Tragedy At Las Vegas Indycar Series Finale.

A run for $5 million via a promotion, which was to augment the celebration of the inaugural IZOD INDYCAR World Championships Presented by Honda, turned somber when INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard announced that Dan Wheldon was pronounced dead at University Hospital from injuries suffered in a fiery 15-car crash on Lap 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Dan Wheldon Dead At Age 33

It was a day that was supposed to determine the crowning of a new champion for the Indycar Series. Instead, a day of tragedy and sadness grips the motor racing world with the loss of another champion. This race was Wheldon's second and only other race this year. The previous race he was in was the 2011 running of the Indianapolis 500 to which he won. It's accidents like this that made me realize these guys are still human and that we can be taken from this life within an instant. Yet they consistantly put there lives on the live to entertain us and to make a living.

RIP Dan.

reply to post by gimmefootball400


Hopefully IZOD learns from this and makes an enclosed cockpit mandatory.

I do not know much about this but here are some things to look at:
1. "Accident of someone to be in the spotlight"
2. Burned / Fire
3. Dies at age 33

All masonic related things .....

We are mourning here in Indy and all over the world. I'd met Mr. Wheldon and he was a class act & wonderful human being.

He died doing what he loved but it's a tragic loss for his family and two young sons.

Flowers, candles, and memorabilia are lining the gates of the Indy 500. He won here this year which will make the tickets very strange for next years Indy500 as they always put a picture of the previous years winner on the tickets.

RIP.

reply to post by gimmefootball400


Its sad that deaths occur in sport. Personally being English I can't understand racing in an oval for hundreds of laps just going round and round, but I still respect the drivers because its obviously more involving than it first appears. Its sad that these deaths occur but with high speed racing its almost impossible to make it totally safe. Still Its a very large pile up and must be a horrifying thing to see, I hope people there didn't cheer when this happened or anything, that would be sick.

This is really sad news.

Since Wheldon was English It's pretty big news over here as I imagine it will be in the Unites States right now also. Our major sports news channel (Sky Sports News) have being showing some of his past wins today in a tribute, as well as showing the scenes from the track itself, particularly the aftermath and the emotional affect it had on the other drivers.

I saw a presenter break down in tears on live tv also which was pretty upsetting to see really. This is certainly a very sad day for Motorsport.

RIP Dan Wheldon.

Originally posted by Whisper67
He won here this year which will make the tickets very strange for next years Indy500 as they always put a picture of the previous years winner on the tickets.

I hope they still will for next years race as a tribute to a great person.

My girlfriend and I are fans of both Indy Car and F-1 and were really looking forward to the race and as soon as it started we both commented on the number of cars in the field and the speeds. Having followed the sport since the early 80's i've never had a more uneasy feeling watching a race.

The thing that kept going through my head after hearing the tragic news was listening to Dan during the pace laps talking (via in car radio) about how excited he was and thanking just about everyone he could think of for this opportunity.

I was glad they canceled the race because i'm sure none of the drivers would have wanted to continue after that.

Next year they are going to a completely new chassis with a lot better safety features. Dan was actually one of the main testers for next years car and he was very excited about all the new safety features.

RIP

What is really depressing about this is that he left behind a wife and two kids. He was also slated to be Danica Patrick's replacement at Andretti-Green Racing once she left to go to Nascar full time.