I know that auto racing is an inherently dangerous activity, and so do all the guys that get in the seat. They know it for real- I only know it from observation. And they all accept those risks when they turn the key and start the car up.
With that said, I think, from what I am reading, that this race went beyond the usual bounds of what is considered safe in IndyCar racing. The concerns about track size, number of cars, and top speeds were already made before the race. NASCAR guys can bump into each other- they do it all the time and expect to. Open-wheel cars are completely different; they bump into each other and someone's going to get hurt.
I'm sure we'll hear all the usual rubbish about "he died doing what he loved" etc. Okay, fine. If you ask me, it would have been far better if he'd lived doing what he loved. No one made these kids get behind the wheel in each of those cars, I understand that, but I can't help feeling that some of the blame accords to the people who placed the apple of temptation out there in front of everyone. I hope they are at least intelligent enough to avoid staging this kind of circus again.