Dan Wheldon dies in Las Vegas IndyCar race
Brit Dan Wheldon has been killed in a horrific 15 car crash whilst competing in the Las Vegas Indy 300. He was just 33.
Dan Wheldon, despite being a Brit (he hailed from Buckinghamshire) is not the first racing driver’s name to trip off the tongue in the UK. But he was good; too good to have been killed by the sport he loved.
Dan started life in racing in the UK via the route of most racing drivers – Karts. He had some success in the UK – he was a contemporary of Jenson Button – but left the UK in 1999 to seek fame and fortune in the US.
Dan found considerable success in the US, becoming the entire IndyCar champion in 2005 – winning the famous Indy500 in the process – and won this year’s Indy500 race too.
Yesterday’s tragedy was a 15 car accident in the Las Vegas Indy 300 where Dan’s Dallara was catapulted over another car and thrown in to the fencing. Dan was airlifted to hospital, but died from his injuries. He was just 33.
Fans of motor racing have become used to drivers walking away from even the most horrific of accidents; thanks in no small part to the huge progress in F1 safety in the years since Jackie Stewart campaigned for drivers’ safety to be a paramount consideration. But motor racing is dangerous, however good the drivers and however conscientious the series organisers are about safety.
It’s arguable that IndyCar racing is less safe than F1, and perhaps addressing that concern will be Dan Wheldon’s legacy.
There were concerns that the track at Las Vegas was too fast, with drivers reaching speeds of 225mph in practice. There is also the questionable decision to offer a $5 million prize for any non-regular driver starting from the back of the grid who took the win. Perhaps that contributed to a more aggressive drive from some than was safe.
But all that’s for later. All that matters is a ridiculously young and talented driver has lost his life.
Our thoughts are with Dan’s wife, Susie, their sons Oliver and Sebastian, his family and friends.
CDH says
Although the article is well written, the header image is perhaps the most tasteless, thoughtless image I have ever seen. Who is calling the shots there at carsuk? Appalling, I truly hope the Wheldon family never sees it!
Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon
CarsUK says
We do understand your reaction. We anguished over exactly how to illustrate the story, and we purposely chose to show a low-key version of the accident itself and – as Dan obviously loved the sport – an image of Dan which showed something of his joie de vivre. We declined to run the video of the accident as we thought it too insensitive.
We’re sorry if you were offended by the image, but we tried to strike a balance that would illustrate the story without being ghoulish, sensationalist or offensive.Unfortunately, whatever we ran, there was a risk someone would be unhappy.
We’re sorry the balance we chose was offensive to you. It certainly wasn’t our intention.
Tramp12 says
Not really sure I agree with your POV. I’ve seen a lot worse than this (Sky News ran the video of his death endlessly). This image here is low-key compared to most and Dan Wheldon needs to be shown as he’s an almost unknown face in Britain.
How else could it have been done?
CDH says
I would not have used the crash scene as a background image, especially with the shot of him smiling at it. My objection is not the crash photo, or the head shot, it is the combining of the two I find objectionable.
For a bg image I would have used a photo of his car at speed, with feathered edges for a softer look, maybe with a motion blur, or him with the Borg Warner Trophy at Indy, many better choices that would have been far more respectful towards his family and friends.
The juxtaposition of the two images was a poor choice imo, thanks