RIP Dan Wheldon

Gather App
Too young and left a wife and two kids behind, some of the drivers were saying it was the worst wreck that they have ever seen, RIP Dan.
 
Dan was one of the good guys.......if you don't know the story of his Indy 500 Victory this year it's quite a twist of fate. God keep the Wheldon family secure for the days to come. We lost a Champion today.......:(
 
What I find upsetting is some of the comments posted on some sites about him getting killed. For instance "One more idiot dead", "People only go to the races to watch the big firey crashes", "Got what he deserved for racing", etc.
 
I read an arcticle that said he was concerned about the safety of yesterdays race, number of cars, speeds of 225 mph-How could he have won the Indy 500 then been unemployed? I feel for his wife, a baby and a 2 year old-alot of tough days ahead for her.
 
GMN":32kwj72k said:
I read an arcticle that said he was concerned about the safety of yesterdays race, number of cars, speeds of 225 mph-How could he have won the Indy 500 then been unemployed? I feel for his wife, a baby and a 2 year old-alot of tough days ahead for her.
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GMN I never got all the details eitehr on the "part time" or "unemployed" part. I do remember after winning Indy he was saying something about trying to get a full time ride. Probably had something to do with contracts etc so he just drove when someone needed him and/or had a sponsor for the car.
 
TexasBred":20y4z2zi said:
GMN":20y4z2zi said:
I read an arcticle that said he was concerned about the safety of yesterdays race, number of cars, speeds of 225 mph-How could he have won the Indy 500 then been unemployed? I feel for his wife, a baby and a 2 year old-alot of tough days ahead for her.
Click to expand...
GMN I never got all the details eitehr on the "part time" or "unemployed" part. I do remember after winning Indy he was saying something about trying to get a full time ride. Probably had something to do with contracts etc so he just drove when someone needed him and/or had a sponsor for the car.
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That's what I gathered, also -- he didn't have a good sponsor based. And he was in Las Vegas for one reason -- he had a chance to win a $5 million bonus, if he won. The bonus was some sort of special thing, that only a few drivers would have been eligible to compete for -- he was the only one who signed up for it. This was part of an ABC News write-up:

"Wheldon was there competing to earn a $5 million bonus that was part of a league promotion for drivers who didn't compete full-time in the series this year. The only driver to accept the challenge, Wheldon would have split the money with Ann Bavenco, a randomly chosen fan. Just hours before the fateful crash, Wheldon had tweeted: "Big day today, $5,000,000.00 at stake!!! Heading to the track." "

Bad/sad deal!
 
Indy Cars are too fast on high banks like Las Vegas. They don't race Daytona or Talledega either, because of the banks. The racing before the crash was very much like the "pack racing" NASCAR used to have at those tracks. That just doesn't turn out well in open wheeled cars.
Dan was racing for a share of $5 million, 2.5 for him. He had advanced several places from his last place start, so he was moving.
Darned shame. He was quite a driver and the racers saying what a great guy he was seem sincere.
That he had no sponsor was unfortunate for the sport. A lot of Indy drivers pick up deals on a race by race basis. So do NASCAR guys, even at the Sprint Cup level. A full year in any autosport above the local dirt track is measured in multiple millions.
The championship, the bonus $5 million for a driver without a full season deal. The whole weekend in Las Vegas was filled with "events". It was designed to get some attention for a branch of autosports (IndyCars) suffering a little more than NASCAR from the reduced business spending on promotional stuff like race cars.
I think that's four championships for Dario Franchitti, btw. When he wins the cameras always go to his wife, Ashley Judd. Nice. Go Dario.
 

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