Dan Wheldon

Two days after his death, Dallara named their new one-specification chassis in Wheldon's honour. The DW12, with the new bumper/nerf bar section being featured, was designed to prevent many similar single-seater crashes such as the one that killed him. A charity race in Wheldon's honour was held in Milton Keynes on 6 December with drivers such as Dario Franchitti, Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson competing. Proceeds from the event were donated to a charity selected by Wheldon's family. That month, Wheldon was posthumously awarded the Gregor Grant Award for his lifetime career achievements that his father Clive and Franchitti collected. Former racing driver Mark Dismore's New Castle Motorsports Park, which organises the Robo-Pong 200 endurance karting event that Wheldon won in 2005, named the trophy the Dan Wheldon Cup in 2012. The Wheldon family added a Wheldon Memorial Pro-Am to the event in 2013. On 7 March 2012, Wheldon's widow Susie and mayor Bill Foster unveiled a street sign in St. Petersburg, Florida. Named "Dan Wheldon Way", the sign was placed at the corner of Bayshore Drive and Albert Whitted Park (turn ten). A permanent memorial is also located across from the Salvador Dalí Museum.

Dario Franchitti won the 2012 Indianapolis 500 on 27 May and dedicated his victory to Wheldon and wore white sunglasses in his honour. That year Wheldon was memorialised by a resolution passed by the Indiana Senate. A memorial plaque featuring his likeness and career achievements was unveiled in St. Petersburg outside the second turn of its street track in March 2013 and a wall in which each of the winners of the race was etched. Four months later, Autosport magazine named Wheldon one of the 50 greatest drivers to have never raced in Formula One. The Wheldons were honoured with the "Dan and Susie Wheldon Make a Difference Award" in September 2014. This included a $1,000 donation to charity and became part of the annual IndyCar Series prize-giving banquet. During the 2016 Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, pit lane reporter Jamie Little and motorsport publicist Brent Brush placed a Dan Wheldon Memorial plaque outside turn two, near the point where he was killed. In May 2016, a book entitled Lionheart: Remembering Dan Wheldon covering his life and career with contributions from the motor racing community was published. Wheldon was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame on 23 May.

After the season, Wheldon left Panther Racing because of a lack of sponsorship and the No. 4 car was driven by rookie J. R. Hildebrand. He filed a $383,400 lawsuit against John Barnes in Marion County Superior Court on 18 August for late payment of his salary and of his share of earnings from his on-track achievements as well as taxation issues. The two reached a settlement on 1 October. Wheldon did not have a full-time seat for the 2011 season, and he missed the season's first four races as he sought employment with another team to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Talks with several teams, including signing a contract with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing co-owner Robbie Buhl to share a car with Mike Conway fell through. He then spoke to his friend and former AGR teammate Bryan Herta who offered to assemble a car from his own low-budget operation, Bryan Herta Autosport, for Wheldon and he agreed. He drove a 2003-specification Dallara chassis leased to Herta by the team's technical partner Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Curb-Agajanian Motorsports. He qualified in sixth place; in the race, Wheldon was in second place on the final lap when Hildebrand crashed leaving turn four. He took the lead to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 leading only the final lap.

Wheldon's contract expired at midnight on 30 May. He then became a color commentator for the cable television channel Versus (now NBCSN) for three IndyCar Series events (Iowa, Texas and Toronto) in the belief he would not race again in 2011. He impressed viewers with his expertise, quick wit and ease in interacting with other commentators. Wheldon was also employed by IndyCar, car manufacturer Dallara and designer Tony Cotman to test and develop the official prototype model of a new one-specification chassis that debuted at the beginning of the 2012 season. In early October, he took over Alex Tagliani's No. 77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports car for the Kentucky Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway as preparation for the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wheldon qualified in 28th-place after he did not set a qualifying time as his car did not pass its technical inspection; he finished 14th. On the morning of 16 October, he signed a multi-year contract to replace Danica Patrick at Andretti Autosport from 2012 on.

IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard set up a challenge for the season-ending 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 16 October. A prize of $5 million would be divided equally between the driver and a randomly selected fan if the driver won from the back of the grid. He was unable to get an international racing driver so he offered the challenge to Wheldon who accepted. He was frustrated about his car being more than 3 mph (4.8 km/h) slower than others and felt it would be difficult to remain with the pack if the issue was not resolved. Wheldon was also ABC's in-race reporter and spoke in defence of his participation in the event and IndyCar to the network's commentary team during the warm-up laps. On lap 11, a fifteen-car accident occurred between turns one and two in which Wheldon was involved. He was in 24th and travelling on the left-hand side of the track at 224 mph (360 km/h) in an attempt to avoid the pile-up and flying debris. Driver Vitor Meira then spun towards the infield and hit the cars of E. J. Viso and Charlie Kimball. They blocked Wheldon's path, and he decelerated to 10% of throttle usage before he hit the left-rear tyre of Kimball's car at 165 mph (266 km/h). He was launched semi-airborne for approximately 325 ft (99 m) and rotated towards the right-hand side catchfence.

Three days after the accident, series' organisers with assistance from the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, the United States' national governing body of motor racing, and motorsport's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, announced that the race would be subject to a full investigation. The results of the investigation into Wheldon's death were released on 15 December 2011. According to the report, there was no single cause for Wheldon's crash. Contributing factors included the catchfence around the track, and the unlimited track movement while racing that increased contact between cars, making it difficult to predict what would occur around the drivers, and increased the likelihood of a major accident. "Whilst several factors coincided to produce a perfect storm, none of them can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident. For this reason it is impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist."

The Dan Wheldon International Driver Trophy was awarded to the best performing international driver over the race weekend of the Australian V8 Supercars Gold Coast 600. The trophy was named after Wheldon following his death, which took place a week prior to the 2011 event in which he was scheduled to participate with the Holden Racing Team. The international drivers' trophy had been unnamed when it debuted in 2010. The trophy was discontinued after 2012 as a change in regulations stated that international co-drivers were no longer compulsory in the race.

Wheldon remained with Panther Racing for the 2010 season. During the season-opening São Paulo Indy 300, he made contact with Alex Tagliani, which sent him into Tony Kanaan; he recovered to finish fifth. Three races later at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Wheldon took a second top-ten result with a ninth. In the Indianapolis 500, Wheldon started from eighteenth. He advanced through the field on pit stop strategy to come second for the second year in a row. Wheldon remained competitive all year; challenging for wins on oval tracks. Despite strong showings, he could not claim a race victory during his time with Panther Racing, which frustrated John Barnes. In the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (now Sonoma Raceway), Wheldon made contact with Bertrand Baguette's car during a warm-up lap before the start of the event. He flipped upside down and pirouetted several times but emerged unhurt. His best finish of the year was a second place in the Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. He came ninth at the season-ending Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway, to rank ninth in the drivers' standings with 388 points.

He returned to Panther Racing for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, failing to win a race but taking a further four podium results during this period. Wheldon left the team at the conclusion of the season. He drove part-time for Bryan Herta Autosport and later Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the 2011 season. He won his second Indianapolis 500 in May of that year. At the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wheldon was killed in a collision with a fence post alongside the circuit on the race's eleventh lap. He was 33 years old and the first driver to die in IndyCar competition since Paul Dana in 2006.

He married his long-time personal assistant Susie Behm of Armstrong, British Columbia, in 2008. They have two children, Sebastian and Oliver. Wheldon was a guest voice over for the television series Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, and assisted in the physics development for Ignite Game Technologies' online simulation racing game Simraceway. He took part in philanthropic activities, such as raising money for Alzheimer's disease research, contributed to the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation, and met unwell children at the Peyton Manning Children’s Cancer Hospital in Indianapolis every year. Wheldon was a spokesperson for the National Guard's Youth Challenge Program, which provides services to vulnerable young Americans. He edited and published a coffee table book of photographs of his life, called Lionheart in 2010.

For the 2008 season, Wheldon stayed with CGR. He began the year with a third-place finish at the season-opening Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway after moving through the field from a 22nd-place start. Wheldon won the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway three races later and became IndyCar's first driver to claim two consecutive victories at the track. He started eighteenth in the Indianapolis 500 finishing six places higher in twelfth due to handling problems in the final 50 laps. Wheldon took his second (and final) victory of the season in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. He donated his winnings to help the victims of the recent tornadoes and flooding which had occurred in Iowa. As IndyCar had become more orientated towards road and street circuits, his performance diminished throughout the remainder of the season. He achieved one further podium finish, a second-place at Nashville Speedway, and five top-seven finishes to place fourth in the final drivers' championship standings with 492 points.

Wheldon planned to extend his CGR contract when Chip Ganassi provided him with an offer in May 2008. He decided against doing so when he learnt that AGR's Tony Kanaan had begun discussions with the team. He felt betrayed and began talks with other teams. Wheldon told CGR three months later in Detroit of his decision to leave them at the season's conclusion. On 2 September, CGR announced that Wheldon would be released from his contract at the end of the season as Dario Franchitti left NASCAR and returned to IndyCar. Wheldon returned to Panther Racing for the 2009 season following an agreement with his management and team owner John Barnes in mid-August. He struggled to perform in the first three races, but he took his first top-ten finish with a fifth at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. At the Indianapolis 500, Wheldon qualified in eighteenth and finished second. The rest of Wheldon's season was sub-par, with a best finish of fourth at Iowa Speedway and a trio of top-ten placings. He did not attain those results in seven of the year's last eight races. He was tenth in the championship standings with 354 points, his lowest finish since he placed eleventh in 2003.

Wheldon remained with CGR for the 2007 season. He began the season with a pole position at the season-opening XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. He led for 177 of 200 laps to win his third successive event at the track, a new series record. Wheldon then led for a race-high 177 laps to claim the victory in the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway, his second of the season. After qualifying sixth for the Indianapolis 500, he retired from the rain-shortened race after a collision with Marco Andretti late in the event, losing his driver's championship advantage. His third-place finish in the ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at Milwaukee Mile was overshadowed by a physical confrontation with Danica Patrick after they made contact on the 88th lap; the two reconciled after a private meeting with IndyCar president Brian Barnhart. The rest of Wheldon's season was modest, with four retirements and two further third-place finishes in the SunTrust Indy Challenge and the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. He came fourth in the final points standings with 466 accrued.

In 2006, Wheldon returned to compete in the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona for Chip Ganassi Racing with Scott Dixon and Casey Mears in the DP class. The trio won overall, completing 734 laps in the No. 02 Riley MkXI Lexus. He returned with the same team for the following year's race, again partnered by Dixon, and they were joined by Memo Rojas in the No. 2 entry. The trio retired after 538 laps because Rojas crashed on the saturated track in the race's 21st hour. They were classified 21st in class and 41st overall. Wheldon returned for a fourth time to participate in the 24 Hours of Daytona for Chip Ganassi Racing with Dixon, Alex Lloyd and Salvador Durán. Their car, starting in tenth in its category and overall, finished 44th overall (18th in its class) after it retired with 515 laps completed due to sustaining three accidents during the event.

For the 2005 season, Wheldon again drove for AGR. He started from eleventh to lead a race-high 158 of 200 laps of the Homestead–Miami Speedway season-opener to win. After that, Wheldon went on to win consecutive races at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (his first road course series win), and the Indy Japan 300 for the second year in a row. His season highlight was the Indianapolis 500 where he exchanged the lead with Danica Patrick until she slowed due to a lack of fuel. Wheldon made the race-victory overtake with seven laps to go to become the first British driver to win the event since Graham Hill in 1966. He continued to drive consistently in the top six in the next seven races. At Pikes Peak International Raceway, Wheldon took his fifth win of the season (after leading 67 laps) to equal Sam Hornish Jr.'s 2002 record of five victories during a season. Two races later, at Chicagoland Speedway, he led a race-high 88 laps to better Hornish's series record with his sixth win of the year. Wheldon won the championship before starting the season's penultimate round by running a single practice lap of Watkins Glen International. Since the last place finisher scored 12 points, his 102-point advantage clinched the championship with one race remaining. With a seventh-place finish at the season-closing California Speedway round, Wheldon won the championship with 628 points. He was awarded the 2005 Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year.

When Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) owner Chip Ganassi was informed of rumours that Wheldon might leave AGR, he engaged in informal discussions with him, which led to an agreement in principle at a meeting in August 2005. His AGR contract expired on 31 October and formal discussions began soon after. CGR announced a month later that Wheldon would drive for them. The team changed manufacturers from Panoz to Dallara and engine suppliers to Honda after Toyota withdrew. Wheldon made the switch because he wanted to ensure his stay in the IRL and remain competitive. To begin the 2006 season, Wheldon won the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. At the Indianapolis 500, he qualified in third place, and led a race-high 148 laps before falling to fourth because he had to make a pit stop to replace a puncture on the 183rd lap. Wheldon continued to drive consistently with eight top-ten finishes and two pole positions (at Kansas Speedway and Nashville Speedway). He went into the season's final round at Chicagoland Speedway as one of four drivers in contention for the championship. Wheldon won the race but lost the championship on tiebreak to Sam Hornish Jr. who had won four races to Wheldon's two.

Wheldon made his endurance racing debut at the 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, sharing the No. 2 Howard-Boss Motorsports Pontiac Crawford DP03 with Dario Franchitti, Marino Franchitti and Milka Duno in the Daytona Prototype (DP) class. Their car finished 16th in its class and 33rd overall after Duno crashed with less than six hours to go. In the 2005 off-season, he competed as a wild card entrant in the 2005 Race of Champions, being eliminated from the round of 16 by Sébastien Bourdais. That year, he was offered a test driver role with BMW's Formula One operation by team principal Mario Theissen. He declined when he discovered that he would not be assured a race seat for the 2007 season; he also felt emotionally attached to the United States. Wheldon also turned down an offer to compete for Great Britain in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix season.

Wheldon returned to AGR for the 2004 season. At Phoenix International Raceway, the season's second race, Wheldon won his first career pole position and finished third. He took his first series win at Twin Ring Motegi where he led an event-high 192 laps from pole position. Wheldon qualified second for the Indianapolis 500; he led 26 laps to finish the rain-shortened race in third. His second win of the season came at Richmond International Raceway after holding off Team Penske's Hélio Castroneves in the race's last lap. Wheldon took a quartet of top-ten finishes in four of the next six races, before he won his third series victory in Nazareth Speedway's final motor race to move into second in the drivers' championship. His title challenge to his teammate Tony Kanaan ended in the season's penultimate round at California Speedway (now Auto Club Speedway), but he secured second in the standings from Buddy Rice at the season-ending Texas Motor Speedway race with 533 points.

The lack of sponsorship prevented him from starting the season though he was called up to drive when regular driver Dario Franchitti broke his vertebrae in a motor bike accident in Scotland. In his first race driving the No. 27 Dallara IR-03 Honda HI3R V8 car, at the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, Wheldon qualified fifth and finished seventh in the accident-shortened race. Wheldon qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 in fifth. Late in the race, he crashed heavily into a concrete retaining wall and somersaulted into the air before landing upside down, which relegated him to a 19th-place finish. After Franchitti returned, Wheldon was retained as a driver following the retirement of team owner and mentor Michael Andretti. He drove well thereafter with another eight top-ten finishes. Starting tenth at Chicagoland Speedway, Wheldon led for a season-high 38 laps and came fourth. He ended the season with a third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing with 312 points (11th in the point standings). Wheldon's performances enhanced his reputation, and he demonstrated an accord with oval track racing that many European drivers lacked. He was awarded the 2003 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, and was voted the 2003 Autosport Rookie of the Year.

After his objective of obtaining a seat in Championship Auto Racing Teams (later Champ Car World Series) went unfulfilled, he began his association with the rival Indy Racing League (IRL) by joining Panther Racing as its test driver in June 2002. He later brought capital to the team and drove their second car for the final two races of the 2002 season. Wheldon qualified seventh in the No. 7 Dallara IR02 Chevrolet V8 and finished tenth in his first IRL race, the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. He came fifteenth in the season-closing Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished his two-race campaign thirty-sixth in the points standings with 35 points accrued. When funding for a second Panther Racing car fell through, Andretti Green Racing (AGR) co-owner Kim Green contacted Wheldon in October and asked him to test its IRL car and develop its Honda engine at Homestead–Miami Speedway the following month. Wheldon was signed to be the team's test driver in November as they sought sponsorship to enable his participation during the 2003 season.

Wheldon began competitive karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to open-wheel car racing in the U.S. F2000 National Championship, the Toyota Atlantic Championship and Indy Lights. He began driving in IndyCar with Panther Racing in 2002. The following year, Wheldon moved to AGR, finishing as the runner-up in the 2004 series championship. He won the drivers' title in 2005 with the record for most victories (including the 2005 Indianapolis 500) during a season. In the 2006 season, he moved to CGR, tying Sam Hornish Jr. in points but finishing second because of count-back on the number of victories taken by both drivers. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Wheldon's form lowered but he won four additional races and placed fourth in points in both years.

He progressed to the 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship, driving for PPI Motorsports in its No. 3 Swift 008.a vehicle, winning the season-opening Homestead–Miami Speedway round to become the first driver in series history to win on his debut. He won the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca race, finishing as runner-up in the championship standings with 159 points and a further nine top-ten finishes. Wheldon was named the series' Rookie of the Year. For the 2001 season, Wheldon moved to the PacWest Lights outfit to compete in the higher-tier Indy Lights Championship. In the No. 1 Lola T97/20-Buick 3800 V6, he won two races in the championship's second half (Gateway Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta) and placed in the top-ten in all twelve events to finish as runner-up in the drivers' championship with 149 points. Wheldon was named the 2001 Indy Lights Rookie of the Year.

At the suggestion of his former team principal and car manufacturer Ralph Firman Sr., he flew to the United States in January 1999 to test a Formula Ford 2000 car. Wheldon also observed an Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic test session for future preparation. His funding was provided by Jayhard/Primus Racing owner Jon Baytos and Van Diemen. He competed in the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 1999 in Jayhard/Primus Racing's Van Diemen RF99, taking the title on his first attempt with six wins and eleven top-ten finishes. Wheldon's early performance was affected by jet lag from constant travel to the United Kingdom to visit his family and his desire to compete in Formula Three. He stopped doing so after about three months, when Baytos urged him to concentrate on racing. Wheldon was named the series' Rookie of the Year, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2012 as a 1999 graduate.

The following year, Wheldon was fourth in both the British Formula Ford Championship and the European Formula Ford Championship for Andy Welch Racing, with seven victories in the British series. He was named a finalist for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award in 1996 and 1997. Wheldon improved to third in those two series with the Van Diemen team, driving a Mygale in 1998. That year, he finished second in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. It was during this period he developed a rivalry with fellow driver Jenson Button. Wheldon did not have the necessary level of funding from his father and sponsors to further his career in the United Kingdom and progress into either the British Formula 3 International Series or the British Formula Renault Championship.

Marcus Simmons, a writer for the British motor racing magazine Autosport, called Wheldon "one of a golden crop of richly-talented British drivers to graduate from karting to junior single-seaters in the mid to late-1990s", and, "a man who embodied the ideal of the immigrant to the 'New World' fulfilling the American Dream." Although he had a brash and confident persona that made him "cocky yet likeable", journalist Maurice Hamilton noted that Wheldon was seen by many as "a devoted family man, deeply respected and universally liked despite, or perhaps because of, a cheeky sense of self-awareness and a clever cultivation of his image". He had charisma, a sense of humour and warmth that made him a favourite amongst motor racing fans and the media, despite being unrecognisable in England due to Formula One being the country's most popular motor racing series. Wheldon was a keen learner, and was focused on accomplishing his objectives.

Wheldon began go-kart racing at the age of four but did not take part in competitive racing until he was eight due to age limits. He drove a self-built 60cc kart during the intervals before switching to a 100cc kart later on. Wheldon was sponsored by All Kart owner Bruno Ferrari and his father helped to better his son's driving ability at Rye House Kart Circuit. He won the RAC British Cadet Karting Championship three times in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Wheldon went on to win the British B Junior title driving a Wright chassis in 1992. He was later advised by Mark Rose and Terry Fullerton as he progressed to the international level. Wheldon won the 1995 FIA Formula A World Cup with Fullerton's team. Aged 17, he progressed to car racing, competing in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship for Team JLR in 1996, winning the Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park races and taking seven top-three results to finish second in the standings.

Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and a was co-winner of the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR).

Wheldon was born in the village of Emberton near the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England on 22 June 1978. He was the son of plumber and domestic heat electrician Clive Wheldon and his wife Sue. Wheldon was of Irish descent. He had three younger brothers and a sister. Wheldon's family was connected to motorsport; his father had competed in karting from an early age and his mother acted as Clive's timekeeper. He went to the Bedford School until he completed his GCSE examinations at the age of 16. Wheldon attained good reading grades and excelled in cross-country running, rugby and squash. He was also captain of the school's cricket team.

An autopsy conducted by Clark County Coroner Michael Murphy on 17 October determined that Wheldon died of a blunt force trauma to his head. He was the fifth Indianapolis 500 winner to die in a racing accident in the same year as winning the race, and the first repeat winner to do so. Preceding Wheldon were Gaston Chevrolet (1920), Joe Boyer (1924), Ray Keech (1929), and George Robson (1946). He was also the first driver to be killed in IndyCar competition since Paul Dana died in an accident during practice for the 2006 Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. On 22 October, Wheldon was given a funeral at the First Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg attended by almost 1,000 mourners. Fellow drivers Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Wheldon's three brothers acted as pall-bearers. The next day, IndyCar held a public memorial service for him at Conseco Fieldhouse (now Bankers Life Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis attended by members of the motor racing community and his family and fans. A second memorial service for Wheldon took place at the All Saints' Church in his home town of Emberton on 6 November. He is buried at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Clearwater, Florida.