Tragedy at Las Vegas... Dan Wheldon RIP.

[Road Games]

http://www.v8supercars.com.au/newsar...medium=twitter



THE American racing community has been plunged into mourning following the death of Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon at today's IndyCar Series finale at Las Vegas.

Wheldon – who was competing for a US$5 million bonus prize if we he could win after starting from the back of the grid – was involved in a multi-car accident in the early stages of the race.

He was airlifted to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.

"INDYCAR is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," announced INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernhard.

Wheldon, the two-time Indy 500 winner and former IndyCar Series champion, had been signed to drive with James Courtney of the Toll Holden Racing Team at this week's Armor All Gold Coast 600.

A multiple car pile-up was triggered after contact in the mid-pack.

An unsighted Wheldon had nowhere to go and launched off the crashed cars, hitting the outside catch fencing upside down and cockpit-first.

The 33-year-old Florida-based Brit was the winner of 16 IndyCar races and was the 2005 IndyCar Series champion.

The remaining 19 drivers and cars bravely headed back onto the circuit to run a five-lap tribute to Wheldon.

Also involved in the accident was Aussie Will Power, though the Team Penske driver emerged largely unscathed with back pain. No further update has yet been offered on his condition.

Power is signed with Ford Performance Racing for this weekend’s Gold Coast event, though the accident and race cancellation mean that Dario Franchitti has clinched the IndyCar Series title.

[RG]

In car footage from Power's car is downright frightening.

RIP Dan.

[Ralliart]

RIP Dan Wheldon

just saw the video just before

[Mickxr8]

Sad day for motorsport . RIP Dan.

[Revolver]

RIP Dan.

Bruce McLaren died at 33 yrs. he wrote his own epitaph "life is measured in achievement, not in years alone."

I wonder if HRT will get an a special exemption for this weekends GC600 in light of this. Trying to find another international driver in a week is a hard task & wouldn't be right......

[Kingsley]

RIP Dan Wheldon. Tragic accident.

[phillyc]

RIP Dan Wheldon.

Very tragic. Great achievements in a short lifetime.

[Road Games]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...egas-race.html

Dan Wheldon, who moved to the United States from his native England with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 and went on to prevail at his sport's most famed race twice, died Sunday after a massive, fiery wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300.

Wheldon, who won the Indy 500 for the second time this May, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005.

The 33-year-old was airlifted from the Las Vegas track at 1.19pm local time Sunday and taken to a nearby hospital, becoming the first IndyCar driver to die on the track since rookie Paul Dana was killed in practice on the morning of race day at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006.

As word began to spread that his injuries were fatal, those at the track could not control their tears.

Television cameras captured Ashley Judd, the wife of IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, dabbing at her eyes shortly before the official word came.

The remainder of the race was cancelled, the Associated Press reports.

Drivers solemnly returned to the track for a five-lap tribute to Wheldon, almost all of them hiding their eyes behind dark sunglasses after being told their colleague was gone.


As Roger Penske met with his team trackside and other drivers simply hugged those around them, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard made the announcement of Wheldon's death.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today,' Bernard said.

When drivers returned to the track, Wheldon's No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard.

Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the tribute laps.

Over speakers at the track, the song Danny Boy blared, followed by Amazing Grace as hundreds of crew workers from each team stood solemnly.

The race was only minutes old when Wheldon, who started at the back of the 34-car field and was in position for a $5 million payday if he could have won the race, was one of 15 cars involved in a wreck that started when two cars touched tires.

Several cars burst into flames, and debris was all over the track, some of the impact so intense that workers needed to patch holes in the asphalt.

Video replays showed Wheldon's car turning over as it was airborne and sailed into what's called the 'catch fence,' which sits over the safety barrier that's designed to give a bit when cars make contact.

Rescue workers were at Wheldon's car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene.

Bernard said Wheldon's injuries were 'unsurvivable.'

Wheldon's first Indianapolis 500 victory was in 2005 - he passed Danica Patrick with less than 10 laps to go that year - and his win at the sport's most famed race this year was one to particularly savour.

It came in perhaps the oddest of fashions, as he was the beneficiary of a huge gaffe by someone else.

Wheldon was in second place, far back of rookie J.R. Hildebrand approaching the final turn - when Hildebrand lost control and clipped the wall.

Wheldon zipped past, and the only lap he led all day at Indianapolis was the last one.


He returned to the track the next morning for the traditional photo session with the winner, kissing the bricks as his two-year-old son Sebastian sat on the asphalt alongside him, and wife, Susie, held their then-2-month-old, Oliver.

Wheldon was almost resigned to finishing second at Indy for the third straight year, before misfortune struck Hildebrand.

'It's obviously unfortunate, but that's Indianapolis,' Wheldon said.

'That's why it's the greatest spectacle in racing. You never know what's going to happen.'

Such was the case again Sunday.

Wheldon was well behind the first wave of cars that got into trouble on the fateful lap, and had no way to avoid the wrecks in front of him. There was no time to brake or steer out of trouble.


'I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and then I tried to slow down, couldn't slow down,' driver Paul Tracy said.

'Then Dan's car, from what I saw in the videos, came over my back wheel and over top of me. Just a horrendous accident.'

Even as a former series champion and one of the sport's top names, Wheldon did not have the financial backing to secure a full-time ride for himself this season.

He kept himself busy by working as a commentator for some races and testing prototype cars that the IndyCar series will be using in the future.

IndyCar will have new cars in 2012, much of the changes done with a nod for safety.


It had been a passion of Wheldon's in recent months, and he once quipped that he was a 'test dummy' for the new cars by working with engineers as often as he was.

Wheldon began driving go-karts as a four-year-old, and racing stayed with him as he attended school in England as a child, winning eight British national titles along the way.

He moved to the United States in 1999, quickly trying to find sponsor money to fund his dream, and by 2002 - after stints in some lower-profile open-wheel series, such as the F2000 championship, Toyota Atlantic Series and IndyLights - he was on the IndyCar grid for the first time.

Wheldon got his first IndyCar Series ride, in 2002, for two races with Panther Racing, then replaced Michael Andretti when Andretti retired the next season and won Rookie of the Year.

His first victory came the next season, in Japan, and he finished second in the championship standings behind Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan.


The next year, he was its champion. NASCAR teams talked to him about changing series. So did Formula One organizations.

In the end, he decided IndyCar was his calling.

'The biggest thing for me is the Indianapolis 500,' Wheldon said in 2005, not long after becoming the first Englishman since Graham Hill in 1966 to prevail at the Brickyard. 'It would be really difficult to leave this series because of that race.'

As evidenced by the difficulty in finding sponsorships this season, it was also difficult for him to stay in the series.

Even though he finished among the top 10 in IndyCar points annually from 2004 through 2010, Sunday was only Wheldon's third start of 2011.

Off the track, Wheldon had varied interests, some of which had almost nothing to do with his driving.

In 2010, he released a photo book he called Lionheart, a coffee table book that he described as 'almost like a photo biography from my career in IndyCars up until this point.' He spent years editing the book, which included dozens of photos of his life away from the track, including images from his wedding.

'I wanted it to have a lot of my input,' Wheldon said last year. 'Obviously, it's a reflection of me.'

He also wanted that book to provide his fans with a glimpse of his life that they would never have known otherwise.

'There's a lot of my wedding in there,' Wheldon said.

'I wanted there to be a lot of photos of my wife. She was the most beautiful bride on her wedding day the world had ever seen.'

[prasac]

always sad to see sum1 die doing what they love. RIP.

[DJM83]

Sad day for motorsport- RIP Dan, doing what he loved is one consolation.

This shows the comradery amongst the sport.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbejNvel6rU

[blueoval]

I saw the accident on youtube not long ago and was shocked at the carnage. Such a sad day in motorsport. RIP Dan Wheldon

[davenl5l]

sad sad day

[Geez Louise]

R.I.P DAN

This is a very sad day for motorsport indeed.

Condolences to family, team mates and friends.

[sprint347dave]

RIP,Dan. died doing something he loved doing

[deesun]

RIP Dan

[unclefred94]

RIP Dan
Tragic Day indeed

[Professor Farnsworth]

that's horrific, hopefully he was unconscious before it happened.

brought tears to my eyes, first time in a long time.

[BFZF8]

Tragic news about Dan Wheldon. He didn't have a full ride this season and has been splitting his time between winning the Indy 500, commentary and most importantly, testing the 2012 Indycar.

One major feature on the new car is the fact that the rear wheels are semi-enclosed and would have made it harder for an accident like this one (where a car climbs over the wheel of another car and gets airborne) to happen.

Hopefully his legacy will be to make racing safer for his mates.

[Professor Farnsworth]

that's got to be the worst accident in motorsport that i've ever seen, the sheer speed and chaos.. All from someone getting into someone elses tyre.

[TheSneakiness]

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

that's got to be the worst accident in motorsport that i've ever seen, the sheer speed and chaos.. All from someone getting into someone elses tyre.

Agreed, they're going quicker than the NASCAR mob around there too without a roof to at least help the driver. I watched the Youtube vid with footage from Will Power's car (he got hammered in that too) and it's still ingrained in my mind.

RIP Dan Wheldon...

[fou_bleu]

RIP Dan, my thoughts and prayers go to all his family and friends. IndyCar and motorsport in general has lost a hero, but his successes will leave a lasting legacy...

[Grippy]

Horrible news, always tragic when someone is lost doing what they love.

[40RDT]

Wow heard this on the radio today at work, death should never be a part of sport... Race In Peace

http://youtu.be/X2PMUNsuZWA

[EATHSV]

Just watched it on YouTube and while horrified held it together but the last sign off by the commentary team broke me.

"many people ask me why I always sign off till we meet again" because goodbye is always so final..... Goodbye Dan Wheldon...

RIP

[XESP351]

Very sad. Easily the most horrifying crash in Motorsport I have ever seen.

RIP Dan.

[bmorris]

Very sad. Thoughts are with his family and friends :(