IndyCar Releases Initial Findings Of Dan Wheldon Crash Investigation

IndyCar has released the initial findings of its investigation into the October crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that killed Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

Speaking at a Thursday morning news conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar officials said no one factor was to blame in the crash but the accident was the cause of a “perfect storm” of variables.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway won’t be the site of an Izod IndyCar Series race in 2012, the series announced Thursday night.

Susie Wheldon, the widow of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, has released her first statement following the death of her husband on Sunday.

Here are her comments:

The two other drivers hurt in the crash at Las Vegas Motorspeedway that killed Dan Wheldon were released from the hospital on Monday, according to an IndyCar Series press release. Drivers Pippa Mann and JR Hildenbrand were both held overnight at University Medical Center.

Mann suffered the more serious injury of the two. She required surgery to clean and assess a serious burn on her right pinky finger. The recovery will likely take 2-3 weeks and she is expected to make a full recovery.

For some of us, seeing a fatal crash like the one that claimed Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon’s life on Sunday would be enough to question the wisdom of getting back into a race car again.

But just a day after Wheldon was killed, NASCAR drivers showed up without hesitation for an electronic fuel injection test this morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Just 17 hours after Dan Wheldon’s fatal IndyCar Series wreck in Las Vegas, a dozen NASCAR drivers climbed back into their race cars for a test at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

That group included Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose father – seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt – was killed in a 2001 wreck on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Open wheel racing on a lot of oval tracks with banking is a seriously dangerous proposition, but to many, there seemed to be something especially dangerous about the final race of the IndyCar Series season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. On Lap 11 of the Las Vegas Indy 300, a fiery crash took out 15 cars, sent multiple drivers to the hospital, and took the life of former Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series Champion Dan Wheldon. One of Wheldon’s fellow drivers, Oriol Servia, used some blunt language when describing what he thought of the track.

Wheldon had an opportunity to win $5 million if he won the race from the back, while Will Power was chasing down Dario Franchitti for a championship and Danica Patrick was competing in her final IndyCar Series race. The race was always going to be contentious and aggressive. That, combined with a big field and a track with high banking produced a terrible crash that took a man’s life, and IndyCar is going to have to seriously reconsider which tracks they should conduct races at in the future.

Some two hours after a 15-car crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the final IndyCar race of the year, CEO Randy Bernard announced his passing at a brief press conference. It was the worst-case scenario in racing, and a nightmare for all those involved, the thousands in attendance and the many watching at home. The images of the crash were jarring, made worse by the outcome of the wreck and Wheldon’s passing.

A short time after Wheldon’s death was announced, the remaining drivers chose to take to the track for five more laps in his honor. The race was already called -- a joint decision by the governing body and drivers -- but amid an eerie silence Wheldon’s friends and fellow drivers paid tribute.

As the minutes dragged by with no word of Dan Wheldon’s condition, the faint hope he had somehow survived Sunday’s terrifying IndyCar Series wreck at Las Vegas seemed less and less realistic.

ABC’s television cameras showed a shot of Danica Patrick crying. The drivers quietly shuffled into a meeting room at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then emerged with solemn faces and tears in their eyes. Tony Kanaan sat on the pit wall and broke down.

It took just 11 laps for tragedy to strike at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. Just 11 laps into the final race of the season, a mass of metal and fire enveloped the track as cars were sent scattering in all directions. In total, 15 cars were caught up in the wreck, and Dan Wheldon lost his life due to “unsurvivable injuries.”

Like many drivers, Danica Patrick was worried about the speeds and close-quarters driving at Las Vegas ahead of the race. With a huge field, one car bigger than that of the Indianapolis 500, ripping around at over 220 miles per hour, there was little room for error. One mistake could, and did, cause the big one.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was tragically killed in a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, and reaction is pouring in from around the racing world.

Here are some of the comments we’ve collected so far:

In a moving, emotional display, the IndyCar Series drivers conducted a five-lap salute around Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday after learning of Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon’s death.

Wheldon, who passed away shortly after a fiery wreck that saw him go airborne and hit the catchfench, was remembered with five parade laps as the cars drove three-wide.

Dan Wheldon, the bright-eyed and oft-smiling Indianapolis 500 winner and former IndyCar Series champion, died Sunday after injuries suffered in a fiery crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wheldon was 33.

Update: Dan Wheldon died Sunday due to injuries sustained in the crash.

Dan Wheldon’s condition is still unknown after he was involved in a fiery 15-car wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300 on Sunday afternoon. He was transported to a local hospital by helicopter. Three other drivers were also hospitalized with less severe injuries: Pippa Mann and J.J. Hildebrand with dizziness, and Will Power with back pain.

Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon has been airlifted to a local hospital after being involved in one of the worst motor racing crashes in memory today in the IndyCar Series finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Wheldon was among 15 cars collected in a wreck of unspeakable magnitude shortly into the race. His condition is currently unknown.