and former racing teammate Chris Simmons gave a perfect illustration of both sides of Renna. Back in the mid-1980s, at the quarter-midget national championship in Huntsville, Ala., Renna was battling Chris' brother Jeff for the win.

With several laps remaining, there was a caution period followed by a restart. At the restart, Renna moved to Jeff Simmons' inside on the particularly tight track, and the two raced side by side over the closing laps with Simmons eventually prevailing by mere inches.

"Tony could've moved up the track and sent Jeff up into the marbles," Chris Simmons said, referring to the "unfriendly" part of the track that normally sends cars skittering off pace.

In fact, given the difficulty of keeping a car in the low groove for as long as Renna did, it was amazing that it didn't happen accidentally, if not on purpose (given the national-title prize awaiting the winner).

"I'm not sure anyone else in that situation could've, or would've, done that," said Chris Simmons.

Simmons was with Renna in the early years, and was with him at the end. After giving up his racing dreams, Simmons became an engineer and, like his racing friend, recently went to work for Ganassi Racing. With other team members, Simmons was in the Indy pits last Wednesday. During Renna's first few laps of the test session, there was the normal radio chatter -- all business, discussing the various readings from the on-board gauges.

Around Lap 4, Renna unleashed his Indy-car for the deceptively dangerous beauty that defines at-speed laps at Indy -- so wickedly fast, over 220 mph, but so smooth and so controlled. Unless something goes wrong, of course, at which time there's rarely anything left but twisted metal, disjointed wheels and, at absolute worst, a funeral.

"We heard the track workers on the radio say, 'yellow, yellow, yellow,' " said Simmons. "It all becomes a blur after that."

Friday it came into focus all too clearly. Joe and Mary, the parents. Kathryn and Nicole, the sisters. Debbie, the bride-to-be. And so many others still in shock at losing the quiet, unassuming kid who only made waves when he put on that helmet.

Outside the church, Jack Mayhew was talking of how he wished he "had the spirit and guts to get up and say a few words" during the service. Mayhew, of Port Orange, is an IRL rules official and longtime official with the United States Auto Club. He's been to a few driver memorials, and they're never easy.

But it was particularly tough for Richard Taylor of Longwood, whose 12-year-old son Spencer recently graduated from racing quarter-midgets and plans to move on to bigger and faster racing machines next year. On the inside cover of a program distributed Friday, there's a picture of a very young Tony Renna posing inside a quarter-midget race car identical, Taylor said, to one his son races.

The question didn't have to be asked.

"I had a hard time in there," said Taylor. "It was even more emotional than I thought it would be. I've talked to my son before and said, 'Anytime you want to quit . . .' But he always comes back to, 'I want to race.' "

"Sitting in there," added Taylor, "I was not only praying for Tony's family, but I was also praying, 'Don't ever let me go through this with my son.' It makes you take a deep breath, I tell you."

A long line of photo collages inside St. Peter's social hall included many shots of the young Tony Renna, the younger Tony Renna, and the still younger Tony Renna, who first took to racing at age 6. There were pictures of Tony with family, friends, fellow racers and, most wrenching of all, Debbie, the woman he was to marry later this month.

There was a little room left along the row for more photos, but that row will remain unfinished. Renna's might have been a life lived full, but it wasn't a full life lived. Though he had a long history of success in a variety of lesser-known racing endeavors -- quarter-midgets, go-karts, sprints -- he had only just reached the cusp of big-league notoriety, recently signing to race full time for Indy Racing League powerhouse Ganassi Racing, for whom he was testing at the time of his accident.

This is like Billy the Kid going down in his first showdown. Renna had run a handful of IRL races and shown tremendous promise -- four top-10s in six 2002 races, and a seventh-place showing in this past year's Indy 500, his first appearance in the "big race."

But for the most part, racing's large civilian following never got a chance to know what the insiders had learned -- that Tony Renna was as good a person as he was a racer, and he was one heck of a racer.

Longtime friend and former racing teammate Chris Simmons gave a perfect illustration of both sides of Renna. Back in the mid-1980s, at the quarter-midget national championship in Huntsville, Ala., Renna was battling Chris' brother Jeff for the win.

With several laps remaining, there was a caution period followed by a restart. At the restart, Renna moved to Jeff Simmons' inside on the particularly tight track, and the two raced side by side over the closing laps with Simmons eventually prevailing by mere inches.

"Tony could've moved up the track and sent Jeff up into the marbles," Chris Simmons said, referring to the "unfriendly" part of the track that normally sends cars skittering off pace.

In fact, given the difficulty of keeping a car in the low groove for as long as Renna did, it was amazing that it didn't happen accidentally, if not on purpose (given the national-title prize awaiting the winner).

"I'm not sure anyone else in that situation could've, or would've, done that," said Chris Simmons.

Simmons was with Renna in the early years, and was with him at the end. After giving up his racing dreams, Simmons became an engineer and, like his racing friend, recently went to work for Ganassi Racing. With other team members, Simmons was in the Indy pits last Wednesday. During Renna's first few laps of the test session, there was the normal radio chatter -- all business, discussing the various readings from the on-board gauges.

Around Lap 4, Renna unleashed his Indy-car for the deceptively dangerous beauty that defines at-speed laps at Indy -- so wickedly fast, over 220 mph, but so smooth and so controlled. Unless something goes wrong, of course, at which time there's rarely anything left but twisted metal, disjointed wheels and, at absolute worst, a funeral.

"We heard the track workers on the radio say, 'yellow, yellow, yellow,' " said Simmons. "It all becomes a blur after that."

Friday it came into focus all too clearly. Joe and Mary, the parents. Kathryn and Nicole, the sisters. Debbie, the bride-to-be. And so many others still in shock at losing the quiet, unassuming kid who only made waves when he put on that helmet.

Outside the church, Jack Mayhew was talking of how he wished he "had the spirit and guts to get up and say a few words" during the service. Mayhew, of Port Orange, is an IRL rules official and longtime official with the United States Auto Club. He's been to a few driver memorials, and they're never easy.

But it was particularly tough for Richard Taylor of Longwood, whose 12-year-old son Spencer recently graduated from racing quarter-midgets and plans to move on to bigger and faster racing machines next year. On the inside cover of a program distributed Friday, there's a picture of a very young Tony Renna posing inside a quarter-midget race car identical, Taylor said, to one his son races.

The question didn't have to be asked.

"I had a hard time in there," said Taylor. "It was even more emotional than I thought it would be. I've talked to my son before and said, 'Anytime you want to quit . . .' But he always comes back to, 'I want to race.' "

"Sitting in there," added Taylor, "I was not only praying for Tony's family, but I was also praying, 'Don't ever let me go through this with my son.' It makes you take a deep breath, I tell you."

ken.willis@news-jrnl.com                       Back To Top

Race driver's family, friends bid farewell

Mary Renna (left), the mother of Tony Renna, was consoled after Monday's memorial service for her son at St. John Catholic Church. -- Matt Kryger / The Star

By Mark Alesia

mark.alesia@indystar.com

October 28, 2003

 
From the cathedral of their sport, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they came to a church in Downtown Indianapolis on Monday to say goodbye to Tony Renna.

Most wore suits. Some wore jeans and jackets with racing logos. During the procession into the funeral Mass, a close friend carried Renna's racing helmet.

MEMORIAL FUND

Information about a memorial fund in the name of IRL IndyCar^TM Series driver Tony Renna, who suffered fatal injuries in a testing crash Oct. 22 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

In lieu of flowers, the family of Tony Renna requests that contributions be made to the Tony Renna Memorial Fund. Contributions are tax-deductible and can be sent to:

Tony Renna Memorial Fund
c/o The Prappas Company
9201 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 204
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
For further information, call (310) 278-1160, ext. 108 or send an e-mail to rennafund@prappascompany.com.

Cards and letters of sympathy may be sent to:
Target Chip Ganassi Racing
7777 Woodland Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46278

Robin Miller covers open wheel racing for ESPN and ESPN.com.