Dan Wheldon, 1978-2011

Dan Wheldon was IndyCar. The 33 year old father of two was exactly what the sport needed.  A charming, fan-friendly, winning driver. His win at this year's Indianapolis 500 was the greatest sporting moment I have ever witnessed. Instead of just talking about how much of a great person and champion Dan was, I thought I would simply illustrate it. Below are some of the photos I have taken of Dan over the past couple of years. I posted these pictures to remember Dan Wheldon as the great driver, champion, and, most importantly, amazing human that he was. God speed, Dan.

I know this may not be the best of the bunch, but it has the most meaning to me. Me and my friends were yelling all the drivers' names during the 2009 parade. Dan loved it, and pumped his arms to tell us to get louder. We did and he flashed the biggest smile.

Here is Dan during the 2010 parade pumping his fist at me and my group again.

My final picture was taken just before the green flag of Dan's next to last race in Kentucky.

And finally, here is my video of Wheldon's greatest moment- the 2011 Indianapolis 500.

Video: Kentucky Indy 300

Here is a selection of my best pictures and videos from the great race in Kentucky on Sunday!

Carpenter Covers Kentucky

Ed Carpenter had always been strong at Kentucky Speedway. Back-to-back 2nd places finishes in 2009 and 2010 further backed that up. Sunday, however, he gained that one last position.

In a thrilling 23 lap side by side battle with new points leader Dario Franchitti, the 30 year old Carpenter edged out the Scotsman by .009 seconds to win his first career IndyCar race.  Not only was it the first win for the veteran, but it was also the first IndyCar win of any kind for team owner Sarah Fisher.  In one of the most emotional moments in recent IndyCar memory, the new mother Fisher finally broke through to victory lane in a track in which she also had some driving success.

The 200 lap was ran pretty clean on the track throughout, but was marred by several incidents on pit road.  Entering the race as the points leader, Will Power had the dominant car for the first 80 laps of the race, until he collided with Ana Beatriz.  The contact put a large hole in the side of the number 12 Team Penske machine, but he was able to finish the race in 19th.  Other drivers who had their day affected by pit late crashes were Marco Andretti, JR Hildebrand, EJ Viso, Simona de Silvestro, and Alex Lloyd.

In the Indy Lights race, Stefan Wilson took advantage of his P1 starting position to hold off Josef Newgarden for the win.  A first lap crash took out 5 of the 13 competitors, but the show still proved to be very entertaining.  As a result of his 2nd place finish, Newgarden clinched the 2011 Indy Lights Series Championship with 1 race still to run.

The Izod IndyCar Series has 1 more race to decide it's champion, October 15th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Dario Franchitti leads Will Power by 18 heading in to the final round of the season.

Tagliani Tops Texas

Indy 500 pole sitter Alex Tagliani continued his domination of oval qualifications on Friday, winning the pole for the first of the Texas Twin 275s.  The Canadian lapped the 1.5 mile speedway with a 2-lap average of 215.186 mph. Coming just days after his chief mechanic left SSM for Andretti Autosport, this pole was not nearly as predictable as his still shocking Indianapolis pole.  Tagliani will be joined in the top 5 by Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Takuma Sato, and Ed Carpenter. 

The most surprising result of the top 10 is rookie Wade Cunningham.  Driving the car that Dan Wheldon used to win the 100th anniversay Indy 500, the 3-time Freedom 100 winner looked at ease despite it being his first ever IndyCar race.  He does have a great group surrounding him, with Tagliani as his teammate. 

Rookie James Jakes was not allowed to make a qualification attempt after failing to pass pre-qualifying inspection.  The Dale Coyne Racing driver will be forced to start dead last in the first of the night's duel races.

Check back tomorrow for a preview of the first ever Texas Twin 275s.

Video: Start of the 2011 Indianapolis 500

Alex Tagliani leads the field of 33 to the yard of bricks to start the 95th Indy 500!

Video: Wheldon Wins in Dramatic Fashion

Here is the finish to the 2011 Indy 500 from my seats in turn 3.  I realize it may not be the greatest video ever shot, but the emotion by the crowd is amazing. 

Wheldon Wins!

Dan Wheldon won the 95th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after the greatest finish in race history.  Rookie JR Hildebrand appeared to have the race in hand, when, coming out of turn 4 on the last lap, the Panther Racing driver slammed in to the outside wall.  Hildebrand then skidded all the way past the start/finish line, but not quickly enough as Wheldon was able to snag his 2nd 500 title. Wheldon, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport, was a contender all day, but never seemed to have the speed to take the lead and hold it.

The first 3/4 of the race was dominated by Team Target driver's Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti.  Running 1-2 for a large portion of the afternoon, it appeared the veterans had the race in the bag.  A caution brought out by a crash involving Ryan Briscoe and Townsend Bell set up all the drivers for a fantastic fuel strategy finish.  Franchitti and Hildebrand both pitted on the final caution lap, hoping it would be enough to get them to the checkers.  Franchitti ended up having to pit again, while Hildebrand's luck just flat ran out.

I will soon be posting some videos from this year's "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", so stay tuned!