(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

(AP) -- Race car drivers understand death, more so than other professional athletes. Nearly every driver at the top levels has lost a friend or a rival in a race, an acquaintance from another series, a driver they grew up idolizing.

Death is a risk the drivers willingly take and their loved ones accept, knowing the passion for a profession that can kill.

Robert Wickens came to terms with the stakes long before he left a successful career in Europe racing touring cars to join the IndyCar Series. Was he thinking he could be seriously injured when he climbed into his car Sunday at Pocono Raceway? Most certainly not. Drivers don't become champions through fear.

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