The Life Of Dan Wheldon Is One To Be Shared With The World.

This Sunday will mark the three-year anniversary of the late Dan Wheldon’s last Indy Car victory that came in arguably the biggest race in motorsports, the Indianapolis 500.

For those of you who don’t know Dan Wheldon, in 2011, semi retired from the sport he knew and loved. Although it wasn’t by choice, the time off from racing proved to be beneficial as he helped raise his kids and be there for his family. Another thing Wheldon did in his time off was help the Indy Car series develop its new car design that would prove to be much more safer for drivers.  His driver insight helped engineers and developers get a grasp on what drivers want out of a racecar during long endurance races, and with the information the new Indy Car body style came about.

Dan Wheldon got an opportunity from a race team to compete in the Indianapolis 500, a race he had previously won a few years prior, and could not refuse the chance at another victory. On the final lap of the race, rookie J.R. Hildebrand, found himself leading the 500 with one lap to go. It wasn’t until the last turn of the race that his dreams of drinking the famed Indy 500 milk shattered as his car crashed into the wall off of turn 4. This put Dan Wheldon, who was running 2^nd at the time, in the catbird seat to pull off the surprise victory and capture his 2^nd Indy 500 trophy.

While this was Dan’s only victory of 2011, he decided to run the final race of the season at Las Vegas Motor speedway with the intention of winning a 5,000,000 million dollar bonus if he had won the event. He started last that day and slowly began to move his way to the front pack until tragedy struck the racing world.

On lap 11 of 200, a mulit- car pile up occurred off of turn 2 where Dan Wheldon lost his life, just a few short months after his Indy 500 victory. Dan died doing what he loved and that was to drive racecars. His insight brought the knowledge to engineers to develop a car to specifically help the risk of drivers not getting injured while driving and it just so happened that in the old Indy Car model’s last race, before introducing the new safer body style, the driver who helped develop the car, passes away. Rest Easy Dan, Thank you for helping racing safer for millions of drivers today. #Dantheman #nosoap