Dan Wheldon Killed In Horror Crash

[Iceman]

YCHvMQWJ33A

Absolutely horrific

[Patrick]

Please tell me the other racers are not LOLing at them and racing on? :shocked:

[Iceman]

Oh it's not looking good for Dan Wheldon :sad:

LAS VEGAS (AP) – IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon has been seriously injured after his car went sailing through the air during in a massive 15-car wreck early in Sunday's Las Vegas Indy 300.


By Jennifer Stewart, US Presswire
Dan Wheldon (77) goes airborn as JR Hildebrand (4) , Vitor Meira (14) , Charlie Kimball (83) , Tomas Scheckter (57) , Pippa Mann (30) crash during Sunday's Izod IndyCar finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Enlarge
By Jennifer Stewart, US Presswire
Dan Wheldon (77) goes airborn as JR Hildebrand (4) , Vitor Meira (14) , Charlie Kimball (83) , Tomas Scheckter (57) , Pippa Mann (30) crash during Sunday's Izod IndyCar finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Ads by Google
Invest in Brazil Forestry
Investments From 5-8 Years
Returns 8-12% p.a. Find Out More
www.greenwood-management.com
Investing in Stock Share?
Get Advice from Standard Life's
Financial Advisers & Pick a Scheme!
www.standardlife.ie/investments
Trade Gold with Saxo
Trade gold, silver and crude oil
on our award-winning platform!
uk.SaxoBank.com
Wheldon, the Indianapolis 500 winner who was in line to win $5 million had he won the race, was injured when his car flew over another on the Lap 12 wreck and apparently caught part of the catch fence just outside of Turn 2.
Wheldon was transported to a nearby hospital in a helicopter after the crash. Paul Tracy, who was involved in the wreck, said a team of doctors was working on Wheldon, but there was no word of his injuries. A helicopter lifted off from the speedway, and an IndyCar official confirmed Wheldon was onboard.
STORY: Wheldon looking for ultimate comeback in Vegas
"Just a horrendous accident," said Tracy. "Lot of prayers right now for Dan, because it's going to be a long recovery. They're scrambling in there right now. There's 20 doctors in there.
Pippa Mann and J.R. Hildebrand also were transported to a hospital after complaining of dizziness.
Wheldon had to start in the back of the field as part of the promotion and had quickly worked his way through the 34-car field before the big wreck.
"I've never seen such a mess in my entire career on the race track," said Danica Patrick, in her final IndyCar race before heading to NASCAR. Really concerned about Dan right now."
There were 34 cars entered in the season finale — one more entry than the Indianapolis 500 had a far more crowded track than usual. There were 29 entries two weeks ago at Kentucky, and only 26 at Japan a month ago.
Drivers had been concerned about the high speeds on LVMS' 1.5-mile oval after they reached 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."
The wreck left Townsend Bell's car upside down, smoldering cars strewn all over the track and debris scattered down the straightaway opposite the grandstand.
"All I could see was cars flying. Without a doubt the worst thing I've ever seen in my racing career. It's sad, man, sad," said Davey Hamilton, who briefly choked up. "It's been 10 years, more than 10 years, since my accident at Texas. We're all a bunch of friends here, this is my family, and I was fortunate enough to come back. As I tried to tell everybody when I got hurt, when you put on a helmet and a firesuit, it's probably pretty dangerous. We accept that as racing drivers."
Wheldon was replaced by Hildebrand at Panther Racing at the start of this season, and failed to land another ride. He put together a deal for the Indianapolis 500 with Bryan Herta Autosport, then won the race in dramatic fashion when Hildebrand wrecked going into the final turn. Wheldon sailed past for his second Indy 500 victory.
Despite the win, he was unable to put together anything for the rest of the season and spent the last several months doing television work and helping Herta Autosport test the prototype car the team will use next season.
Then he laid claim to IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard's offer to pay $5 million if any non-regular series driver entered and won the season finale at Las Vegas. Although Wheldon, winner of 14 career races on ovals, didn't meet the spirit of the promotion, Bernard let him participate in the challenge.
Wheldon would have split the $5 million with a randomly-selected fan.
Wheldon bumped Alex Tagliani from his ride with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and raced two weeks ago at Kentucky as a warm-up for Las Vegas.
The accident also collected championship contender Power, who sat for a long time in his car in disbelief. Points-leader Dario Franchitti avoided it, 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.
"I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff. I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it's about," Franchitti said. "You saw what happened, one small mistake from somebody …."

[Iceman]

F1grid Formula 1 Updates
by IainLewisArmy
BREAKING: Sources say drivers were just told that Dan Wheldon has died from injuries sustained in Indy Car accident #indycar
3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[King Gizzard]

Christ :( RIP

[Roy Mars III]

Very sad. My sympathizes to his family and friends.

RIP

[King Gizzard]

Just been on his twitter and his sister's..so surreal

[Iceman]

EwanMarshall Ewan Marshall
5 lap salute to Wheldon. One of the most emotional moments in Motor Racing for some time. #indycar
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

So so so sad :bawling:

[Iceman]

F1Times The F1 Times
by TalkingaboutF1
Dan Wheldon [33yrs] leaves behind a wife (Susie Behm) and his two sons (Sebastian [2yrs] and Oliver [6 months]) #RIP
3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


Horrible :(

[Iceman]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/425700709.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1318804357&Signature=ZBI65qteIvqKGH2alPqpkG5K8W8%3D

[BBfanUSA]

Big indycar racing fan here
and he won the biggest race of them all over here.
the indy 500 for the second time.

[Iceman]

Just been on his twitter and his sister's..so surreal

Its unreal, racing had seemed to get over this period of people being killed. Such sad news for the sport and his family, poor kids.

[BBfanUSA]

I was talking to my parents about the race and Dan before it started when we got home from eating out turned my tv onto the race and saw replays of the wreck can't believe it

[Iceman]

Big indycar racing fan here
and he won the biggest race of them all over here.
the indy 500 for the second time.

its just tragic

[Scarlett.]

Jesus Christ Almighty

R.I.P.

[Scarlett.]

Jesus Christ Almighty

R.I.P.

[Kerry]

:(

[Iceman]

Still cant believe it, he was a pure talent, great to watch. The motorsport world is in mourning :(:(

[BBfanUSA]

he's a brit too i believe
last race of the season
the champion
Scotland's own Dario Franchitti wins it but he didn't want it in this way
(Because the 2nd place driver in points was also involved in that crash, so Dario clinched it and yes he's sad that Dan Wheldon died as well he hates winning because of crashes.)

[Iceman]

Yeah he's British.

I agree a title shouldnt be won that way. if they had any sense or showed any emotion they'd crown Dan champion out of respect

[BBfanUSA]

saw the crash for the first time

you could hear the gasps of the crowd as it happens when flames come out of multiple cars

this season he didn't race the whole time just indy 500, last race and this race

he was eligible for a 5 mil bonus if he won the race.

I'd imagine that they will probably give it to his family and they're going to donate it to charities and pay off his funeral

[King Gizzard]

What so Dan was leading up until this race?

[BBfanUSA]

What so Dan was leading up until this race?

no. Dario was by 18 points. Will power who was 2nd was involved in the crash and had a chance to win the championship

[Iceman]

saw the crash for the first time

you could hear the gasps of the crowd as it happens when flames come out of multiple cars

this season he didn't race the whole time just indy 500, last race and this race

he was eligible for a 5 mil bonus if he won the race.

I'd imagine that they will probably give it to his family and they're going to donate it to charities and pay off his funeral

Oh I see thanks for clearing that up. Hope they name the race after him, would be a fitting tribute.

[King Gizzard]

Ah right

[Iceman]

Just goes to show that racing will never be safe :(

[James]

This is awful news. It's upset me. RIP Dan Wheldon.

[Iceman]

This is awful news. It's upset me. RIP Dan Wheldon.

Same here :( Theres been a mass pouring of grief on twitter, some of the things really got to me :bawling:

[Shaun]

I'll never understand how sports like this can continue to exist after the numerous casualties they've caused.

Oh yeah I will; money.

[BBfanUSA]

Hey heard that sky sport cut it b4 the 5 pace car lap tribute. is that true?

[Ramsay]

So sad
RIP

[Iceman]

Hey heard that sky sport cut it b4 the 5 pace car lap tribute. is that true?

I dont know to be honest I had it on a stream and when the crash happened it lagged then it was taken down so i checked twitter and found out :(

[King Gizzard]

Hey heard that sky sport cut it b4 the 5 pace car lap tribute. is that true?

Apparently so

[Jords]

Woah :o :(

[Iceman]

there was way too many cars racing as well to be fair

[Scarlett.]

there was way too many cars racing as well to be fair

Totally this, cars like F1 cars are notoriously hard to control, its why you never see more than two cars going at it on a corner, to have 15 bloody cars on one corner is asking for trouble to be honest, as when there is an accident, you can't send out a car to slow the rest down, they can't alert the drivers, they can only watch as cars smash into flames, totally irresponsable IMO

[Novo]

It wasn't a coming together of two cars that started it though was it? wasn't it a fault or something because it looked like everything was going smooth and then some car started smoking

[King Gizzard]

A fault with one car that led to a massive pileup cause there's too many cars at the same place at once going 3934834943mph

[Scarlett.]

It wasn't a coming together of two cars that started it though was it? wasn't it a fault or something because it looked like everything was going smooth and then some car started smokingYep, but still in an official F1 race that would have meant the marshalls would have sent out a warning and had the car off the track by the time the next car was in sight, it may sound like a buzzkill but it prevents people dying, a car had a fault and it caused a death and probably many more injuries, when that happens, it's time to start looking at safety

[BBfanUSA]

There's a type of cars over here that are stock cars they use a plate on motors that reduce speed and they use 43 cars the average speed for most tracks is 160 on the straightaways maybe they should do that

[Kerry]

I won't lie. It's not something I follow - Indiecar. But I saw the clip and I've just seen it on Sky News and it absolutely broke my heart :(

[Iceman]

They are talking about a canopy style roof to go on the cars. F1 wont adopt it because Bernie wouldnt let let it happen, I think its fine for this though, something needs to be done because it was just brutal :bawling:

[BBfanUSA]

They are going to a new chassis next year anyway. So why not add a dome? Someone on twitter said that since he was the only guy testing the chassis out that instead of Dallara call the new chassis the Wheldon chassis

[Iceman]

They are going to a new chassis next year anyway. So why not add a dome? Someone on twitter said that since he was the only guy testing the chassis out that instead of Dallara call the new chassis the Wheldon chassis

that would be very fitting, they have to do something nice to remember him. :(

[Scarlett.]

Daily Mail's take on it all
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049949/Dan-Wheldon-crash-video-IndyCar-champion-dead-15-car-pile-Las-Vegas.html

[Iceman]

Hate the way the media have jumped all over this. It's time to be thinking about Dan not what caused the horrible tragedy that happened yesterday.

[Scarlett.]

They do have a good pic of him with Jenson though
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/17/article-2049949-0E69A08C00000578-342_964x609.jpg

Poor guy, I feel sorry for his wife and children most :(

Found tributes from the other drivers too

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick: 'There are no words for today. Myself and so many others are devastated. I pray for Suzi and the kids that God will give them strength.'

IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe: 'It's a black day for the sport. We came in here hoping for a good season finale and ended up losing a close friend and a very good racing driver.'

Dario Franchitti, former teammate: 'Everybody in IndyCar considered Dan a friend. You saw what the reaction was. Dan was one of those special, special people.'

Chip Ganassi, owner of Wheldon's former team: 'We're all going to miss him. A little bit of everybody in IndyCar racing died today.'

Oriol Servia, IndyCar driver: 'Dan was always a very happy guy; he was always smiling. He was a funny, great person that touched a lot of people. He will be missed.'

Racer Tommy Kendall: ‘Struggling for words. A very bright light was extinguished today. As alive as a person can be one minute and gone the next.'

Jamie Little, ESPN motorsport reporter: 'Great memories. Great friend. Amazing talent. Thank you for your constant smile and endearing spirit. We lost a great one today.'

Sam Schmidt, owner of Wheldon's No. 77 Indy-car: 'Dan was a tremendous competitor, a great racer and an even better person. It was an honour to have him be a part of our team.'
Kansas Speedway president Patrick Warren: 'Dan exemplified the definition of a champion, both on and off the track.'

[Iceman]

still cant believe it. :( He was well and truely loved.

[Iceman]

hollywheldon Holly Wheldon
Cant sleep this day doesn't feel real.. Finding comfort in all your lovely tweets..Thank you for ur love and support. This doesn't feel real


From his sister :(

[BBfanUSA]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RycU_YwdKrU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

the 5 lap tribute

liked what the annoucer said at the end

[MeMyselfAndI]

RIP

They really should just cancel this sport

[Iceman]

RIP

They really should just cancel this sport

shut the **** up you idiot

[Iceman]

http://www.danwheldonmemorial.com

:sad:

[BBfanUSA]

RIP

They really should just cancel this sport

:idc: to the bolded part they won't cancel the sport just because of what happened to Wheldon. It's not what he would've wanted.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2PMUNsuZWA

No one can watch it in my last post so here's the tribute now

[Iceman]

Just watched that again and it got me again. :(

[BBfanUSA]

They released the cause of death. Blunt Force Trauma

[Iceman]

thought that would be it :(

[Iceman]

Touching to see Dallara planning to name the new #indycar after Dan Wheldon
28 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply

[BBfanUSA]

It's officially one month after Wheldon's Death