There was a horrific crash today at the Las Vegas Indy car race that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon. He lives in St. Pete, FL and is often on local radio shows. Seemed like a really good guy. It was one of the worst crashes I’ve ever seen in any race. I don’t know the status of any of the other racers involved in the crash. Sad day…
Sad for sure. Definitely had tears in my eyes watching the the 5-lap tribute.
This was a horrific crash and Dan has a wife and 2 small children, Terrible to see an accident like this. RIP Dan, A true champion and 2 time Indy 500 winner.
I agree the outcome was something you only would see in movies. I just happened to flip to the channel when they were still pulling the drivers out of the cars. Tragic event, my heart goes out to the family
It sounds like no one else was seriously hurt. I do not know how that was possible. Power has been released from the hospital and Pipa and Hidlebrand are being kept overnight for observation.
When Wheldon did the TV broadcasts, he seemed like a genuinely good guy.
Sad day in motor sports.
From his in car camera video it looks like a tire landed squarely on his head (camera cut off just before that).
Sad day for wheldon and family
The race organizers have to take some responsibility for this, there was grumbling amongst the racers about Vegas being too narrow and too fast for indycars, turns out they were right.
I wish race organizers around the world in all sports would learns from these mistakes: Listen to the athletes when it comes to safety and think of the money as secondary!
Sad sad day, great talent whose who will be missed, seeing the many tweets from different sports shows what a great person he was.
I missed the race and not sure if I want to see any replay. My dad has been following car racing since the mid 50s when I talked to him this evening he said it was the worst accident he had ever seen.
That was an absolutely horrific accident, and I was shocked and saddened to hear of Dan’s death. He always seemed like a genuinely good guy, and it immediately brought back memories of Greg Moore in 1999.
It was total lunacy for Indycar to put 34 cars on a course like that. I’m sure they thought having cars lapping in constant traffic at 225mph would make for an exciting show, but carnage was all but assured. For Dan Wheldon to lose his life to that clusterfuck is a true tragedy. My heart and thoughts are with his family.
Haim
That was an absolutely horrific accident, and I was shocked and saddened to hear of Dan’s death. He always seemed like a genuinely good guy, and it immediately brought back memories of Greg Moore in 1999.
It was total lunacy for Indycar to put 34 cars on a course like that. I’m sure they thought having cars lapping in constant traffic at 225mph would make for an exciting show, but carnage was all but assured. For Dan Wheldon to lose his life to that clusterfuck is a true tragedy. My heart and thoughts are with his family.
Haim
Greg Moore’s death was a textbook case of organizers NOT THINKING THINGS THROUGH! They brought in a tool called the “Hanford Device” designed to act like a parachute and slow the CART cars down on a high speed oval. They did not think of the consequences: Turbulance which would take away the downforce that racers need to stay on track.
RIP Dan Wheldon
I hope your passing will lead to some positive changes
I read where he was a runner too. Regardless, everything I’ve seen about him indicates he was a good guy. Like what was said before, the race organizers should have listened to the drivers. Racers are racers and do not make it a habit of worrying about speed. In the rare moment they express a concern, it is always warranted. Open wheel cars are not designed for fast pack racing, like the tin tops in NASCAR. Even then, they fitted them with restrictor plates (which made it worse). Even as terrible as it was for a single driver to die, it could have been worse. The way that crash was launching cars in the air, one of those cars could have ended up in the stands. RIP Dan.