LAS VEGAS (AP) – Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after his car became ensnarled in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and landed in a catch fence just outside turn 2. The 33-year-old racer was a two-time Indy 500 winner, including this year's race.
Dan Wheldon, 33, won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 and was aiming to win Sunday's IndyCar finale in Las Vegas before a horrific crash claimed his life.
Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup during Lap 13.
Weldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; about two hours later, his colleagues were told of his death.
"IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race."
In his honor, drivers took part in a five-lap salute around the oval.
IndyCar has not had a fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006, during a crash in a morning warmup. IndyCar driver deaths
Oct. 16, 2011: Dan Wheldon, 33, died in a fiery 15-car wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his car flew over another on Lap 13 and smashed into the wall just outside turn 2.
March 26, 2006: Paul Dana, 30, died during the warmup for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After Ed Carpenter’s car hit a wall and slid to a stop, Dana slammed into it at nearly 200 mph, his car nearly splitting in half. The chassis flew off the ground and turned over before landing on its wheels.
Oct. 22, 2003: Tony Renna, 26, died after a crash during testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He lost control at nearly 220 mph, went airborne and crashed into a fence.
May 17, 1996: Scott Brayton, 37, died during practice for the Indy 500. Drayton, who had earlier won the pole, had his right rear tire go flat and his car went careening in a wall at more than 230 mph.
Sunday's wreck left Townsend Bell upside down while smoldering cars and debris littered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway of the 1.5-mile oval.
The accident appeared to start when Wade Cunningham's car swerved on the track and JR Hildebrand drove over the left rear of Cunningham's car. Hildebrand appeared to go airborne, and Cunningham's car shot up into the wall, setting off a chain reaction among the cars behind him.
Some of those cars slowed, others didn't, and others spun in front of Wheldon and Power. There was so much chaos on the track it was hard to tell who was driving what car.
Power appeared to fly over Alex Lloyd's car, rolling into the catchfence and landing on its right side. His in-car camera showed one of the front tires coming toward him in the cockpit.
Wheldon then appeared to drive over Paul Tracy's car. Tracy seemed to be slowing but Weldon did not. He went airborne and spun into the fence.
The track was red-flagged following the accidents while crews worked on fences and removed smashed cars.
Points-leader Dario Franchitti avoided the crash, and seemed stunned as he waited out the clean-up on pit road. Franchitti clinched his third straight title and fourth overall after Power went out.
Wheldon started in the back of the pack but quickly worked his way through the 34-car field before the wreck.
Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time ride this season. He landed in Sunday's race thanks to Bernard's promotion that promised $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. Although there were no takers, Bernard refused to scrap the idea and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize.
It was Wheldon's 134th career start, but only the third of the season for the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
"It was like a movie scene which they try to make as gnarly as possible," said Danica Patrick, making her final IndyCar start. "It was debris everywhere across the whole track, you could smell the smoke, you could see the billowing smoke on the back straight from the car. There was a chunk of fire that we were driving around. You could see cars scattered."
Drivers had been concerned about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 225 mph during practice.
Their concerns became reality when contact on Turn 2 sent cars flying through the air, crashing into each other and into the outside wall and catch fence.
"I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," Ryan Briscoe said. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy."
Also injured in the crash were Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. Both will remain in the hospital overnight. IndyCar said Mann was being treated for a burn to her right pinkie finger and will be released Monday morning, and Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation.
The accident spoiled what Bernard had hoped would be a showcase event for the struggling IndyCar Series.
The second-year CEO worked the entire season on turning the finale into a spectacle, and said he'd offer his resignation to the IndyCar board of directors if ABC's broadcast didn't pull a .8 ranking. His goal was to improve upon last year's season finale's horrible television rating and give the series some momentum for what's hoped to be a strong season in 2013 with the introduction of a new car and new manufacturers.
So Bernard poured everything into Las Vegas, renting the speedway from owner Bruton Smith and agreeing to promote the event himself. He landed enough sponsorship to at least break even on the race, and the $5 million challenge bought him an enormous amount of publicity the entire year.
Bernard got the Las Vegas Strip to close to stage a parade of cars, hosted industry parties and a blackjack tournament all to boost interest in the race. He even got MGM Grand Resorts to offer a pair of tickets to anyone staying this weekend in one of the chain's 14 properties.
But what was hoped to be a day of celebration quickly turned somber.
Oh good, my slow clap processor made it into this thing.
“It still amazes me how many millions goes to discovering another star in the galaxies when, for all we know, we are still sitting on top of another undiscovered world beneath our feet.”
shifting gears, do you think that there will be speed limiting rules taking effect on these cars (much like was done with NASCAR on the superspeedways)?
i suppose if you gotta go, go doing what you love, but was this wreck necessary? was this death avoidable?
Posted by Samurai shifting gears, do you think that there will be speed limiting rules taking effect on these cars (much like was done with NASCAR on the superspeedways)?
i suppose if you gotta go, go doing what you love, but was this wreck necessary? was this death avoidable?
There is a speed limit on IndyCar...its 241 I believe.
Posted by Samurai shifting gears, do you think that there will be speed limiting rules taking effect on these cars (much like was done with NASCAR on the superspeedways)?
i suppose if you gotta go, go doing what you love, but was this wreck necessary? was this death avoidable?
Speed limiting, yes, most likely. NASCAR also made aerodynamic modifications (if you're talking about the recent hard crashes at Talladega and not going 212 MPH, as was done at Daytona in the late 1980s), but I don't know if Indycar will pursue that.
Of course the wreck wasn't necessary, but I think it was most definitely avoidable.
Posted by Agent Skelly
There is a speed limit on IndyCar...its 241 I believe.
I predict that this speed limit will drop like a brick.
[last edit 10/17/2011 7:52 PM by Harvestman - edited 1 times] Oh good, my slow clap processor made it into this thing.
Posted by Samurai shifting gears, do you think that there will be speed limiting rules taking effect on these cars (much like was done with NASCAR on the superspeedways)?
i suppose if you gotta go, go doing what you love, but was this wreck necessary? was this death avoidable?
Dude its racing. Wrecks are never necessary, but they are a part of racing! Everything is avoidable. Its done by sitting at home on the couch and missing out on life.
An armed society, is a polite society. So lets get to it!
Dude its racing. Wrecks are never necessary, but they are a part of racing! Everything is avoidable. Its done by sitting at home on the couch and missing out on life.
i understand that, but isn't there such a thing as an acceptable risk? i'm not trying to pick a fight, and I definitely understand and agree with what you're saying... it's just, i don't know, it seemed like an avoidable death.
i understand that, but isn't there such a thing as an acceptable risk? i'm not trying to pick a fight, and I definitely understand and agree with what you're saying... it's just, i don't know, it seemed like an avoidable death.
I'm sure more details will come out once they complete the investigation leading to changes.
After Dale Earnhardt died in 2001, NASCAR came out and said "all drivers must now wear a HANS" Why? a HANS actually would of prevented the skull fracture leading to his death.
the issue here is why they use a track that isnt designed to handle the cars they were using on it. Those cars arent capable of bumping each other like a nascar is and due to that track the cars stay relatively close in proximity to each other thus causing a high speed crash. When they use the road courses the packs get spread out more due to the winding curves. That both prevents these sorts of accident and makes a race far more enjoyable. stop racing on shitty nascar tracks.
HANS has been mandatory in rally for a few years now. Very good idea, just wish it cost a lot less to get one.
Well since most rally drivers in North America are semi-pro so to speak, cost is an issue for sure. HOWEVER, I think the professional racing leagues can afford them with their giant sponsors.
It's just frustrating that a 115 horsepower VW Golf production class rally car has to be built to FIA specifications... basically the same as a 500 horsepower open class WRC car. It's really not cost effective or necessary.
Posted by bandi It's just frustrating that a 115 horsepower VW Golf production class rally car has to be built to FIA specifications... basically the same as a 500 horsepower open class WRC car. It's really not cost effective or necessary.
I remember hearing RallyAmerica once proposed their own set of safety specs for North American races but of course drivers like Block complained they would have to different cars for each continent (even though he actually DOES)
Posted by bandi It's just frustrating that a 115 horsepower VW Golf production class rally car has to be built to FIA specifications... basically the same as a 500 horsepower open class WRC car. It's really not cost effective or necessary.
i noticed that when I was looking at the rules for the Climb To The Clouds in New Hampshire. It seems like overkill when you're only rocking a shade over 110hp.
Ethics
