IndyCar: Remembering Dan Wheldon, 8 years later

By Asher Fair | Oct 16, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 30: Dan Wheldon of England, driver of the #98 William Rast-Curb/Big Machine Dallara Honda gestures to photographers during the 95th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Trophy Presentation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /

Eight years ago today, the world lost IndyCar champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon as a result of a terrible crash.

Eight years ago today was supposed to be a day of celebration for one of two IndyCar championship contenders. Dario Franchitti and Will Power were set to battle for the 2011 title in the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Dan Wheldon was supposed to engage in a separate battle, the GoDaddy Challenge, one that if he won, he would win $5 million along with it. He started the race in 34th (last) place at the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) high-banked oval in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he and one lucky fan would split this prize money if he drove to the front of the field to a victory.

With 10 of the race’s 200 laps in the books, Wheldon had already made up 10 positions in what was a massive pack race. Just over four seconds separated the leader from the 34th place car.

More from IndyCar

But “34th place car” is something that you can’t even say at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track 67% larger than Las Vegas Motor Speedway and with less than half of the banking.

And that’s when it all went wrong.

In the matter of a few seconds, 15 of the 34 cars were involved in a massive pileup. Unable to avoid the aftermath of the initial contact of the wreck, Wheldon’s #77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Honda was launched into the catch fence between turns one and two.

After he was extricated from his car by the track safety team and airlifted to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada for his injuries, Wheldon was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was 33 years old.

A five-lap, three-wide formation salute was conducted with 19 cars, although notably with one involved in the wreck, the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of James Jakes. Jakes’s car did not sustain too much damage in the wreck.

Why is this notable? Because that would have made 20 cars. The #98 Bryan Herta Autosport Honda of Alex Tagliani, who drove the #77 Honda in all but two races throughout the season, was running in sixth place when the wreck happen, and he completely avoided it. But in honor of Wheldon, the #98 Honda was not a part of this salute.

Wheldon had won the Indianapolis 500 just four and a half months earlier in unforgettable fashion behind the wheel of the #98 Honda.

But let’s not focus on his passing and instead take a look at his racing career.

Wheldon’s American open-wheel racing career began in the 2000 season when he drove for PPI Motorsports in the Toyota Atlantic Championship. He moved up to Indy Lights driving for PacWest Lights after a season in which he won two races and finished in second place in the championship standings. He did the same in Indy Lights.

Wheldon made his IndyCar debut in the 2002 season driving for Panther Racing. After driving in two races in 2002, he landed a full-time ride with Andretti Green Racing beginning with the third race of the following year.

In his three seasons driving for Andretti Green Racing, he won nine races, including the 2005 Indy 500 (Yes, Wheldon “Actually `Won’ Indy 500”) and the 2005 championship. He spent the following three years driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, winning six more races but ultimately losing the 2006 title on a tiebreaker to Sam Hornish Jr.

He returned to Panther Racing for the 2009 and 2010 seasons but did not win any races, although he did manage to record two runner-up finishes in the Indy 500. He entered the 2011 season without a full-time ride, but he joined Bryan Herta Autosport for what was only their second ever race in not only the Indy 500 but in IndyCar as a whole.

Poised to finished in second place for the third consecutive year, this time behind rookie J.R. Hildebrand, who, ironically was driving the #4 Panther Racing Honda in which Wheldon recorded back-to-back second place finishes in the race, this happened.

NOTE: Skip to 3:03:00.

With just one lap led, Wheldon became a two-time Indy 500 champion. No other driver had ever won the race after leading only the final lap. The #4 Honda of Hildebrand, meanwhile, found itself in a patented second place, although not quite like Wheldon had driven it there in 2009 and 2010.

The only other race in which Wheldon drove throughout the 2011 season prior to his passing was the race at Kentucky Speedway. He drove the #77 Honda in this race as preparation for the season finale and the GoDaddy Challenge, and he ironically started in last (29th) place after not being able to qualify. He finished in 14th, just 2.0668 seconds behind race winner Ed Carpenter.

In three other races throughout the season, he served as a color commentator for the cable television channel Versus, which is now NBC Sports Network.

On the morning of his passing, Wheldon signed a deal to drive for Andretti Autosport beginning in the 2012 season as the replacement for the NASCAR-bound Danica Patrick, the driver who stole the show with her fourth place finish in Wheldon’s maiden Indy 500 victory back in 2005.

James Hinchcliffe ended up landing this ride, and he still competes in the sport to this day — driving for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (now Arrow McLaren Racing SP), no less. His pole position for the 2016 Indy 500 was the first pole position for Sam Schmidt’s team in this race since Tagliani put the #77 Honda on the pole for the race five years earlier.

The 2012 season marked the debut of the Dallara IR12 chassis, although given Wheldon’s passing and coupled with the fact that he had spent countless hours testing this chassis during his “off” 2011 season, it was renamed the Dallara DW12 chassis in his honor.

In addition to his IndyCar career, Wheldon also competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona four times. He won the race in 2006 driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing along with IndyCar driver Scott Dixon and NASCAR driver Casey Mears.

dark. Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time

As they mourn the eight-year anniversary of his passing, Dan Wheldon’s friends, family and IndyCar fans remain in our thoughts and prayers.