Tony Renna dies after crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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[sonsofliberty2000]

Tony Renna dies after crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, team owner says.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Here's an article with some details:

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1492546&nav=0Ra7IfhB

[Sir Gawain]

Tony Renna Born: 11/23/1976 Hometown: Deland, Fla. Resides: Las Vegas, Nev. Primary Sponsor: Cure Autism Now Primary Series: IRL Team: Kelley Racing Chassis: Dallara Engine: Toyota Tires: Firestone

http://cbs.sportsline.com/autoracing/drivers/driverpage/390220

[clintonh8r]

Renna was highly touted as a future star. Chip Ganassi has a keen eye for driving talent.

[OldFriend]

Goodness, what a sad story. Prayers for his family and friends.

[sonsofliberty2000]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031022/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_irl_renna_crash_3

INDIANAPOLIS - Tony Renna, who joined the elite Ganassi Racing team this month, died Wednesday after crashing during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, team owner Chip Ganassi said.

Renna crashed into the outside wall on the exit of the track's third turn.

Ganassi said he was told Renna was on his fourth lap of the day and had reached speeds of 218 mph when the crash happened.

Renna, 26, of Deland, Fla., debuted in the IRL in 2002 with Kelley Racing as a substitute driver for Al Unser Jr. with Kelley Racing.

Renna was seventh in the Indianapolis 500 in May and joined Ganassi for next season in place of Tomas Scheckter, who switched to Panther Racing.

Renna is the 67th person killed or fatally injured at the track since it opened in 1909. The last driver killed was Scott Brayton, who died in a crash during practice in 1996.

[MeekOneGOP]

He would have been 27 next month. Rest in peace ...

http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=1774968

IRL DRIVER RENNA DIES IN INDY TEST CRASH

BY STEVE HERMAN

Associated Press

Oct. 22, 2003 1:21 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IRL racer Tony Renna died Wednesday after crashing at close to 220 mph during a test drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, team owner Chip Ganassi said.

Renna, 26, of Deland, Fla., crashed into the outside wall while exiting the track's third turn.

He is the 67th person fatally injured at the track since it opened in 1909. The last driver killed was Scott Brayton, who died in a crash during practice in 1996.

Tony Renna, 26, of Deland, Florida, drove in the Indy Lights series from 1998-00 and debuted in the IRL in 2002.
Dave Parker/Associated Press

Ganassi said he was told Renna was on his fourth lap of the day and had reached speeds of 218 mph when the car crashed.

He was seventh in the Indianapolis 500 in May and recently joined Ganassi Racing for next season.

[kayak]

Prayers for his family and friends.

[ironwill]

By Paul Kelly
indyracing.com

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.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Primary Sponsor: Cure Autism Now

How come a charity has enough money to support a professional race car driver. (Millions of dollars at least.) Is this a wise use of the donated monies?

[Dog Gone]

I thought they had installed soft walls at Indy that were supposed to prevent this sort of thing.

[Lokibob]

You decide.
A press release from Kelly tires, I can find more:

June 04, 2003
HomeMed Pharmacy Makes Donation to CAN and High Hopes
For Immediate Release

HOMEMED PHARMACY KICKS-OFF “INDY 32” FUND RAISING EFFORTS
Donates $10,000 Each to Cure Autism Now and High Hopes

INDIANAPOLIS (June 3, 2003)— Ronald Hunter, CEO and Chairman of Standard Management and Murray I. Firestone, Ph.D, CEO of U.S. Health Services Corporation the parent company of HomeMed Pharmacy, on May 24 presented donations of $10,000 each to the Cure Autism Now and High Hopes organizations. The donations were the kick-off to a year long fund raising effort spearheaded by HomeMed Pharmacy on behalf of these two non-profit organizations.

Both organizations are beneficiaries of a campaign surrounding the No. 32 Indianapolis 500 entry sponsored by Cure Autism Now and HomeMed Pharmacy. HomeMed Pharmacy has put a program into place for the consumer market that directly benefits Cure Autism Now and High Hopes. When an order is placed, either via www.homemed.com or by calling 1-866-HomeMed, between now and December 31 and the customer uses the promotional code “Indy 32” they get a discount on their order and a percentage of the purchase will be donated to Cure Autism Now and High Hopes.

“It is such an honor to be involved with these two organizations and we wanted to get this program started with momentum,” said Ronald Hunter. “It is my hope that on December 31 we present the largest check they have ever received to both Cure Autism Now and to High Hopes. That moment would be a dream come true for all of us involved in this partnership.”

Media Note: A photograph is available of Ronald Hunter, Actor Anthony Edwards of Cure Autism Now and Al Speyer of Firestone/High Hopes receiving the checks. You may download a copy at www.kelleyracing.com or feel free to contact Jana Watt.

--www.kelleyracing.com --

[sarasota]

Good question. That's pretty sad.

[Lokibob]

It is hardly "millions of dollars", a sponsorship can be had for as little as $50,000.

From what I read, it appears that Kelly tires put up the money for Cure Autism Now and gave them space on the car. Other benefits of sponsorship include free advertising in racing programs and free benefit speeches by the drivers at fund raising dinners etc.

Gannaci racing this year had a total budget of $5,000,000 for 5 full time racing teams, of which this car/driver was but one.

[AKA Elena]

Didn't click on your link ;~(!

Is he related to Lisa Renna, does anyone know? They look very similar!

[First_Salute]

The walls that you speak of, do not extend all the way around.

They do not extend far enough out of the turn, certainly, in this case.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I guess that the term "primary sponsor" is misleading.

[Edison]

It would not have mattered where the softer barriers where, his car became airborne and cleared the concrete retaining wall to break apart in the catch fencing.

RIP Tony

Edison