Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldon was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner of the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing.
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 runner-up in the 2004 championship. He won the drivers' title in 2005 with the record for most victories 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 to place fourth overall in both years.
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 multicar accident, when his car became airborne and collided with a catch 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.
Early and personal life
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 sixteen. Wheldon attained good reading grades and excelled in cross-country running, rugby and squash. He was also captain of the school cricket team.Wheldon married his long-time personal assistant Susie Behm of Armstrong, British Columbia, in 2008. They have two children, Sebastian and Oliver, who compete in go-karting events. Their sons have been supported by Andretti Autosport since 2021.
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's online simulation racing game Simraceway. He partook 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.
Junior career
Wheldon began go-kart racing at the age of four but did not partake 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 inspired by racing driver Nigel Mansell, and he 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 seventeen, 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 overall.The following year, Wheldon was fourth in both the British Formula Ford Championship and the European Formula Ford Championship for Andy Welch Racing, with three 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 and future Formula One World Champion 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.
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 Ford RF99 car, achieving six wins and eleven top-ten finishes to become the first British and European series champion. 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.
Wheldon progressed to the 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship, driving for PPI Motorsports in its 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 Laguna Seca race, finishing 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 team 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 and placed in the top-ten in all twelve events to finish runner-up in the drivers' championship with 149 points. Wheldon was named the 2001 Indy Lights Rookie of the Year.
IndyCar Series
2002–2004
After his objective of obtaining a seat in Championship Auto Racing Teams went unfulfilled, Wheldon began his association with the rival Indy Racing League by joining Panther Racing as its test driver in June 2002. He 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. 15 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 to finish his two-race campaign 36th in the points standings with 35 accrued. When funding for a second Panther Racing car fell through, Andretti Green Racing 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 in the 2003 season.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 the accident-shortened race seventh. Wheldon qualified fifth for his first Indianapolis 500. Late in the race, he struck a concrete retaining wall and somersaulted into the air before landing upside down, which relegated him to finishing nineteenth. 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 finishing third at Texas Motor Speedway, scoring 312 points for 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 Rookie of the Year, and was voted the 2003 Autosport Rookie of the Year.
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, leading 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 third. His second win of the season came at Richmond International Raceway after holding off Team Penske's Hélio Castroneves on the last lap. Wheldon took four top-ten finishes in four of the next six races, before achieving 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, but secured second overall from Buddy Rice at the season-ending Texas Motor Speedway race with 533 points.