SAN FRANCISCO — The symbolism was perfect, just not as originally intended.

Outlined against the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and San Francisco at Vista Point on the Marin Headlands, five IndyCar drivers posed, smiling in a Thursday media event preceding the final race of the season as the Astor Cup was driven north over the bridge in an open-wheel procession toward Sonoma Raceway, site of Sunday’s finale.

Three days after the death of driver Justin Wilson as a result of injuries suffered in a race at Pocono Raceway, IndyCar as a series and community again was searching for a way to the other side of a collective ache.

It wouldn’t be as simple as steel and cable. Marco Andretti, driving a No. 25 Honda of former teammate Wilson; American title contenders Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden; defending champion and charismatic Australian Will Power; and James Hinchcliffe, bearing the trophy, tore across the span. They seemed eager to reach what was beyond.

“(The death of Dan) Wheldon (in 2011) was the last race of the season, so it really just hit us immediately,” an emotional Andretti told USA TODAY Sports. “Where this one, we’re so focused on the next event, and we’re trying to be, just trying to keep our minds going. I’m sure right after the checker of the finale, it’s really going to hit us, but we’re trying to keep at it.”

SERVIA: Will honor Wilson by driving No. 25 at Sonoma

IndyCar has attempted to tastefully proceed with the business of finishing its season amid the mourning. A moment of silence was held before a San Francisco Giants game Wednesday, and Rahal threw the ceremonial first pitch. Remembrances are planned for the race weekend at Sonoma, where Oriol Servia will drive a No. 25 for Andretti Autosport to honor his close friend.

And as those emotional issues are reconciled comes the daily business for a series attempting to regain — with success this season — some of the national relevance it once held as the most popular form of racing in North America. That process often has seemed futile since open-wheel racing split into competing factions in 1996 — then reunited as Champ Car went bankrupt in 2007 — and NASCAR ascended.

Indeed, IndyCar has been resilient this season. The season opener was canceled six weeks before its scheduled date in Brasilia because of a financial dispute between Brazilian governmental bodies. The debut of aerodynamic body kits was “part of the mixed narrative” of a sluggish start to the season, Mark Miles, chairman of Hulman & Co., which owns IndyCar, told USA TODAY Sports. A St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was struck in the head by a piece of a car after the kits shed debris fields in the season opener on that city’s streets. The cars of three Chevrolet drivers flipped during Indianapolis 500 practice — forcing adjustments before qualifying — and garnering the type of hyperbolic national attention series officials never desire. Hinchcliffe suffered massive blood loss after a suspension piece pierced his car during Indianapolis 500 practice. He missed the rest of the season.

MONTOYA: On cusp of seizing IndyCar crown

But there was progress. After beginning the season woefully uncompetitive, Honda was able to better duel with Chevrolet. Although some drivers were vehemently opposed to the veer toward pack racing that occurred at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., in June, it was wildly popular among fans and produced a television uptick that was part of a season-long upward trend, credited by many within the paddock to NBC Sports Network’s vigorous cross-promotion. Young drivers such as Tennessean Newgarden emerged as race winners. Attendance was up at pillar events, including a 9% jump at the Indianapolis 500, according to Miles. Since the odd afternoon in Fontana, where a spell-binding race played out before vacant grandstands but a rapt social media and television audience, there was a sense of momentum within the garage.

NEWGARDEN: On fast track to fame

Team owner Chip Ganassi, who also fields teams in Sprint Cup, sports cars and Global Rallycross, told USA TODAY Sports on the Sunday morning of the Pocono race that he thought the series was ready for a growth spurt, a feeling he said he had not held for a long time.

It still might be.

Zak Brown, CEO of Just Marketing Inc., which serves clients in multiple global motor sports series, says that while healing the emotional wounds is a job for the racing community internally, perceptions over the accident or the inherent dangers of the sport are unlikely to taint perceptions of the sport.

“(Fans or sponsors) realize this was an accident, as opposed to some sports where something happens that is immoral or illegal or drug substances where people are turned off because the sport or the incident isn’t of the ethic that they want to portray,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “This was an accident.

“And I think that fans and sponsors know this is part of the sport and it does happen from time to time.”

The scores of fans lining the rust-colored rails of the Golden Gate Bridge and brandishing cameras seemed plenty enthralled with the spectacle of the open-wheel parade. Tourists rushed away from selfies with Alcatraz to snap shots with the race cars.

WILSON: Will be laid to rest next week in England

But there remain questions for the series. Ramsey Poston, founder of Tuckahoe Strategies, a communications firm which deals largely with crisis management, said the series should concern itself with three points: “what happened; why it happened; and what is being done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

NASCAR, he noted, expedited the implementation of ongoing safety initiatives after an investigation following Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001 revealed weaknesses.

“I’m concerned by the number of people in the sport who seem to dismiss what happened at Pocono as a ‘freak accident,’” Poston said. “The fatality of Justin Wilson exposes safety issues that appear to be fixable.”

FINALE: Drivers have heavy hearts as they prepare for Sonoma

Poston said it was up to IndyCar and sprint car to continue with innovations to keep drivers and fans safe.

“Typically, organizations tend to move slower than they should, because they are not accustomed to making big changes. There are often competing interests of tradition vs. change, but this is where it is critical for IndyCar to lead. It’s important that preservation of tradition does not overshadow the safety of drivers and fans.”

Thursday, it was about small steps toward what is next. Hinchcliffe, for his part, seemed in the mood for something new. He’d proclaimed he wouldn’t shave until he returned to a race car, but pondered letting his drive with the trophy in a two-seater count toward at least a trim.

Despite the good of 2015, he said, the negative will sadly resonate.

“Ultimately, tragically, 2015 will be defined by losing Justin Wilson, because that’s such a monumental loss,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “The good things, the other story lines, take a back seat to a guy like that. It will be a hard one to look back on for a lot of reasons.”

Eventually they will, if they reach the other side.