Sports

Indy 500 Winner Killed in Crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:28pm by Christopher Santarelli
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(The Blaze/AP) — Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died Sunday 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.

Wheldon was 33. Drivers were told of Wheldon’s death in a meeting about two hours after the fiery, smoky crash that many drivers said was the worst they had ever seen.

He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, including this year. ABC has video of the tragic crash as it happened:

“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 honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute to in his honor.”

Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup.

The wreck left Townsend Bell upside down and smoldering cars and debris littered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway of the 1.5-mile oval.

The track was red-flagged following the accidents while crews worked on fences and removed smashed cars.

Wheldon started in the back of the pack but quickly worked his way through the 34-car field before the wreck.

“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.”

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Comments (82)

Robert-CA
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:57pm
Was watching it live , sad day for Motorsports .
R I P Dan .
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- Restored One
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 8:28pm
  RIP! Reminds me of the great #3 Dale Earnhardt. So sad. Bless you and your family.
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- motonutt
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 8:55pm
  As an ex motocrosser and offroad racer I understand the racer mentality. You face death every time you line up on the starting line, and that’s half the exhilaration that comes along with it……. facing death and living to do it again. It’s an addiction.
  
  Dan faced that today…..and paid the price….it’s a sad day. Gods speed Dan.
  Report Post »
- @leftfighter
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:18pm
  I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Dan for a few hours at the St. Pete Grand Prix 3 years ago. He was an outstanding, class guy. One of those “celebs” that you could tell was genuine.
  
  He lived in St. Pete, and The Tampa area is already mourning him.
  Report Post »
- biohazard23
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 4:42am
  @leftfighter, I met him at that same race. It was my first Indy event and I remember that being the highlight! He was a class act and he will be missed greatly. Condolences to his wife and family.
  Report Post »
- Cat
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:01am
  Never a moment when racing does the thought of disaster manifest.
  The job at the time is to be the best.
  Anything less is unacceptable.
  Rest in peace Dan …
  Report Post »
- motonutt
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 11:08am
  It’s the open cockpit that is the weak point of these cars. If you watch the video you will see he hit the wall head first prior to hitting the catch fence. My belief is that he was most likely gone before he even hit the catch fence. For you NASCAR fan‘s and saw Jimmie Johnson’s wreck satuday night, it was almost the same impact only Wheldon hit it with the top of his head. I’m guessing it was instant death.
  Sure the new cars will be much safer but with the head exposed there is just not a lot you can do about that. If you were to take that aspect away they would not be Indy cars anymore.
  I was watching the race yesterday when it happend, I’m a huge fan of Indy car and NASCAR, and was worried this type of thing was going to happen. This is why I like NASCAR a little better, the chance of a driver being injured is much much less now day’s. In Indy car or any open cockpit racing there is always a chance you may see a death as we did yesterday, and being an ex racer I don’t like that. Danica is making a very smart move going to NASCAR for many reasons, and saftey is one.
  Report Post »
- ChiefGeorge
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 5:24pm
  You were a great racer sir! God Bless his family.
  Report Post »
wewantchillywilly
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:45pm
horrible. he was one of the most popular drivers in the last 20 years, and a symbol of the IRL.
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Harvickfan29
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:43pm
FireWolf You are an idiot the cars can always be safer there is always room for improvement and the death of a driver proves that. Calling me kiddo I am a 35 years old and have been involved in the sport of auto racing all my life. So unless you have sat behind the wheel of a racecar and walked from a multiple car crash you need to shut up cause you have no idea what your talking about.
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- Patrick Henry
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 8:54pm
  “35” and still just a kid! Example of age follows: “FireWolf You are an idiot”
  Report Post »
- Gashouse Gorilla
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:22pm
  Hey Harvick fan, I understand and appreciate your concern for the safety of racing drivers. However, speaking as a fromer automotive engineer, race car designer and racing driver, we simply cannot “engineer” out the danger of this sport. No matter what we do, we cannot plan for every incident. Actually, trying to completey remove the danger would destroy the sport. It wouldn’t be racing any more. Then everybody could it and the mistique and uniqueness would be gone forever. We as drivers know the risks we take. That’s part of the appeal of the sport. I’ve been at race tracks where people were killed. It sucks. I’ve been in races where buddies of mine were taken to the hospital. It sucks. It takes a certain type of individual to still maintain focus and competitiveness as you’re driving around the track behind a pace car and seeing all the debris scattered across the track after a wreck. Wheldon was one of those guys. Personally, I think too much safety cheapens the sport and waters it down. No, I don’t want to die the next time I strap in a race car, but there‘s always the risk and I’m ok with that. One of my fellow race buddies put it this way. When asked why he races cars instead of playing a safe sport like golf, he said ” I’d rather die living.” I feel the same way, and I’m pretty sure Dan Wheldon did, too. God Bless.
  Report Post »
- rox
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 10:47pm
  A restrictor plate would help keep the speeds down somewhat. 200mph would be fast enough they were doing 225mph.
  Report Post »
- The-Monk
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 11:20pm
  @Gashouse Gorilla
  Here comes Cass Sunstein and his “rubber baby buggy bumpers”.
  @Harvickfan29
  35? Wish I was there again. Also, the guy that called you kiddo might be from or grew up with someone from Chicaro. “Kiddo” is a generic term for “buddy” in the land that socialist and BHO calls home. A lot of gas there… that‘s why it’s called the “windy city”.
  Report Post »
- US-First
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 12:20am
  Ya… and while there at it lets make guns safe. I hate that folks might die when shot with a gun, don’t you? Seems like they could do something about that! And War…. sure would be nice to make that safer. I mean if we can call for spending time and money to make choosing to strap on an engine safer for guys making 6 and 7 figure salaries, wouldn’t you think we could have worked out all the safety bugs of combat for those guys in uniform making a low 5 figures? Lets get some prospective fellas.
  Report Post »
- dr_funk
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 6:20am
  Rox, a restrictor plate would also help blow up a lot more engines…
  Report Post »
arizona
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:42pm
“When you see a shooting star,
remember those race drivers taken from us
and are now racing across the Heavens”
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Patriot Rider
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:34pm
God speed Mr. Weldon. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all those in the Indy car family. It’s accidents like this that make me think that something needs to be done to slow down Indy cars on these high speed ovals. Truly a sad day for all motorsports.
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kjbuck
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:23pm
RIP Dan
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Professional Infidel
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:23pm
live by the sword, die by the sword.
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- uzi4u2
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:02am
  Idiot.
  Report Post »
- motonutt
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 11:29am
  @UZI4……I think this is a correct statement. These drivers know full well the risk and they take it knowingly. I doesn’t mean they are stupid or wrong.
  Two years ago at Indy during qualifying Danica was in tears over the fear she had to have to go out with a lose race car (makes it faster, but much more unsafe) to get into the field. And even with that fear she did it,,,,that’s why I love her as a driver. That little 5′2″ 100 lb. woman has more balls that most guy’s.
  Report Post »
qpwillie
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:20pm
I’m not a racing fan and have never heard of the guy until just now but I pray for those who loved him.
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- kickagrandma
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 8:04pm
  Nice. Amen.
  Report Post »
The-Monk
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:18pm
My condolences to his family and friends. IndyCar is the one sport I enjoy watching. I’ve noticed over the last few years that a lot of very young drivers are driving in this sport and have caused a majority of the crashes because of lack of experience. IndyCar has the 2nd fastest cars that race on tracks and 225 to 230 MPH is no joking matter. I think that IndyCar might want to look at the ages of drivers and only let the more experienced race. I’m not blaming anyone because I don’t know what happened. I’ve just been worried about this for a while now.
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- ItBites
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:29am
  What is faster than Indycar racing?
  Report Post »
- motonutt
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 1:00pm
  Mabey airplanes…….that’s about all I can think of. And depending on what class, these cars are faster than the airplanes. These cars are basically an upside down airplane.
  Report Post »
- HellPhish89
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 1:59pm
  Funny Car/Top Fuel, F1, Champ Car (was)
  Report Post »
TRILO
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:18pm
Sorry to hear he did not survive. Racing cars is a dangerous sport. At least he was doing what he loved. May he rest in peace.
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mwallick
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:10pm
Thanks for the memories Dan. RIP
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for-what-its-worth
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:06pm
Racing is such a dangerous sport to begin with, but it’s what these men and women choose to do for a living.

It’s just so sad that sometimes their dreams end in tragedy.

RIP Dan Wheldon.
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Thevoice
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:06pm
Looked about like a normal day driving the 15 the 215 or the 515 in Vegas….
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- Professional Infidel
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:21pm
  anywhere west of Riverside, Ca.
  Report Post »
chfields62
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:04pm
We wish Dan Wheldons family our deepest condolences……
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Harvickfan29
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:03pm
I hate loosing my racing heroes like this. Indy needs a safer car. NASCAR vowed after Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona in 2001 that they would never loose another racecar driver in a crash, and with their new safe cars and soft walls there have been some bad crashes and the drivers have walked away (Michael McDowell at Texas, Jimmie Johnson last night). Indy car needs to take a long loos at their cars and ways of making them safer in this off season.
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- FireWolf
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:19pm
  Are you kidding me? They drive in a circle @ 200mph, 8 cars crash, most of them walked away from it, and you decry “it needs to be safer”….
  
  Go back to living in your bubble. Life is dangerous kiddo
  Report Post »
- hallkbrdz
  Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:09pm
  Look I love the history of Indy and Indy-style cars, but ovals are just inherently unsafe – as any wreck on a corner first runs into the wall then comes back across the track in front of everyone else. There is nothing you can do to change physics.
  
  Compare this to road courses (not the concrete canyon temporary circuits) where wrecks just go into the gravel traps or walls, but don’t come back onto the track. Yes contract can still be bad, there is no secondary crash.
  Report Post »
- srbmore
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 12:57pm
  And you know why Jimmy Johnson walked away? HANS device
  And do you know who developed the HANS device? IndyCar
  OH, and do you know who developed the Safer Barrier? The University of Nebraska-Lincoln for, you guessed it, IndyCar.
  Report Post »
- motonutt
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 1:53pm
  @ARBMORE……. You are right….but there is more to it. Jimmie Johnson was also sitting in a car that is built like a tank. Sprint cup cars and open cockpit cars are the opposite ends of the spectrum.
  I don’t think you will ever be able to build the saftey into an Indy car and keep it an Indy car, Should Indy cars go away…..No….the new car is a huge step in the right direction, but is still night and day compaired to the saftey built into a cup car. Indy car is a car that is going to continue to see drivers get killed. I hope it would never happen again, but I fear it will. Now with cup and the COT combined with the haans, and safer barier it will be a surprise to see another death, not saying it won’t happen. I just pray doesn’t……
  Report Post »
steveh931
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:59pm
Dan Wheldon gave his life doing what he loved, prayers to his family and friends.
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hialtitude
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:57pm
Indy Car race officials better do the soul-searching that NASCAR did after Earnhardt Sr‘s death and make sure this doesn’t happen again. But the important thing today is Dan’s wife, little boys, family and friends. My heart goes out to all of them. RIP to a great driver and a good guy. So sad.
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CatB
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:57pm
Rest in Peace … condolences to the family.
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Berbel73
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:53pm
Las Vegas motor speedway needs to be scraped, or the cars need to be fitted with restrictor plates. The speeds that those cars are able to go are just too fast, 225 MPH is rediculous. When you have all of those cars bunched up and something goes wrong its just not humanly possible for the drivers to react in enough time to avoid a horrific crash like this. Rest in peace Dan Wheldon, I pray for your family.
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- Rightwingincollege
  Posted on October 17, 2011 at 2:22am
  RIP Dan, you will be missed
  
  @BERBEL73, I watched this live with my roommate and my girlfriend, and after hearing about is death during the broadcast; what your suggesting is what my biggest fear is. Overreacting to this situation would be the worst thing for IndyCar, and racing in general. First, the series is barely surviving. Drastic changes cost money, the majority of the owners already can barely make a profit, they would simply be unable to keep competitive. Second, death is very rare in motor sports now, I can only think of a few times where people were killed in accidents, but I can think of hundreds of accidents people should have died in, yet at worst they leave with a few broken bones, if not uninjured and just sore.
  
  While it is very heartbreaking that he lost his life, he was not a beginner. He was one of the most experienced drivers in the series, if not the US. He knew every time he strapped himself into his cockpit he was teasing fate. Having some experience racing cars, its something you have to come to terms to. Racing, no matter a what, will always be dangerous. He accepted this, and being as good and successful as he was, I doubt he would want to risk ruining the sport he loved in the chase of obscene levels of safety, I know I wouldn’t. IndyCar should have listened and limited the speeds, but thats as far as their accountable for. This one event shouldn’t shape the next era of racing, hopefully Wheldon’s passion for racing will.
  Report Post »
Mrs. Bowers
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:48pm
Too young to leave this world. Our prayers and condolences go out to the family.
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BlackAce41
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:45pm
RIP Dan you did what you loved and it is sad you payed the price, for something that was not your fault…
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bulldog62
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:45pm
Pray for the family and friends. This a a real tragedy. I watched him win the Indy 500. He seemed like a great guy.
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MomaGrisley2
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:40pm
Listen to driver concern next time…some things are not worth a life. Not a Dan Wheldon fan but my prayers to his family. I sincerely hope race officials look at this and LEARN. RIP Dan.
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COFemale
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:39pm
God rest his soul. My heart goes out to the family and friends. Racing has just lost one of a kind racer.
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Micmac
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 6:35pm
They knew before the race that the track was suspect.

NoBama 2012
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