Godspeed Greg Moore

by Bob Pearson

Sitting in my living room, in Calgary, I answered the call.

"Did you see the accident? He's dead! He's dead!" my mother exclaimed from Montreal.

The CART race was on TSN-The Sports Network-here in Canada, but I had not turned it on yet, I thought it came on later.

By the time I could turn the television to TSN, there was a commercial break. When the coverage resumed, Paul Page spoke with the candour of a man terrified he had witnessed a tragedy. Greg Moore, the 24-year old Canadian sensation from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, had crashed heavily in the early laps of the Marlboro 500, at Fontana. As I watched, trembling with fear, there were no replays. No replays. A bad sign; a very bad sign.

With sincere interest, with sincere concern, I sat, carefully following the news. I hoped in my heart that Greg Moore would survive. Soon the ambulance carried Moore to the infield hospital, and, what seemed like seconds later, the air ambulance took the young Canadian-my countryman-to the nearest hospital. Doctors told listeners that Moore's condition was Code 5-serious to life threatening. Like many of my fellow Canadians and racing fans, my heart sunk at the news. Still, as people so often do in times of tragedy, big or small, I hoped for the best.

Moore's injuries were serious, both internal and head injuries.

Fellow Canadian Paul Tracy, when his racing day ended, spoke of his concern for Moore. No doubt, Tracy spoke for his fellow racers and all fans. We all hoped for good news.

My mind flashed back to Ayrton Senna. I recall the tense waiting to find out the sad news. That sad May day in 1994 dragged on, and it was hours before we knew in Canada that Senna had died. I thought of Gonzalo Rodriguez, whose young life ended at Laguna Seca earlier this season. I thought of the horror the drivers may have felt, if only for a fleeting fraction of a moment.

Then the sad news came: Greg Moore had been pronounced dead at 1:21 PM Pacific time. I wept. There would be no post-race ceremonies. The flags came down to half-mast. But the race went on. Races do go on. As Emily Wheeler wrote for F1Rumors after Gonzolo Rodriguez died at Laguna, the race must go on. "The racing community," Wheeler wrote, "continues counting points and navigating tracks for the same reason we regular folk bring out the stock phrases and support groups in the face of death. We need normalcy. We need to stare death down and prove to ourselves that we can keep going in spite of it."

Two young lives. Two men with so much more to live for. Admittedly, Moore meant more to me, brought out more emotion. Naturally, as a Canadian, I followed Moore, like Carpentier and Tracy, more closely than I did other CART drivers; but I admire them all.

With every passing sports update on TSN, these words flashed ominously across the screen: "Breaking News: Greg Moore dead at age 24 after a crash at the Marlboro 500." When, at the conclusion of the race, TSN recapped the day's events, the horrible, terrifying crash was replayed, and I wept again.

An eerie harbinger of Sunday's tragedy was Moore's accident on Saturday. Riding his motor scooter, Moore was struck by a pick-up truck, breaking a small bone in his hand. He was cleared to race. Many felt the hand injury was not a factor in Moore's death. Yet the question will linger.

In 1997, at the age of 22, Greg Moore became the youngest winner in CART history when he won at the Milwaukee Mile. He since won four more CART races. When Greg Moore won his first Indy Lights race, at Phoenix, at a youthful age of 18, it was suggested 18 was quite young to be winning major races. Moore's rejoinder, "Yeah, but I'm a mature 18."

Born April 22, 1975, Greg Moore died far too young. There had to be more coming for the young Canadian. But this we will never know.

As Juan Montoya crossed the line to win the CART drivers championship, Paul Page declared it "a day of elation, a day of tragedy." Indeed it was both.

Bobby Rahal's words perhaps resonate most deeply: "I hate the sport when it's like this."

We all do.

Godspeed Greg Moore.

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