The Indy 500 ended on a happy note, but……

Dixon's car almost takes Jay Howard's head off

Dixon's car hit the top of the inside wall with great force. If the car was rotated a few more degrees Dixon's head would have been crushed

Despite one scary accident and several smaller ones, the 2017 Indy 500 ended on a positive note with Japanese driver Takuma Sato outdueling Helio Castroneves for the race win as a crowd estimated at 300,000 stood and cheered.

However, the IndyCar series was inches from being faced with the death of two drivers in a single accident, all because they are not smart enough to engineer a canopy solution to the cockpits to protect the drivers heads.

Tonight's Indy 500 victory banquet would have been a solemn event if Jay Howard and Scott Dixon lost their lives on Sunday. Ironically Castroneves drove clear under Dixon's airborne car and survived to fight for the victory.

As can be seen from the top photo to the right the bottom of Scott Dixon's can missed Jay Howard's head by mere inches. Jay Howard could be dead right now.

As can be seen from the bottom photo to the right, had Dixon's car rotated a few more degrees before hitting to the top of the wall, his head would have been crushed. Scott Dixon could also be dead right now.

Jay Howard and Scott Dixon both should be counting their lucky stars today.

IndyCar is trying to design a windscreen for the car, but that isn't going to do diddley-squat in accidents like this. The windscreen will also make the cars look hideous.

As can be seen by these two photos (and the video below) a windscreen is not going to protect the driver when a car gets on top of each other, or when they get up into the wall or catch fencing.

The real question for IndyCar is how many of its stars does it have to kill off before they embark on a proper full canopy design?

We have heard all the excuses:

Lame excuse #1: The driver cannot get out in case of a fire.
Response to Excuse #1: Install the same fire suppression system used in WEC cockpits. An air hose to the driver's helmet, like they use in NASCAR can supply a minute's worth of air. By that time the safety crew is always on the scene and can rip the cockpit off in seconds. See #2 below.

Lame excuse #2: The driver might get pinned in the car and the safety crews would struggle to get them out
Response to Excuse #2: The Holmatro safety equipment would allow the canopy to be ripped off by the Safety Crew in 15 seconds maximum. When the car is upside down the driver never gets out on his own anyway, the safety crew has to turn the car over first.

Lame excuse #3: The windshield might fog up in the rain.
Response to Excuse #3: A miniature 12V A/C with fan will take care of that. They already make them for various applications. We're 100% certain one can be designed for Indy and F1 cars. They have them in LeMans (WEC) cars.

You could try to add some sort of wiper system

Lame excuse #4: What about the rain and oil, the driver's helmet has tearoffs
Response to Excuse #4: The windshield of the closed canopy can have tearoffs. A manual system would see the pit crew tear off a layer while the tires are being changed. That is what they do in NASCAR. Until the pitstop the driver has to suck it up or pull into the pits early. That's racing. See image to left – some sort of wiper system could probably be designed to work, but the radius is rather tight. Also, the silly windscreen they are trying to design for the IndyCars has this exact same issue.

Lame excuse #5: What about tradition, they have always been both open wheel and open cockpit?
Response to Excuse #5: They used to be front engine too, and tube frame, and they ran skinny tires, etc. The driver's helmet will be just as visible from the grandstands and in-car cameras give a birds-eye view regardless. Should your lame attachment to tradition result in drivers dying? What's a driver's life worth. Are you willing to pay the family $10 million (to support the spouse and children who just lost dad) each time a driver dies because you're hung up on tradition?

Dixon's car got so high off the ground Helio Castroneves drove clear under it.

Lame excuse #6: Racers die. They are paid to race, and know the potential consequences. Get over it
Response to Excuse #6: A race series cannot continue to kill off their 'heroes.' Each time one dies, those fans are lost forever.

Lame excuse #7: The heat generated when the sun hits the top of the canopy would make the cockpit temperature unbearable for the driver.
Response to Excuse #7: The top of the canopy would be coated with a 100% reflective material. It's used on fighter jets.

Now that I have responded to all the lame excuses I have heard, and knowing that engineers with at least half a brain can design around all these issues, it's time F1 and IndyCar put away all their lame excuses and focus on the designs necessary to make closed cockpits a reality before you kill another driver. Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com