Dan Wheldon

                October 16^th was supposed to be a shining day for the sport of IndyCar. It was the final race in a season that had seen numerous first-time winners, first-time tracks, rising stars, and plenty of ups and downs. This finale was supposed to be a battle between two of the sport’s best drivers going all out for the championship. It was supposed to be a day that saw a record-breaking 34 drivers racing within feet of each other at over 200 MPH. Instead, the only story that will be remembered is one that could not be any sadder.

            
            The final race in the 2011 IndyCar season was just 11 laps in when a horrific incident occurred in Turn 1. It was a 15-car accident that involved drivers Will Power, JR Hildebrand, Paul Tracy, Dan Wheldon, and others. All drivers were released without injury except Wheldon, who had to be flown to a nearby hospital. A red flag was waved to clean up the track, and IndyCar allowed all the remaining drivers to park their cars and stand with their teams.  For approximately two hours, drivers, crew members, fans, and media waited to hear how Dan Wheldon was doing. Around 6:00 p.m., a drivers-only meeting was called. At that meeting, it was announced that Dan Wheldon had died because of injuries suffered from his crash.

            
            With those words, the world of IndyCar Racing turned upside-down. A day that began with such brightness for the future ended in bleak darkness. One of auto-racing’s most colorful personalities and most skilled racers had been taken from this world to soon.

            
            English-born Dan Wheldon was just 33 years old. He is survived by his wife and two young sons. He is most famous for winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, as well as the 2005 IndyCar Series Championship. 

UPDATE 10/17/2011 at 1:22 p.m. I went by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to visit the make-shift memorial that has been made for Wheldon. The objects that have been left range from cards to Wheldon's family to flowers to autographed pictures that Wheldon signed. It is located at the main gate of IMS at 16th and Georgetown, right outside Turn 1.