Dan Wheldon hurt badly in huge crash (Edit: passes away)......
 

Scary stuff happening on ABC right now........

Dan Wheldon injured in fiery IndyCar crash at Las Vegas - ESPN

Jesus.......I was at the IRL race a few weeks ago at the KY speedway.

This picture is pretty scary - PHOTO: Dan Wheldon has horrific crash at Indy Car race in Las... on Twitpic

It looks like a serious chunk of the car is gone, and so close to the head.

EDIT - The picture is not graphic, but if you know what you are looking at, you know how much of the car is missing.

Nasty crash. Two of those cars got some serious air.

It's bad enough when stock cars get into wrecks like that, but Indy cars. Ouch.

Hopefully Dan Wheldon is okay. Haven't heard anything more on him yet.

At the 3:40 mark of the youtube above you get the view of the crash from inside Wheldon's car. Doesnt look good at all.

Edit: Apparently that's Will Power, not Wheldon car. So he's lucky.

From Ashley Judd on twitter about 40 mins ago

"No update on Dan yet except unconscious but vitals are good."

I'm reading rumors that he passed away. Keep in mind this is the internet.

Wow......Tony Kanaan, who is a good friend, is really upset.

Ending the race.......he has passed away.

They will be doing a five lap salute.

Crazy stuff. He went from no team at the start of the year to winning the Indy 500 on an unbelievable finish to dying at the end of the season.

Man, that's horrible. RIP Dan Wheldon. Very sad.

So sad. So sad.

Very sad RIP :(

Horrible

Rest in Peace :(

And I can't help but wonder if he would have even entered today if not for the $5m winning bonus being offered to any non-regular series driver (articles say he was eligible & was planning to split it with a fan if he won).

Very sad. RIP.

:(

Oh my goodness.

Terrible. RIP :(

My son has been doing kid karting coupled with his interest in football, baseball, and jujitsu. He is 5, so he is still working out his passions. Even though he has aptitude for karting, I hate it. Not really dangerous at this level, but in a few years, the speeds just go up and up. He and I were watching this on TV today when it happened, and I sent him shopping with his mother, and I sat there and wondered what the hell was I doing; did I want to have to see something like that someday. All his sports joys have dangers, but racing seems like the big one to me.

What an awful accident. RIP :(

Wheldon wrote what was supposed to be a 3 part series about the race. Here is how he ended part 2 yesterday:


Driver blog: Dan Wheldon frustrated with car in Las Vegas – USATODAY.com

That is terrible. RIP.

Indycar is culpable in this. Crowding that many cars at those speeds, on that track was a recipe for disaster. Tony George and his group of morons should pay dearly for this.

The drivers were concerned about the speeds they were reaching and there is no way cars going that fast should be on that size of a track.

Such an unnecessary death.

yeah, everytime i happen to see highlights and/or parts of a race on Indycar i am absolutely shocked at the combination of speed/tracks.

Formula 1 is no picknick and there´s some tracks that border on lunacy, but as a non-expert it seems to be way safer and controlled.

And that´s just comparing the "normal" tracks, i have no idea why it seems a good idea to race those cars (and so many) in an oval.

FYI, Tony George is not in charge of Indycar any more.

Presumably you mean (former PBR head honcho) Randy Bernard. He's running the IndyCar show these days, right down to the $5m bonus offer that appears to have led to Wheldon being in a car yesterday in the first place.

Wait a minute...

Not to derail this...but these are professional race car drivers that know they are putting their lives on the line for this. Especially in open wheel racing.

They have every option to not race if they do not feel safe and they have every ability to walk away.

It is truly sad to see Wheldon pass, I admired his driving and tenacity on the track.Obviously changes will be made...was the $5 million bounty ridiculous it was...but this race was ran willingly by the drivers and knowingly, in their cars they put their lives at risk....I went through racing school and the forms they had me sign scared the hell out of me...oh, and I was scared driving an open wheel car at a 170 mph on stretches. I could only imagine it at their speeds.

Final report says that fence pole slicing through car killed Wheldon.......

Wheldon died when head hit post – USATODAY.com

Indycar exec talks about fateful race........

IndyCar president still wonders 'what if?' – USATODAY.com