Graham Rahal, on Justin being a leader in the IndyCar Driver’s Association

“That really was because everybody just respected his outlook. He wasn’t a pessimistic guy. He wasn’t a dramatic guy, which often we get. There’s a lot of drama in what we do. There’s a lot of people who are overly dramatic versus being open-minded, versus looking at things with a level head like Justin, asking, what can we do to be the best that we can be? What can we do to put on a good show? What can we do to improve driver safety and so on?

“And Justin was always a guy that everybody knew if he said something, it was going to be well thought-out. It was also viewed with precision, and from frame of mind that it was going to be best for everybody in the bigger picture versus what’s best for me, and what’s best for my team. I think that that’s what everybody respected about Justin.”

Dario Franchitti, on Justin’s innate professionalism in heated circumstances

“Willy Power and I had one of our not infrequent, but this time fairly explosive, run-ins during the 2013 Sonoma race. I felt he pushed me off track and all that, so we start getting into it after the race. We’re having proper ‘verbal,’ and I’m like, ‘You drove me off of the circuit.’ He’s like, ‘I’m just paying you back for stuff you’ve done to me before.’ And then we start calling each other lots of words that begin with Fs and Cs.
“This is going off, now we’re on the podium and they’re playing the Australian National Anthem – which I love – for Will, and it’s playing and I’m going, ‘**** you, you coward, you ****.’ And he’s going, ‘No, **** you. You piece of ****, you ****.’ And Justin, from the time we get out of the cars, to the time we start having a verbal, to the time we’re on the podium just brutalizing off at each other, Justin does not say one word! He just stands there with that big old smile, just laughing at us. Honestly, not one word.

“Not, ‘Hey boys, calm down.’ Not, ‘You guys, be professional…’ He was the ultimate politician and just stood there, pissing himself laughing at these two idiots. It was just his reaction to it that I loved. I look over and he’s got the biggest smile, nobody knowing what we’re saying under our breath. He’s just thinking, ‘You couple of clowns.’ Just look at the big guy though, what a poker face. I always think of him being the only adult on the podium that day.”

Three drivers but only one adult on the podium at Sonoma in 2013. Marshall Pruett

Mike Shank, on planning ahead with Justin

“I’m building this new relationship with Honda in 2015, and Justin is not done with IndyCar racing by any means, but we mapped out a plan for him to come to sports car racing when he was done there. And just so his kids know, that even though he was IndyCar racing, he was thinking forward to where he wanted to be and how he’s going to support the family for the long-term.

“And we had a pretty good plan on where that was going to be. For him, maybe he had two or three more years of IndyCar left, but he was already working with me, working with Honda, helping me build that bridge there, and he’s still only like 36 or 37, but he’s ahead of his time and ahead of the curve on thinking about stuff like this. And this was part of the greatness of him.

“And so, when I said, ‘Hey, what do you think if you helped me here in sports cars when you’re done in IndyCar, and you’re going to be able to make a living still?’ he was all over it, not even a hesitation, not like some guys who fight to the bitter end to stay in IndyCar, even if it’s with a bad team or whatever. No, he was trying to figure out a way to set himself, and thereby his family, up for the future.

“I don’t know, ultimately, if it would’ve ended up in an equity position in our team, but I can tell you that was his mindset, that was his thinking process. If he was still here, I guarantee you he’d be involved in what I’m going to be doing in the future. I just guarantee you.”

Barry Waddell, on WWJWD

“We’ll always be lesser for his passing, and quite honestly, I don’t want to be over it. I don’t want to get past it and move on, because I’m better off having known him and had him in my life and still affecting my decisions and how I see the world. We all have to go on because you damn well know that’s what he wanted us to do. Julia has done an amazing job raising the girls, and you want to tell them, ‘The best way you can honor him is go on and enjoy your life and represent his behavior.’

“Stefan stepped up to the plate in a very impressive way and really honored his brother trying to be there for them, and he would catch himself in any situation and ask, ‘What would Justin do?’ If you stop and ask yourself that question as a guidance for what you should do in any situation, ‘What would Justin Wilson do here,’ you’re probably going to make a good decision.

“And that’s reflected also in my son, Ben, who really was fortunate enough to know Justin, and in his professional life as a race car driver, when Ben’s faced with a tough situation, he’ll always stop and ask himself, ‘How do you think Justin would handle this? What do you think he would have said?’ And if you choose to take that and mimic that process, you’re probably going to make a good decision and you’re probably going to be happy with what you said or what you did in that situation. Justin’s grace under pressure is something we could all learn from.”

Ashleigh Mower