Indy 500 Winner, Former RSM Driver, Killed in Las Vegas Race

English racecar driver Dan Wheldon, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, was killed Sunday in a 15-car crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He was 33.

Wheldon was participating in the IZOD Indycar Series race as part of the $5 milliion Go Daddy Challenge promotion. As the reigning Indy 500 champion, he started from last place in the 34-car field; if he won the race, he would split the bounty with a fan who entered the sweepstakes, Ann Babenko of High Bridge, NJ.

Wheldon, making the 134th start of his career in a marquee series, was interviewed from the cockpit as the cars were warming up to take the green flag. "I think they will be a little bit faster" than 222 mph, he said. "This is going to be a spectacle. This is a great way to go out for the Indycar Series in 2011. We know we got the new cars and manufacturers in 2012 so we're excited ..."

Wheldon had moved up 10 places at the time of the crash, on Lap 12 of 200 around the 1.5 mile oval outside of Las Vegas. It was the first time since 2000 that Indy cars had raced at the track.

Before he began driving in the marquee Indycar Series, Wheldon raced in a feeder series out of Rancho Santa Margarita in 2000. He competed in the Toyota Atlantic Series while driving for owner Cal Wells III, whose Precision Preparation Inc., team operated from a shop on Empresa Drive.

Randy Bernard, Indycar chief executive officer, made the official announcement of Wheldon's death but didn't answer questions.

"Indycar is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries," Bernard said "Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. Indycar, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five-lap salute in honor of Dan."

Wheldon hit the back of a car driven by Paul Tracy that had slowed because of a crash further up the track. Wheldon's No. 77 Bowers and Wilkins-sponsored Dallara launched into the air from the inside lane and—apparently cockpit first—hit the catchfence above the wall. The catchfence is a mesh of cables designed to keep the cars inside the track.

Unlike stock cars driven in NASCAR, Indycar drivers are exposed to outside forces. Although drivers are protected by a rollbar should a car go upside down on the track, they are exposed to debris and other elements, such as fences, that can enter the cockpit. One of the major dangers is if the car flies through the air and rotates on an angle, which is what occurred.

The circumstances are similar to what took place in the last race of 1999 in the Championship Auto Racing Teams series. Greg Moore was killed by head trauma at California Speedway in Fontana when his car hit the outside wall and then darted across the track and rolled as the tires caught the infield grass; as it rolled, the cockpit hit an interior wall. That race continued and Moore's death was announced to fans during the latter stages of the race, but celebrations were canceled.

"There is not a racing series in the world as fast and as potentially dangerous as Indycar racing at these speeds on these big-banked ovals," said television analyst and former driver Eddie Cheever. "That's a fact.

Although Wheldon did not have a regular ride for this season, his victory in the Indy 500 driving for team owner Bryan Herta of Valencia allowed them to be charged with testing the new car chassis—the so-called "safety cell"—that will be used in 2012. That car is designed to be much safer and would have enclosed the wheels somewhat in order to reduce the chance of wheels touching each other and causing cars to go airborn. Three cars went airborn during the crash Sunday, including Wheldon's.

Wheldon's car Sunday was prepared by Bryan Herta Autosport in collaboration with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

Because this was the last race with the existing Dallara chassis, there were an unusually large number of cars in the race, 34, which is one more than races on the 2 1/2-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Indy 500. A number of drivers, including Wheldon, were essentially competing in a "one-off" event—a one-time race with the hope of reaching the checkered flag first.

"I saw two cars touch each other up in front of me and tried to slow down and couldn't slow down and then Dan's car, from what I saw in the video, came over my back wheel and over the top of me and just a horrendous accident," said Tracy, after exiting the infield care center before learning of Wheldon's death. "Lot of prayers right now for Dan because it's going to be a long recovery."

"Without a doubt," said 49-year-old parttime driver Davey Hamilton, "it's the worst thing I've ever seen."

Other drivers, Will Power, Pippa Mann and J.R. Hildebrand were taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

The race had been widely publicized and was to be a celebration of Indycar's uptick in popularity. For the first time, the Las Vegas Strip was closed down earlier this week while Indycars circled about six blocks under the nighttime neon.

The season-ending race, which was ended after the accident, was also going to crown the champion, Dario Franchitti or Will Power. Franchitti, who had the series lead, was credited with the championship, his third in a row and fourth in five years; Power was one of the 15 cars involved in the crash.

It was also the final Indycar race for Danica Patrick, the popular female driver who will compete next season in the NASCAR feeder series.

In April at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, at the time he announced his involvement with Bryan Herta Autosport and a one-off Indy 500 effort, . He visited Rancho Santa Margarita daily although he lived in Newport Beach at the time, and was named the series' rookie of the year, which he repeated the following year in the CART Indy Lights Series.

In 2003, Wheldon raced his first full season in the Indy Racing League's Indycar series and was again the rookie of the year. In 2004, he won the driver's championship and the Indianapolis 500 for the team owned by Michael Andretti. He passed Patrick for the lead with six laps remaining.

Wheldon finished second in the championship in 2005 for Chip Ganassi Racing, and while driving for Panther Racing in 2009 and 2010 finished second in the Indianapolis 500. He was replaced on the team by Hildebrand.

Wheldon won this year's Indianapolis 500 when Hildebrand crashed in the last turn of the last lap.

Coincidentally, Hildebrand was involved in the front end of the crash that set off the chain of events that led to Wheldon's crash further back in the field.

"Our hearts are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Dan Wheldon," said Jim Michaelian, president of the Grand Prix of Long Beach Assn. "He was a great representative of our sport and personified what the IZOD IndyCar Series is all about. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Susie, his children and family. He will be sorely missed.”