Dan Wheldon (partially lost onboard footage of fatal IndyCar crash; 2011)
On 16th October 2011, during lap 12 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a multicar crash occurred as the field attempted to negotiate Turn 1. Among those involved in the accident was Dan Wheldon, who drove up Charlie Kimball's car and became airborne. He hit the catch fence cockpit-first, with his head making contact with one of its poles. The impact resulted in him suffering fatal head injuries. While various clips of the crash are publicly available, some of the on-board footage has been withheld from public viewing.
Background
Heading into the race, Wheldon qualified 29th out of 34 runners, with a speed of 218.410 mph.[1] Unsatisfied with his qualifying performance, Wheldon opted to participate in the $5 million challenge, which tasked a driver to start at the back of the field and win the event.[2][3] Before the event began, ABC Sports interviewed Wheldon, asking him whether he felt he could indeed win the event and the $5 million.[3] Wheldon responded that although the competition was intense, he would not have participated in the challenge if he believed he had no chance of winning.[3]
The Crash
On lap 12, Wheldon's teammate Wade Cunningham clipped James Hinchcliffe, before also crashing into J.R. Hildebrand.[4] He also ended up collecting Jay Howard and Townsend Bell, which in turn caused another pile-up as Vitor Meira lost control in an attempt to avoid the carnage, with Charlie Kimball and E.J. Viso crashing into him.[4] Tomas Scheckter was able to slow down on the outside, but this resulted in Paul Tracy rear-ending him, with Pippa Mann, who was trying to avoid a crash with Alex Lloyd, smashing over the top of Scheckter's car.[2] Will Power meanwhile could not avoid Lloyd, slamming over the back of the latter's car and striking the SAFER barrier, a front tyre detaching and nearly hitting Power's head.[2][4]
Wheldon was approaching the scene at 224 mph.[5] He desperately attempted to slow down, but ultimately collided with the rear of Kimball's car, causing his to become airborne.[5][2][4] As it did, the car struck a catch fence cockpit-first, leaving Wheldon's head with no protection from one of the fence's poles.[5][2][3] The wrecked car was sliced apart by the collision and ended up slowly hitting a SAFER barrier.[5]
Following the accident, Hildebrand, Mann, and Power were all hospitalised, with Hildebrand and Mann being kept overnight for their injuries, Mann notably suffering a burn to her right pinkie finger.[2] Wheldon however suffered blunt force trauma to his head caused by two collisions, which ultimately led to him being declared dead on arrival at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, aged 33.[2][5][3] A two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Wheldon was regarded as a popular English driver, and also one of open-wheel racing's star drivers of the 2000s.[6][7] Since Wheldon's fatal accident, IndyCar has not returned to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, pending an evaluation on whether the sport can safely be run on banked ovals.[8]
Availability
The fatal crash was televised live by ABC.[3] However, while it did showcase on-board footage of Wheldon leading up to the crash, it decided to cut away to an outside view of the multi car crash.[9] However, the full onboard coverage was available as part of a livestream shown on Indycar Mobile, exclusive to Verizon subscribers.[9] Since then, the full footage has been withheld from public viewing.[9]
Nevertheless, the Canadian documentary show Nerve Center, which coincidentally was present at the event filming an episode dedicated towards IndyCar, requested access to the on-board footage, which was granted by IndyCar.[10][9] In the episode, the onboard clip carries on until freezing once Wheldon hits Kimball, at which point the episode cuts away to a different angle of the crash.[9] Hence, the full video is likely to remain withheld from public viewing.[9]
Gallery
Videos
See Also
- 1916-1922 Universal Film Trophy Races (lost footage of AAA races; 1916-1922)
- 1962 Trenton 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1962)
- 1962 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1962)
- 1963 Trenton 100 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1963)
- 1963 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1963)
- 1964 Golden State 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1964)
- 1964 Trenton 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1964)
- 1965 Golden State 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1965)
- 1965 Jimmy Bryan Memorial (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1965)
- 1966 Jimmy Bryan Memorial (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1966)
- 1966 Trenton 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1966)
- 1967 Trenton 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1967)
- 1968 Tony Bettenhausen 100 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1968)
- 1968 Trenton 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1968)
- 1969 Langhorne 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1969 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1969 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1969)
- 1970 Bobby Ball 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Langhorne 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Rocky Mountain 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1970 Trenton 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1970)
- 1971 Bobby Ball 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Marlboro 300 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Michigan 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Rex Mays Classic (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Schaefer 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1971 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1971)
- 1972 Best Western Motels 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Indianapolis 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Michigan 200 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Phoenix 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Rex Mays Classic (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Tony Bettenhausen 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Trenton Times 300 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1972 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1972)
- 1973 Schaefer 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1973)
- 1973 Texas 200 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1973)
- 1974 California 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1974 Phoenix 150 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1974 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1974 Trentonian 200 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1974)
- 1975 Bricklin 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1975 Michigan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1975 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1975)
- 1976 Indianapolis 500 (partially found footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Jimmy Bryan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Michigan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Trenton Times Auto Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1976 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1976)
- 1977 American Parts 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Jimmy Bryan 150 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Michigan Grand Prix (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Rex Mays Classic (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Schaefer 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Texas Grand Prix (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1977 Trentonian 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1977)
- 1978 Coors 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1978 Daily Express Indy Silverstone (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1978 Daily Mail Indy Trophy (partially found CBS and BBC One footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1978 Norton Twin 200 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1978)
- 1979 Arizona Republic / Jimmy Bryan 150 (partially found footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; 1979)
- 1979 California 500 (lost footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1979)
- 1979 Gould Grand Prix (lost footage of SCCA/CART IndyCar Series race; 1979)
- 1980 Miller High Life 150 (partially found footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Norton Twin 200 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Primera Copa Mexico 150 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1980 Tony Bettenhausen 200 (lost footage of CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1980)
- 1981 Kraco Car Stereo 150 (lost CART PPG IndyCar World Series race; 1981)
- 1981 Pocono 500 (lost footage of USAC Championship Car Season race; 1981)
- 1996 Las Vegas 500K (partially lost footage of IRL Season race; 1996)
- Indianapolis 500 WFBM-TV Broadcasts (lost racing footage; 1949-1950)
- Indianapolis 500 MCA closed-circuit broadcasts (partially lost racing footage; 1964-1970)
External Link
References
- ↑ Crash detailing the qualifying results of the event. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Archived USA Today reporting on the death of Wheldon and the hospitalisation of three other drivers. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 New York Daily Times reporting on Wheldon's cause of death and providing an extract of his interview with ABC Sports. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Archived Autosport summarising how the crash occurred. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Racecar Engineering detailing Wheldon's crash and the two head blows that caused his death. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ Motorsport Memorial page for Dan Wheldon. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ CBS Sports article on Dan Wheldon's life and career. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ Archived USA Today reporting on IndyCar not returning to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway following Wheldon's crash. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Influential Moments in Racing detailing the withheld full on-board coverage of the fatal accident. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22
- ↑ National Post reporting on Nerve Center's IndyCar episode and how it broadcast footage of the fatal crash. Retrieved 3rd Jul '22