Last month, another in a long line of ostentatious Formula One concept designs sent automotive fans on the internet in a tizzy: a closed cockpit McLaren. The renderings were created by Dutch designer Andries van Overbeeke as part of a series of reimagined F1 cars he calls "Echoes of a Nearby Future."

While the pictures are pretty, the futuristic design comes at a very important time — because open wheel racing is dying.

That's not to say it can't be saved, or that it might find a way to thrive again someday. But right now, each major class of open wheel racing is struggling in some way. IndyCar introduced a wild new aerodynamics package for both the Chevrolet and Honda cars this year, but the move has not gone so well. Chevrolet seems to have gotten the better deal, and has won nine of the 13 races run so far. Honda, spurned, still has not fully renewed its contract with IndyCar, which expires at the end of the season. Even worse for the series was when a piece of one of the new aero kits broke off during the first race of the year in St. Petersburg and struck a spectator, which resulted in both a hospital trip and a lawsuit. Meanwhile, F1's global ratings are crumbling. Recent redesigns and engine changes have rankled fans, and teams have threatened to quit over issues with money and competition. The series can’t seem to avoid controversy, and recently found some of its most prominent members punching down at the young, all-electric Formula E. Then there's the constant struggle with car counts at local short tracks across the nation, where open wheel racing is practiced on a tight budget every Saturday night. The majority of these races never get broadcast (even locally), and the lucky few that do find their coverage buried on premium cable networks. There are many threats to the survival of open wheel racing While the sport of open wheel racing struggles for popularity on all these different levels, there's an even bigger threat: safety. The most inherent safety problem open wheel racing faces is the one that’s right there in the name. Instead of what you find in stock car racing, where tires run nearly flush with the body and you can bang one car against the other with little consequence, the wheels of these cars are exposed. It's a design that produces undeniable excitement; one of the most thrilling experiences as a racing fan is watching two drivers try to maneuver through a turn inches apart as they balance the compulsion to come out ahead with the need to avoid contact. It's a massive assault on your nerves, and it doesn't matter whether it's happening during an F1 race in Monaco or a sprint car race in Ohio.