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A 15-car wreck took the life of two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. Wheldon was 33.
Published Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 | 2:14 p.m.
Updated Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 | 7:22 p.m.
Ticket refunds
Fans who purchased tickets that were scanned at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s entry gates may mail their scanned tickets to the speedway ticket office for a full refund. Tickets are to be mailed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s ticket office at 7000 Las Vegas Blvd. N., Las Vegas, NV 89115. For questions call 800-644-4444. Tickets must be received in the ticket office by Dec. 1.Indy champ Dan Wheldon dies in Vegas crash
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KSNV coverage of crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that claimed the life of Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, Oct. 16, 2011.
Around the Sun
Mike Smith: Tragic day at Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died Sunday after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and landed in a catch fence just outside turn 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 33-year-old racer was a two-time Indy winner, including this year's race.
Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup during Lap 11.
Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; about two hours later, his colleagues were told of his death by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, who said Wheldon's injuries were "unsurvivable."
"One minute you're joking around at driver intros. The next, Dan's gone," said Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer."
With the race canceled, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the 1.5-mile oval in honor of one of the sport's biggest stars.
The race was only minutes old when Wheldon, who started at the back of the 34-car field and was in position for a $5 million payday if he had won, couldn't steer clear of a wreck that started when two cars touched tires.
Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt.
Video replays showed Wheldon's car turning over as it went airborne and sailed into what's called the catch fence, which sits over a barrier that's designed to give a bit when cars make contact. Rescue workers were at Wheldon's car quickly, some furiously waving for more help to get to the scene.
"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 JR 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; Hildebrand was awake and alert but will be held overnight for further evaluation. Power was evaluated and released. An autopsy was planned Monday for Wheldon.
IndyCar has not had a fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006, during a crash in a morning warmup.
The accident appeared to start when Wade Cunningham's car swerved on the track and 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 catch fence 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 a car driven by Paul Tracy, who seemed to be slowing down. Wheldon, however, went airborne and spun into the fence.
The track was red-flagged following the accidents while crews worked on fences and removed smashed cars.
IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon of England is shown during driver introductions before the IZOD IndyCar World Championship race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, Oct. 16. Wheldon died after a 15-car crash during the race.
"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."
Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005.
Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time ride this season. He landed in this race thanks to Bernard's promise of $5 million to any moonlighting driver who could win the IndyCar season finale at Vegas. Although there were no takers, Bernard didn't scrap the idea, and Wheldon was declared eligible for the prize.
Wheldon had been providing blog posts for USA Today in the days leading up to the Las Vegas race, and in one posted Saturday to the newspaper's website he spoke of how he expected Sunday to be "pure entertainment."
"This is going to be an amazing show," Wheldon wrote. "The two championship contenders, Dario Franchitti and Will Power, are starting right next to each other in the middle of the grid. Honestly, if I can be fast enough early in the race to be able to get up there and latch onto those two, it will be pure entertainment. It's going to be a pack race, and you never know how that's going to turn out."
Drivers had been concerned about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 225 mph during practice.
"We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat. And if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers, and we try to go to the front. We race each other hard because that's what we do," driver Oriol Servia said. "We knew if could happen, but it's just really sad."
Cunningham echoed those remarks.
"Things happen in this kind of racing," he said. "It's so close. Not much room for error. I was near the front of what caused all this, so I'm not thrilled about it. At this point, whose fault it was is kind of immaterial."
Asked about speed after the crash, Wheldon's former boss Chip Ganassi said, "There'll be plenty of time in the offseason to talk about that. Now is not the time to talk about that."
And Franchitti said: "I agree. We'll discuss that and sort it out."
Medical and safety crews respond after a multi-car wreck during the IZOD IndyCar World Championship race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, October 16, 2011. IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon was killed in the crash.
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.
When drivers returned to the track for the tribute laps, Wheldon's No. 77 was the only one on the towering scoreboard. Franchitti sobbed uncontrollably as he got back into his car for the memorial ride. The sound of "Danny Boy" echoed around the track, followed by "Amazing Grace." Hundreds of crew workers from each team stood at attention in honor of Wheldon.
"What can you say? We're going to miss him," Ganassi said. "Everybody in IndyCar died a little today."
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AP Writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Charlotte and AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.
I remember hearing some drivers complain that the course was un safe for the speed, Guess big money wins out
R.I.P. DAN WHELDON :(
Comment removed by moderator. Inappropriate
C'mon people lighten up with the baloney comments.
Dan were going to miss you.
I cannot even begin to say how I feel. I feel for his family and the Indy racing family. Sad day for sports. Prayers all around.
R.I.P Dan Wheldon.
Could not have been a worse day for the series.Not only did they lose one of their biggest stars and this years Indy 500 winner in Dan Wheldon,they lost Danica to Nascar and they had to crown a series champ by default.
Concerned that the series may not return to LVMS in light of the speeds and the potential for another catatrophic wreck like todays.
Sad deal all around.
very sad....
R.I.P. Dan Wheldon
And people think football is so dangerous?
RIP Wheldon, what a shame.
Such a beautiful Sunday afternoon with such a tragic turn of events. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, crew team, and friends. RIP Dan Wheldon
I'm a little surprised my post questioning the wisdom of staging an INDY race on a NASCAR track was removed. Even those in the industry questioned the wisdom of it. If it wasn't motivated by money, what was it? I'm pretty confident that the promoters wouldn't have staged it if there was no money to be made.
@Cognastics Isn't every industry about money? Your self serving comment was sad! Over 20 people have been killed racing or testing at the Indy track, should they stage the Indy 500 anymore? One driver made a critical error which turned tragic. I'm glad to see most people are more concerned about the Wheldon family then who made money off this race.
BTW Cognastics they are refunding ticket cost!
Racing and football need to be banned. Too dangerous!
Words are beyond incomprehensible to what took place today - My condolences to Dan Wheldon and his family, along with the pain and despair the entire circuit is dealing with, all the mental and physical injuries that were involved.
The accidents that happened today were certainly the worst series of crashes I ever seen in all of motorsports, as these Indy Cars are no joke when it comes to power and open wheel design and are almost the same ratio by lbs weight and horsepower.
What a tragic way to end a season finale racing event - unreal.
The NHRA event which is second to the last race of their season will be taking place in two weeks.
I shall pray for this young man and his family.
Can anyone tell me if this was a restrictor plate race or not? Thanks
As a Race Fan for most of my life, I am deeply saddend by this tragic death. My heartfelt condolences go out to the family, and to the racing fraternity as a whole. This will be felt throughout the industry.
Casinokid, as far as I know a restrictor plate is only used in NASCAR. Indy does not use caburators, they use direct injection.
Thank you ernieb1202
Based on the quite negative International and National reporting on the tragedy, comments by drivers, pullout of a famous drivers son from Indycar and the fact that the track seems not safe enough for this type of race..( high speeds and track width) The Las Vegas Motor Speedway should close the track, redesign it..ie dramatically increase the width of the track to increase safety (track is more narrow than the ancient Indianapolis speedway) and build some memorial to the memory of the slain driver otherwise this incident will linger for years to come........RIP Dan Weldon