Paul Dana (April 15, 1975 – March 26, 2006) was an American race car driver in the Indy Racing League.

Racing career
In the practice session for the first race of the 2006 IRL season, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dana collided with Ed Carpenter's disabled car after Carpenter's tire went flat, thrusting the car into retaining wall, before sliding to the bottom of the track. Paul Dana, in the Rahal-Letterman car, was told to "go low" by his spotter. Slow-motion footage showed that Paul had hit debris from Ed's car just before impact, which caused damage to the right-front suspension.
ABC/ESPN's telemetry indicated Dana's car hit Carpenter's car at about 176 mph, while Scott Sharp, who was running alongside Dana, reported that he had slowed to approximately 50 mph by the time of Dana's impact.
Dana was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries just before noon. He was 30 years old, and is survived by his wife Tonya.
After his death, Dana's teammates Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick did not compete in the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as a mark of respect for their deceased teammate.
On his March 27, 2006 television show, an emotional David Letterman paused to offer his condolences to Paul Dana's family; "It's not hard to imagine the despair and sorrow that Paul Dana's wife, Tonya, and the rest of his family are feeling now, and I want them to know that they have the thoughts and the prayers of myself, the entire Rahal-Letterman team, and the entire racing community and, hopefully, that will give them the slightest amount of comfort. I did not know Paul personally but we were all proud to have him on our team and are deeply saddened by his tragic passing at such a young age."