British driver Dan Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, died when his car became caught up in a 15-car pileup, sailed over another vehicle and smashed into a catch fence at IndyCar's season-ending race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was IndyCar's first fatality since Paul Dana was killed at Homestead in 2006 during a crash in a morning warmup. Wheldon won the race later that day.
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.
"Things happen in this kind of racing," said Wade Cunningham, also caught up in the wreck. "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." The green flag had barely stopped waving when disaster struck.
Wheldon, driving from the back of the field for a chance at $5 million, was moving through the pack when he drove into a tangle of cars careening off each other in every direction.
Unable to avoid the massive wreck unfolding before him, Wheldon clipped another car and went hurtling through the air, his car bursting into flames as it flew into a fence.
After just 11 laps, the race was over. Two hours later, track officials announced that Wheldon was dead. The Englishman was 33.
"One minute you're joking around at driver intros and the next, Dan's gone," said Scottish driver Dario Franchitti. "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 speed — close to 225 mph (360 kph) during practice — and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race.
Chaos started when two cars touched tires coming around turn 2 and almost no one had time to react.
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 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.
"It's unfortunate that early on in the race they've got to be racing so close. ...," Team Penske owner Roger Penske said. "You always worry about those at these mile-and-a-halves at the speed and with this many cars." Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pileup.
Wheldon was airlifted from the track to University Medical Center; news of his death came from IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard: "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race." In his honor, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the 1.5-mile oval as thousands of fans stood and cheered from the grandstand.
Also injured in the crash were JR Hildebrand and Pippa Mann. 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.
Despite winning this year's Indy 500, Wheldon couldn't put together a full-time ride this season but had a deal in the works for 2012.
Andretti Autosport, the team with which Wheldon won the 2005 Indy 500, had agreed to a contract early Sunday for Wheldon to replace Danica Patrick next season. The deal was supposed to be signed after the race.
"Back when he was with the team in '05, we referred to the team as The Beatles because it was such perfect harmony (with his teammates) — and with Dan coming back, there was talk of putting The Beatles back together," said John Lopes, chief marketing officer and VP of marketing for Andretti Autosport. "So today is devastating. We not only lost a future teammate, but a longtime teammate.
It's so sad. He's going to be sorely missed and fondly remembered." 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."
