RIP Dan Wheldon

Tragedy struck Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday morning as Indy car racer, Dan Wheldon passed away. The race was the final race of the season and Wheldon entered having the chance to win 2.5 Million. Wheldon had done extremely well this season winning his second Indy 500 of his career.

Going into this race, there were many concerns due to so many racers driving but they proceeded on. Through the first ten laps, it was tight but there were no crashes. Then, on the 2nd turn on lap eleven, a fifteen car pile up occurred with two of those cars flying straight into the fence surrounding the track. One of those cars was Wheldon's as his car burst into flames upon landing on the tar. A red flag came out as the race was stopped. Parts to cars were scattered all over the road and numerous cars were in flames. Announcers said it was the worst crash they had ever seen in their life. Through all this ciaos, all eyes were on Dan Wheldon as the crowd  realized he had the worst crash of the fifteen cars. Medical staff members rushed to him and quickly called for an ambulance. Seeing his awful condition, the paramedics called in a helicopter to take him to the hospital. Around midday, the 33 year old died, with his wife, three brothers, parents, and two young sons surrounding the man they all loved so dearly. The race was obviously cancelled and in honor of Wheldon, the remaining  racers did a five lap salute around the track.

This was a very emotional day in Las Vegas  and it makes you realize how dangerous it is to zip around in these cars going over 200 MPH. Every time you step foot inside of that car, you are risking you life. RIP Dan Wheldon.

Earlier this season, Wheldon became one of eight drivers to have ever won the Indy 500 more than once.