British Racing Driver Killed In 15-Car Smash

[Sue]

..British racing driver Dan Wheldon has been killed in a horrific crash during an IndyCar event in Las Vegas.

Wheldon, winner of the Indianapolis 500 in May, died after his car was sent airborne, hit the safety fence and burst into flames during the Las Vegas 300 event.

Smouldering cars and debris littered the track nearly halfway up the straight of the 1.5-mile oval.

Earlier drivers had expressed concerns about the high speeds at the track, where they were hitting nearly 225mph during practice.

"I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it," driver Ryan Briscoe said.

"The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something.


"There were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere.

"It was scary and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy."

Wheldon, 33, was taken to hospital by helicopter but later IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard said: "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries."

Three other drivers, including championship contender Will Power, were hurt in the pile-up.


The remainder of the race was cancelled. Drivers solemnly returned to the track for a five-lap tribute to the British driver.

Wheldon, who was born near Olney in Buckinghamshire, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005.

He began racing karts as a four-year-old and won eight British national titles.

In 1999 he moved to the US and by 2002, after stints in some lower-profile series, he made the IndyCar grid for the first time.


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[mycatownsme]

We were watching that race and saw it happen. We have it on our recorder also and had to play it back right after the wreck to actually see what had happened. What a mess it was. And so very sad. He just had a child a few months ago too. Just before the race started we were talking about how many cars were starting this race. They had 34 cars to start. And I believe that track is only a mile long. There were cars flying all over the place. And his car ended up along the fencing and it just continued to roll over and over again. We have directv and can hear when they talk to some of the drivers and in his interview just before the race started he made a comment that was a bit eerie. It was as if he had a feeling something like this was going to happen. I'm going to see if I can watch it again later to find that interview before the race and get what he said word for word. He will be missed.
Lin aka StevesMom   

[AustinBennett]

Horrible accident. RIP Dan.

[JAYREMI]

rip DAN WHELDON #77