Dan Wheldon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Daniel Clive Wheldon | |
|---|---|
 Dan Wheldon in Gasoline Alley at Indianapolis in 2007. |
|
| Nationality |  British |
| Date of birth | 22 June 1978 |
| Place of birth | Emberton, Olney, England, United Kingdom |
| 2010 IRL IndyCar Series | |
| Debut season | 2002 |
| Current team | Panther Racing |
| Car no. | 4 |
| Former teams | Panther Racing Andretti Green Racing Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Starts | 100 |
| Wins | 15 |
| Poles | 5 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2005 |
| Previous series | |
| 2001 2000 1999 |
Indy Lights Toyota Atlantic Championship U.S. F2000 Championship Series |
| Championship titles | |
| 2005 | IRL IndyCar Series Champion |
| Awards | |
| 2003 | IRL IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year |
Daniel Clive Wheldon (born 22 June 1978 in Emberton, near Olney, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English auto racing driver. The 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion and Indy 500 winner, Wheldon is nicknamed "Difficult Dan" in the IRL pit lane for his choleric temperament[citation needed]. He currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Contents |
[edit] Beginnings
Taking up karting at the age of four with funding from his father, Wheldon progressed through the junior ranks of motor racing during his school years. Attending Bedford School until he completed his GCSEs at age 16, he frequently took time off to race. During his early career in open wheel racing, he developed a rivalry with Jenson Button before ultimately leaving the United Kingdom to race in America. The reasoning behind the move was that the level of investment needed to fund his racing career in the UK wasn't able to be provided by his family.[1] Moving to the United States in 1999, he spent several years in lower open-wheeled circuits like the U.S. F2000 Championship Series, the Toyota Atlantic series and the Indy Lights series.
[edit] IRL IndyCar Series
In 2002, Wheldon moved up to the IRL IndyCar Series for two events, with Panther Racing as teammate to Sam Hornish, Jr.. The following year Wheldon joined Andretti Green Racing, taking the spot of Michael Andretti following his retirement, and collected league Rookie of the Year honours. In 2004, he won his first IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, ultimately finishing as runner-up to teammate Tony Kanaan in the championship with three wins.
He won the 2005 Indianapolis 500 as well as that season's IndyCar Series championship. His six victories in 2005 also broke the record for most victories in one season (under IRL sanction), previously held by Sam Hornish, Jr. with 5. His win at Indy was the first for an Englishman since Graham Hill's triumph in 1966. In November 2005, it was announced that he would be driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series in 2006. Shortly after his first test with Ganassi, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance sports car race with Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Ganassi NASCAR driver Casey Mears.
He began the IndyCar season by beating Hélio Castroneves by 0.0147 seconds at a sombre Homestead-Miami due to the earlier death of Paul Dana in a practice session. Wheldon retired at St. Petersburg thanks to contact with Sam Hornish, Jr. during a caution period. At the end of the 2006 IndyCar season, Wheldon and Hornish were tied for the lead with each driver having 475 points. In the event of a tie, the driver with the most wins for that particular season is declared the champion. Hornish had four wins for the 2006 season, to Wheldon's two; therefore Hornish was declared the 2006 IndyCar champion.
During the close season he was offered a place in the BMW Sauber Formula One team, but declined on discovering he would not be assured a regular drive. "I do want to race in F1. When my contract expires with Chip, I’ll take a serious look at Formula One".[2]
Commenting in 2007 on the perception of him as 'difficult', Wheldon said "I put everything into my racing, and I expect the same back. If I see people who aren't giving it I'm not afraid to say so, but that sometimes comes out a little brash. That could be improved a little bit.
On 22 June 2008, his 30th birthday, he took his 15th career victory in the IndyCar Series after winning the 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250 over Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti. He donated his winnings to help the victims of the recent tornadoes and flooding which had occurred in Iowa.[3]
Wheldon was released from his drive at Ganassi on 2 September 2008.[4] He was replaced by Dario Franchitti; "I have enjoyed these last three seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, but will be moving on to pursue a very exciting opportunity for 2009," Wheldon said. It would later turn out to be a return to former team Panther Racing.[5] Wheldon drove the Panther car to a second place finish in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, the second Indy 500 runner-up finish in a row for the team.
[edit] Personal life
He and his wife Susie have a son, Sebastian, who was born on February 1, 2009. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.[6]
[edit] Motorsports career results
[edit] American Open-Wheel
(key)
[edit] IndyCar
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Panther |  HMS |
PHX |
FON |
NZR |
INDY |
TXS |
PPIR |
RIR |
KAN |
NSH |
MIS |
KTY |
STL |
CHI 10 |
TX2 15 |
36th | 35 | ||||
| 2003 | Andretti Green | HMS |
PHX |
 MOT 7 |
INDY Ret |
TXS Ret |
PPIR Ret |
RIR 8 |
KAN Ret |
NSH 4 |
MIS Ret |
STL 5 |
KTY 8 |
NZR 7 |
CHI 4 |
FON 4 |
TX2 3 |
11th | 312 | |||
| 2004 | Andretti Green | HMS 3 |
PHX 3 |
MOT 1 |
INDY 3 |
TXS Ret |
RIR 1 |
KAN 9 |
NSH 13 |
MIL Ret |
MIS 3 |
KTY 3 |
PPIR 3 |
NZR 1 |
CHI 4 |
FON 3 |
TX2 3 |
2nd | 533 | |||
| 2005 | Andretti Green | HMS 1 |
PHX 6 |
STP 1 |
MOT 1 |
INDY 1 |
TXS 6 |
RIR 5 |
KAN 2 |
NSH Ret |
MIL 5 |
MIS 2 |
KTY 3 |
PPIR 1 |
SNM Ret |
CHI 1 |
WGL 5 |
FON 6 |
1st | 618 | ||
| 2006 | Ganassi | HMS 1 |
STP Ret |
MOT 2 |
INDY 4 |
WGL Ret |
TXS 3 |
RIR 9 |
KAN 2 |
NSH 2 |
MIL 8 |
MIS 3 |
KTY 4 |
SNM 6 |
CHI 1 |
2nda | 475 | |||||
| 2007 | Ganassi | HMS 1 |
STP 9 |
MOT 2 |
KAN 1 |
INDY Ret |
MIL 3 |
TXS Ret |
IOW 11 |
RIR 3 |
WGL 7 |
NSH 8 |
MDO 10 |
MIS Ret |
KTY Ret |
SNM 7 |
DET 3 |
CHI Ret |
4th | 466 | ||
| 2008 | Ganassi | HMS 3 |
STP 12 |
MOT1 4 |
LBH1 DNP |
KAN 1 |
INDY 12 |
MIL 4 |
TXS 4 |
IOW 1 |
RIR 4 |
WGL Ret |
NSH 2 |
MDO 17 |
 EDM 7 |
KTY 5 |
SNM 4 |
DET 20 |
CHI 6 |
 SRF2 11 |
4th | 492 |
| 2009 | Panther | STP Ret |
LBH 5 |
KAN 10 |
INDY 2 |
MIL 10 |
TXS 7 |
IOW 4 |
RIR 10 |
WGL 10 |
TOR 14 |
EDM 15 |
KTY 11 |
MDO 16 |
SNM 12 |
CHI Ret |
MOT 8 |
HMS Ret |
10th | 354 |
- a Wheldon lost the title on the tiebreaker - he won only two races compared to Sam Hornish, Jr.'s four after the two tied on 475 points
- 1 Run on same day
- 2 Non-points race
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win)** |
Top 10s (Non-podium)*** |
Indianapolis 500 Wins |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 4 | 113 | 5 | 16 | 23 | 43 | 1 (2005) | 1 (2005) |
- ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
- *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.
[edit] Indy 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dallara | Honda | 5th | 19th | Andretti Green |
| 2004 | Dallara | Honda | 2nd | 3rd | Andretti Green |
| 2005 | Dallara | Honda | 16th | 1st | Andretti Green |
| 2006 | Dallara | Honda | 3rd | 4th | Ganassi |
| 2007 | Dallara | Honda | 6th | 22nd | Ganassi |
| 2008 | Dallara | Honda | 2nd | 12th | Ganassi |
| 2009 | Dallara | Honda | 18th | 2nd | Panther |
[edit] References
- ^ "Dan Wheldon: 'Winning at Monaco would be great, but it's nothing next to the Indy 500'". http://sport.independent.co.uk/motor_racing/article2581135.ece.
- ^ Shaw, Simon. "Dan's Indy mood for F1". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2006130815,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
- ^ Gray, Rob. "Indy Corn 250 birthday bash: Wheldon turns 30 with a win". The Des Moines Register (newspaper). http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806230335. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
- ^ Perez, A.J.. "Goodbye NASCAR: Franchitti headed back to IndyCar Series". USA TODAY (newspaper). http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/irl/2008-09-02-franchitti-returns_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ Lewandowski, Dave. "Driver musical chairs". indycar.com. http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=12431. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
- ^ Dan Wheldon Welcomes a Son Celebrity Baby Blog, February 5, 2009
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dan Wheldon |
- Official Site
- IndyCar Profile
- Audio Interview with Dan Wheldon Dan Wheldon talks about his karting days
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Laurent Redon |
IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by Kosuke Matsuura |
| Preceded by Buddy Rice |
Indianapolis 500 Winner 2005 |
Succeeded by Sam Hornish, Jr. |
| Preceded by Tony Kanaan |
IRL IndyCar Series Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by Sam Hornish, Jr. |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Mark Webber |
Autosport Rookie of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by A. J. Allmendinger |
| Preceded by Andy Priaulx |
Autosport British Competition Driver of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by Jenson Button |
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