INDYCARNATION

LAS VEGAS -- The sound of bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace" cut through the silence and accompanied 19 drivers on their five-lap tribute to one of their own. Lining pit lane, IZOD IndyCar Series and track officials and crew members of every team stood at attention -- many weeping and consoling each other.

What was to be a celebration of the inaugural IZOD INDYCAR World Championships Presented by Honda turned somber Oct. 16 when INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard announced that Dan Wheldon was pronounced dead at University Medical Center from injuries suffered in a fiery 15-car crash on Lap 11 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wheldon, of Emberton, England, was 33. He is survived by his wife, Susie, two young sons, his parents, Clive and Sue, and three siblings.

The 200-lap race to decide the series championship and rookie of the year was ruled incomplete by INDYCAR officials and championship points would include races through the Kentucky Indy 300 on Oct. 2. That gives the title to Dario Franchitti for the third consecutive year and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title to James Hinchcliffe.

The INDYCAR Championship Celebration, scheduled for Oct. 17 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, was canceled. INDYCAR will pay tribute to Wheldon with a public memorial service in the near future in Indianapolis. Further details on the service and how the public can make memorial contributions will be forthcoming.

After drivers were informed of Wheldon's passing, they voted to take the laps -- probably the most difficult of their careers -- to honor the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 IZOD IndyCar Series champion. 

"I know this is a dangerous sport. I know we're exposed to that every day in the normal life as well, but you don't think about it," fellow series champion Tony Kanaan said. "Today we had to think about it. He was one of my best friends and one of my greatest teammates." 

Two cars touched tires, instigating the incident in the pack running inches apart on the high-banked 1.5-mile oval. Wheldon's car, ensnared in the jumble on the bottom of the racetrack, flew over another and caught part of the catch fence just past the apex of Turn 2. The incident left cars smoldering and car parts strewn along the backstretch.

Ironically, three weeks earlier, Wheldon completed the validation program for the 2012 Dallara Automobili chassis that features enhanced safety features.

Click it: READ ABOUT SAFETY DETAILS || READ ABOUT CHASSIS VALIDATION

"I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff," said Franchitti, who avoided the mishap toward the tail end of the 34-car starting field. "I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it's about. One small mistake from somebody ...."

It cost the life of one of Franchitti's longtime friends and former teammates at then-Andretti Green Racing.

"Right now I'm numb and speechless," he said minutes after climbing from the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. "One minute you're joking around in driver intros and the next he's gone. He was 6 years old when I first met him. I told his son Thursday night at the parade on The Strip that I’ve known his dad since he was about your size.

"And then I talked to a friend of mine, Jesse Spence, that I used to race go-karts with that we’ve known him since he was this little kid. His mouth worked plenty good, but he was just this little kid and the next thing you know he was my teammate in IndyCars.

"We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships, it’s what we love to do, it’s what we live for, and then on days like today it doesn’t really matter. Everybody in the IndyCar Series was Dan's friend."

Also involved were the cars driven by Will Power, Paul Tracy, Buddy Rice, Alex Lloyd, E.J. Viso, Charlie Kimball, Tomas Scheckter, Jay Howard, Wade Cunningham, Pippa Mann, JR Hildebrand, James Jakes and Vitor Meira.

Power, Mann and Hildebrand were transported to University Medical Center via ground. Power was evaluated and released, while the other two were held overnight for further evaluation. Late morning Oct.17, Mann and Hildebrand were released. READ STORY

"I've never seen anything like it," said Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe, who was well ahead of the crash. "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from 'Terminator' or something. So it was scary."

Wheldon won his first Indianapolis 500 on the way to earning the IZOD IndyCar Series championship with Andretti Green Racing. He posted 16 victories in 134 IZOD IndyCar Series races. A resident of St. Petersburg, Fla., he made his first start in September 2002 at Chicagoland Speedway with Panther Racing and posted his first victory in 2004 at Twin Ring Motegi.

“Dan was an Indy 500 champion and IndyCar Series champion with Andretti Autosport -- and one of our closest competitors,” Andretti Autosport said in a statement. “Dan brought such enthusiasm and passion to the sport not often seen in motorsports. We will remember Dan’s tremendous racing accomplishments with our team as well his infectious personality.

“We would like to express our deepest sympathy to Dan’s family, racing team and friends today. Dan is one of IndyCar’s greatest champions.”

Wheldon also competed for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and won the Indianapolis 500 in May for Bryan Herta Autosport. The No. 77 car Wheldon was driving was the same that Alex Taglianni drove to the pole for the 500 Mile Race.

“He just had an infectious way about him,” said Ganassi, who won his ninth championship as a car owner. “He knew he could smell the front, and when he goes sniffing the front, that was it. He won his first (IndyCar) race out for us (at Homestead-Miami Speedway). And it was like geez, and you understood what the guy had.”

Wheldon was the designated driver of the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports-Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian in the Go Daddy INDYCAR Challenge in which if he could win the race from the rear of the 34-car field he would split $5 million with the sweepstakes winner.

The IZOD IndyCar had not had a fatality since Paul Dana died of injuries suffered in a crash in the race morning warmup at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006. Wheldon won the race later that day.

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