IRL racer dies in crash during warmup session

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Paul Dana was an up-and-coming rookie driver living his dream, a former motorsports journalist who was hours away Sunday from beginning his most promising season yet.

Then, before the green flag flew, something went terribly, inexplicably wrong.

While streaking around the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval during a warmup session, Dana failed to notice that another car had spun to a stop, slamming into it at close to 200 mph. Two hours after his shattered car came to a rest, the 30-year-old Dana was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"Obviously, this is a very black day for us," team owner Bobby Rahal said. "This is a great tragedy."

Dana believed he had finally gotten his big break in the months before the season-opening IRL IndyCar Series race here. After a string of modest successes rising through racing's ranks, he had secured a ride with the elite Rahal Letterman Racing -- the same team that fields IRL phenom Danica Patrick and Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice.

Patrick and Rice did not run Sunday, but the race went on as planned and was won by defending Indy 500 and IRL points champion Dan Wheldon.

--AP