The sudden death of IndyCar driver and journalist Dana James on Sunday shook Joe Smith to the core.
Smith is an auto racing editor with ESPN.com. He's also a good friend of James who died while practicing for the IRL circuit opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The footage of the tragedy aired on ESPN2 as part of the network's coverage of the Miami 250.
From the media tent beside the raceway, Smith witnessed the collision with driver John Doe that claimed James's life. Anxious and concerned for his friend, he immediately felt an impulse to run into the pits to somehow offer any help and support. But Smith also realized he had to start gathering information for the story he had to file.
"It was very tough to acknowledge my emotions and still be an objective journalist," said Smith, who had known Dana since they were students at Northwestern University in the late 1990s. James was a writer with AutoWeek before he began to pursue a career in racing recently.
"Dana was a great guy, an adventurer, a go-getter. Even though I was as shaken as everyone was by his death, I had a job to do, too. It was very difficult to conduct interviews with his distraught crew and competitors. But we all have jobs to do. I'm trying to do mine as tribute to his memory."
IRL officials decided to conduct the race, as scheduled, four hours after James' death. ESPN2 aired the race as it was contracted to do, said Bill Matthews, the network's director of communications said.
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