Dan Wheldon
1978-2011

Today, Indycar lost a great driver. Dan Wheldon, age 33, passed away in a horrific 15 car crash today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Out of the 34 cars starting on this 1 1/2 mile oval, Dan Wheldon was starting 34th. Randy Bernard, the CEO of Indycar Racing League, offered a $5 million bonus to him that he was going to split with one lucky fan. By lap 12 he was up to 24th when everything went downhill. The number 17 of Wade Cunningham had contact with another car which ended up causing a chain reaction. Dan Wheldon went flying over Paul Tracy and into the catch fence. He was then airlifted to University Medical Center. He later passed away from unsurvivable injuries.

The 19 cars not involved in the crash then took a 5 lap tribute to the late Dan Wheldon in his honor.

He will be remembered as a great driver, a wonderful husband, and an even better father. Our thoughts go out to the whole Wheldon family on this extremely sad day.