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2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship

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United States 2011 Las Vegas
Race details
18th round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season
The layout of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the race was held
DateOctober 16, 2011
Official nameIZOD IndyCar World Championship
LocationLas Vegas Motor Speedway, Clark County, Nevada
CourseOval
1.544 mi / 2.485 km
Distance200 laps
308.800 mi / 496.965 km
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 93.9 °F (34.4 °C); wind speeds up to 17.1 miles per hour (27.5 km/h)[1]
Pole position
DriverTony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology)
Time50.0582, 222.078 mph (357.400 km/h)
Podium
FirstNone, race was abandoned after twelve completed laps and 5 tribute laps.
SecondN/A
ThirdN/A

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship was the final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar series schedule. The event took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Clark County, Nevada on October 16, 2011. The race was stopped following a major accident triggered by drivers trying to avoid light contact between Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe. Fifteen cars were involved in the wreck, which resulted in the death of 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon. After a several hour delay, IndyCar elected to cancel the remaining 188 laps of the event after word of Wheldon's death was relayed to the drivers.

Report

Background

The Las Vegas race was added to the schedule for the 2011 season and replaced the event at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the final event of the IndyCar season. The races at Homestead and at the International Speedway Corporation tracks were removed from the schedule following the 2010 season. Las Vegas Motor Speedway was returning to the IndyCar schedule for the first time since 2000 – and the first open-wheel race at the circuit since the Hurricane Relief 400 Champ Car event in 2005 – and none of the drivers in the race had raced at the circuit since it was reconfigured in 2006, which saw a greater degree of banking added to the circuit to encourage side-by-side racing.[2] The race was scheduled for 200 laps around the 1.544 mi (2.485 km) oval, totaling 308.800 mi (496.965 km).

On May 3, 2011, IndyCar president Randy Bernard issued a challenge to the world's top drivers by declaring that a $5,000,000 (USD) prize would be awarded to any driver who was not a regular driver on the IndyCar circuit to enter the race at Las Vegas and start from the back of the grid.[3] He wanted to attract NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers to come to the track, but none took up the challenge. NASCAR's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, was scheduled for the night before and may have caused a conflict for drivers that would otherwise have considered racing in both races, though Bernard dismissed the suggestion. With no outside drivers taking the challenge, IndyCar decided on a revised idea for the finale. Dan Wheldon, who had been driving a part-time schedule after losing his ride at Panther Racing and who had won the Indianapolis 500 earlier in the season, would be given a chance to win the prize, to be split with a randomly chosen fan.[4]

Entering the race there was a two-way battle for the IndyCar Championship between Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti and Team Penske's Will Power. Franchitti was eighteen points ahead of Power, retaking the championship points lead from him with a second-place finish at the 2011 Kentucky Indy 300 two weeks previously. Power was still mathematically in the points race despite a poor finish at Kentucky, but needed to finish far ahead of Franchitti in order to win the championship.[5]

The race's honorary grand marshal was skateboarder Tony Hawk, who gave the command to start the engines.[6]

Qualifying

Tony Kanaan won the pole position with an average speed of 222.078 miles per hour

Tony Kanaan, driving the #82 GEICO Dallara for KV Racing Technology, qualified on pole for the race and shared the front row with Oriol Servià, driving the #2 Telemundo Dallara for Newman/Haas Racing. The rest of the top ten included Ed Carpenter, Alex Tagliani, Ryan Briscoe, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Danica Patrick, and Mike Conway.[7] Power and Franchitti qualified on Row 9, in seventeenth and eighteenth respectively. Wheldon qualified twenty-ninth, driving the #77 Bowers & Wilkins Dallara for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.[8] Both Wheldon and Buddy Rice, who had qualified on the inside of Row 10, had to start from the rear of the field; Rice received a penalty in qualifying and Wheldon moved to the back as part of the $5 million challenge.[3]

Lap 11 crash

The accident scene shortly after it began. Dan Wheldon's car, at the bottom of the picture, has just left the racing surface.

The accident began on the front stretch, approaching the first turn when James Hinchcliffe was clipped by Wade Cunningham.[9] Cunningham and J. R. Hildebrand then made contact and then Cunningham swerved and Hildebrand drove over the rear of his car. Hildebrand's car went airborne and Cunningham collected Jay Howard on the inside and then Townsend Bell on the outside before crashing into the outside wall. Attempting to avoid the crash ahead, Vitor Meira lost control, spinning inward collecting both Charlie Kimball and E. J. Viso. When this part of the melee occurred, Tomas Scheckter was also attempting to avoid the first crash by rapidly slowing down on the outside. Following that, Paul Tracy ran into the back of Scheckter's car and Pippa Mann, rapidly approaching, flew over the top of him after jerking to the outside to avoid crashing into Alex Lloyd.

In the pile-up that followed, two cars flew into the air as they came upon the accident. One belonged to Will Power, who ran over Lloyd, struck the SAFER barrier, and hit the track sideways, causing his car to roll and have it's front wheels come off with the right front tire barely missing his head. The other one was Dan Wheldon, who was racing at 220 miles per hour when he came upon the scene, frantically trying to avoid the collision. Although he was able to considerably slow his car down, Wheldon's car flew into the air after running into the back of Kimball, and the #77 went barrel-rolling into the catch fence at turn 2 cockpit-first. Wheldon's head struck one of the fence posts and his car fell back onto the track sliced apart before sliding to a stop next to the safety barrier.[10]

"The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from [The] Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere."

Ryan Briscoe's reaction to driving through the scene of the accident, one lap after the collision.[11]

A total of fifteen cars were involved in the accident, with the most severe injuries suffered by Wheldon, Power, Hildebrand, and Mann.[12] Wheldon had to be extricated from the vehicle and was airlifted to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 1:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time. His official cause of death was given by the Clark County Coroner as blunt force trauma to the head due to the incident.[13] Mann and Hildebrand were later taken to the hospital for overnight observation, while Power was evaluated and released that day.[12] The caution flag was already thrown, and track officials elected to throw the red flag after one additional lap had been completed. While track repair work continued, concern began to grow over the condition of Wheldon as word had not been relayed to anyone at the track nor was Wheldon seen walking out of his car.

"IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and team owners, have decided to end the race. In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute in his honor. It will take place in approximately 10 minutes. Thank you."

Randy Bernard, announcing the confirmation of Wheldon's death to the media.[14]

Shortly before the announcement of Wheldon's death, the scoring tower was blanked except for the #77, which was put at the top of the pylon in honor of Wheldon. After the announcement, the Bryan Herta Autosport entry that Wheldon had taken to victory lane at Indianapolis in May, driven that day by Tagliani, was parked in Wheldon's honor and the remaining cars that were running when the race was called lined up three abreast in Indianapolis 500 starting formation, on pit road with all the racers' crew members lined up in the pit boxes. Led by Kanaan, Carpenter, and Briscoe, the cars departed pit road and ran at warmup lap speed, with the pace car leading the way, for five laps while every crew member and person behind the wall moved to the grass separating pit road from the track to watch.[15][16] The track loudspeakers blared versions of "Danny Boy" and "Amazing Grace" played on bagpipes while the cars went around the track, and each time the cars passed the start/finish line the fans remaining in the frontstretch grandstand offered applause. At the end of the five laps, the starter waved two checkered flags to signify the end while the cars proceeded around the track one more time before exiting for the pits in turn four.[12][15] Wheldon's death was the first suffered by an IndyCar driver since Paul Dana was killed in a race morning practice crash at Homestead-Miami in 2006.[14]

Championship resolution

Franchitti claimed the championship after the accident as no points were awarded and he was the points leader before the race. This was Franchitti's third consecutive championship[15] and fourth overall.[10] As Power suffered severe car damage in the lap 11 crash, Franchitti would have won the championship regardless if the race had continued.

Reactions

After the race was abandoned, the nineteen cars that were not damaged in the accident returned to the circuit, at pace-lap speed for five laps as a mark of respect to Dan Wheldon. At the far right of this photo is the scoring pylon showing Wheldon's number 77 at the top.

At the time of his death, Wheldon had been working with IndyCar officials to develop the ICONIC chassis with the intention of improving safety in the sport.[17] Planned changes to the chassis include larger cockpits for driver protection and bodywork over the rear wheels to prevent cars from launching off one another in the event of a collision, long a problem in open-wheel racing, regardless of oval or road course, but troublesome on high-speed ovals and tight street circuits with a long straight and a tight turn, similar to the style of many modern road courses.[18]

Prominent figures within the IndyCar fraternity and the wider international motorsport community expressed their condolences to Wheldon and his family.[19] Wheldon had been scheduled to take part in the Gold Coast 600, a round of the V8 Supercars championship, on October 22, racing alongside his friend James Courtney. Upon hearing of Wheldon's death, Courtney described the accident as a sobering reminder of the dangers faced by racing drivers.[20] As the first major international motorsport event after Wheldon's death, organizers of the V8 Supercars series planned a series of tributes to him at the Gold Coast 600.[21] Wheldon's place was taken by another British driver, Darren Turner, an FIA GT1 World Championship competitor. Wheldon's name was left on the car as a mark of respect,[22] while British drivers at the event paid tribute to him with helmet decals, and several other drivers planned individual tributes to Wheldon.[23] Kanaan, who had also been scheduled to race in Australia, announced his withdrawal from the event out of respect for Wheldon. However, Briscoe, Tagliani, and Hélio Castroneves, all of whom raced at Las Vegas, along with other part-time IndyCar drivers Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud, who were not at Las Vegas, did race.[24] Bourdais, the best performing "International" driver, received the Dan Wheldon Memorial Trophy. Sam Schmidt, for whom Wheldon had been racing at the time of his accident, admitted that the events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had prompted him to re-evaluate his involvement in motorsports.[25] Similarly, veteran drivers Davey Hamilton[25] and Paul Tracy[26] said they were considering retiring from racing on the back of the accident.

"I could see within five laps [that] people were starting to do crazy stuff. I love hard racing, but that to me is not really what it's about. One small mistake from somebody [...] right now I'm numb and speechless. One minute you're joking around in driver intros and the next he's gone. He was six years old when I first met him. I told his son Thursday night at the parade on The Strip that I’ve known his dad since he was about your size. And then I talked to a friend of mine, Jesse Spence, that I used to race go-karts with that we’ve known him since he was this little kid. His mouth worked plenty good, but he was just this little kid and the next thing you know he was my teammate in IndyCars. We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships, it’s what we love to do, it’s what we live for, and then on days like today it doesn’t really matter. Everybody in the IndyCar Series was Dan's friend."

Dario Franchitti, describing his feelings in the aftermath of the accident.[15]

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, several drivers at the 2011 Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega on the weekend after Wheldon's death put special tributes on their cars, like NASCAR issuing the "Lionheart Knight" decal Wheldon wore on his helmet,[27] which were placed on the cars' b-pillars,[28] along with T. J. Bell putting Wheldon's name on the namerail.[29]

Driver Marco Andretti withdrew from The Celebrity Apprentice, which started taping days after the incident, and was replaced by his father Michael, team principal of Andretti Autosport.[30]

On December 9, 2011, IndyCar decided that they were not going to return to Las Vegas for the 2012 season.[31] Randy Bernard expressed reluctance to return to the speedway following Wheldon's death, despite the insistence of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. president Bruton Smith (who owns the track in Las Vegas as well as three other tracks used by the IndyCar series) for the series to honor its three year contract with the track. As of that date, the investigation into the accident was still ongoing and IndyCar was holding back on the release of its 2012 schedule until that investigation, as well as one into whether or not the series can continue racing on high-banked ovals such as Las Vegas and Texas Motor Speedway in Denton, Texas, one of the IndyCar series' staples since 1997 (although Texas did not have its 2012 IndyCar sanctioning before the Las Vegas race in 2011, the investigation has delayed that).[32] Texas was eventually placed on the 2012 schedule.[30]

The series went to new restrictions on restarts. IndyCar announced that restarts would only be single-file in 2012, rather than double-file as they had been the previous season.[33]

Criticism

"A lot of things that happened in this race they are hoping would not happen with these changes. Maybe the scale has tipped a little bit too far to make it more entertaining. They would serve themselves well if they listened to the drivers a little bit more ... and the concerns they voiced."

Former driver Eddie Cheever's criticism of series officials' renewed focus on entertainment.[18]

In the build-up to the race, several drivers expressed unease at the race – with Franchitti, Oriol Servià and Alex Lloyd the most vocal opponents – particularly given the high degree of banking around the circuit,[18] with between 18 and 20 degrees of banking in the corners. Franchitti was quoted as saying that the track was "not suitable" for IndyCar racing,[34] while championship rival Will Power – himself a staunch critic of short-track oval racing – described the race as "an accident waiting to happen".[35]

The field of 34 drivers was the biggest in an IndyCar series race in 14 years. A typical oval track race has 6 to 8 fewer drivers, except for the Indianapolis 500, which normally has a 33-car field.[36] ESPN.com senior motorsports writer Terry Blount wrote: "Obviously more cars presents more danger. They wanted a whole lot of cars cause obviously this is their season finale and they wanted it to be a big deal. Some of the people that were driving in this event yesterday had no business being in it. Some of them had never driven on a track like this. That was a mistake".[34] Chris Powell, president of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, defended the race, saying that the circuit had passed all of the IndyCar Series' accreditation procedures and was deemed suitable for racing. He also went on the record to say that despite the media reporting the concerns of several drivers over the safety of the event, none of those concerns had been raised with him.[37]

1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter, whose son Tomas was involved in the accident, was highly critical of the series organizers, stating that a serious accident was "inevitable" as "they were basically touching wheels at 220 mph (350 km/h). They all bunch up together so there are thirty-four cars in a small space of track. One person makes a mistake and this happens. You [shouldn't] have to get killed if you make a mistake. It was madness."[38] Former Formula One and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell agreed, claiming that the Las Vegas circuit was unsuitable for IndyCar racing – this was the last race for the Dallara IR05 – while NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson called for the series to leave oval racing altogether,[39] though he clarified his statement by saying that the open-wheel type cars on a resurfaced 1.5 mi (2.4 km) track built for the heavier Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series cars was a bad idea.[40] However, former champion Mario Andretti said that the accident was a "freakish" one-off incident and that facilities at the circuit were adequate for racing.[41] While he admitted surprise that more drivers were not seriously injured, he also cautioned against what he called "knee-jerk reactions" to the accident, calling for any changes to the sport to be carefully considered before being introduced, rather than being rushed into action. Former FIA President Max Mosley, a long-time advocate of increased safety in motorsport, agreed with Andretti, urging a "calm and scientific" approach to any proposed changes,[42] particularly when asked about the proposed introduction of closed canopies for open-wheel racing cars.[43]

The five million dollar prize was also the subject of criticism in that a driver inexperienced in driving IndyCars would have a higher risk of causing a crash,[2] though Formula One driver Anthony Davidson downplayed the influence of the prize in causing the accident, stating that racing drivers by their nature try to win every race, whether they start from first or last.[38] Many short track races in the United States offer a cash or points bonus where a driver who wins the pole and starts last can collect a cash bonus for winning; this was used at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in the "Night Before F1" midget car race where the winner of the first feature race started last for the second in a reverse-grid race, and a driver who starts last by winning the first feature, starting last, and winning the second feature wins a cash bonus. Some series offer a point bonus for the driver who makes up the most positions in a race.

In the days following the incident, it was learned that two additional drivers had been approached to try for the $5 million challenge prize. One was Scott Speed, who previously ran open-wheel Formula One cars for Scuderia Toro Rosso and who had raced on the reconfigured LVMS track in the Craftsman Truck Series for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in 2008 and for Team Red Bull in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2009 and 2010. Speed, in an interview he gave to Inside Edition on October 18, 2011, said that he declined to take the offer saying that the track conditions were too dangerous for Indy-type cars.[44] Finnish media reported that 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, who was splitting time between the World Rally Championship and NASCAR in 2011, had also been approached to take part in the race,[45] but Räikkönen rejected the offer as he was not confident of having a competitive car, rather than having concerns over safety.

Investigation

"The chassis of the [Wheldon's] #77 impacted a post along the right-side of the tub and created a deep defect in the tub that extended from the pedal bulkhead, along the upper border of the tub, and through the cockpit. As the race car passed by, the pole intruded into the cockpit and made contact with the drivers' helmet and head. Dan's injury was limited to his head injury. Dan appeared to suffer two distinct head forces. The first head force created a level of Head Injury Criterion, also known as a HIC number, that normally does not produce any injury. During the initial crash sequence, the accident data recorder measured 12 or 13 impacts. During that timeframe one of those impacts measured a measurable HIC number for Dan – that's the number that does not normally cause injury. The number was low enough. The second force was a physical impact, and it was the second force that caused a non-survivable blunt force injury trauma to Dan's head."

Brian Barnhart, detailing the sequence of events surrounding the accident in the official report on Wheldon's death.[46]

Three days after the accident, series organizers announced that the race would be the subject of a full investigation. The other members of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States (ACCUS), the national governing body of automobile racing in the United States and a member of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), made their resources available for the investigation, which IndyCar officials expect to take several weeks.[47] As all ACCUS/FIA members are participating in the investigation, IndyCar will have full use of the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. In the meantime, all testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was cancelled indefinitely; Franchitti and Chip Ganassi Racing had been planning to test the 2012-spec Dallara chassis at the circuit in the week following the race.

Results

The results of the investigation into Wheldon's death were released on December 15, 2011. In a report prepared by crash investigators, it was found that Wheldon's death was caused by an impact with the catch fencing around the circuit.[46] Brian Barnhart further rejected claims that the banking of the circuit contributed to the accident,[48] stating that the banking of the circuit created two ideal racing lines, and that these lines made the location of cars more predictable for other drivers; at the time of the accident, all thirty-four cars had been behaving as expected. The report also revealed that the right front pull rod of the suspension assembly penetrated Wheldon's survival cell, though it did not cause him any injury. The report recommended further investigation of this phenomenon, as it was the first recorded incident of its kind in nine years of the use of the IR03 and later IR05 model chassis, which was being retired at the end of the race. The pull-rod suspension chassis is not being utilised in the DW12.[49]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No. Driver Team Speed (mph)
1 82 Brazil Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology – Lotus 222.078
2 2 Spain Oriol Servià Newman/Haas Racing 222.061
3 67 United States Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher Racing 221.509
4 98 Canada Alex Tagliani Bryan Herta Autosport 221.330
5 6 Australia Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 221.130
6 26 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 221.129
7 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 221.040
8 38 United States Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing 220.958
9 7 United States Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 220.925
10 27 United Kingdom Mike Conway Andretti Autosport 220.922
11 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 220.907
12 17 New Zealand Wade Cunningham (R) AFS Racing/Sam Schmidt Motorsports 220.790
13 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 220.715
14 06 Canada James Hinchcliffe (R) Newman/Haas Racing 220.701
15 4 United States J. R. Hildebrand (R) Panther Racing 220.639
16 5 Japan Takuma Sato KV Racing Technology – Lotus 220.627
17 12 Australia Will Power Team Penske 220.524
18 10 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 220.489
19 44 United States Buddy Rice Panther Racing 220.3921
20 34 Colombia Sebastián Saavedra (R) Conquest Racing 220.335
21 19 United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne Racing 220.314
22 83 United States Charlie Kimball (R) Chip Ganassi Racing 219.982
23 22 United States Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 219.942
24 57 South Africa Tomas Scheckter Sarah Fisher Racing 219.816
25 11 United States Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 219.493
26 14 Brazil Vitor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 219.273
27 8 Canada Paul Tracy Dragon Racing 218.661
28 15 United Kingdom Jay Howard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 218.577
29 77 United Kingdom Dan Wheldon Sam Schmidt Motorsports 218.4102
30 30 United Kingdom Pippa Mann (R) Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 218.157
31 24 Brazil Ana Beatriz (R) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 218.153
32 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing 218.132
33 59 Venezuela E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology – Lotus no time set
34 18 United Kingdom James Jakes (R) Dale Coyne Racing no time set
Source:[7][50]

Notes:

  1. ^ – Rice was moved to the back of the grid after receiving a penalty for running below the white line.[7][51]
  2. ^ – Wheldon agreed to start the race from thirty-fourth and last place on the grid as part of the organizers' five million dollar challenge.[3]

Scoring when abandoned

Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led
1 82 Brazil Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology – Lotus 12 Running 1 12
2 67 United States Ed Carpenter Sarah Fisher Racing 12 Running 3 0
3 6 Australia Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 12 Running 5 0
4 26 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 12 Running 6 0
5 2 Spain Oriol Servià Newman/Haas Racing 12 Running 2 0
6 98 Canada Alex Tagliani Bryan Herta Autosport 12 Running 4 0
7 38 United States Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing 12 Running 8 0
8 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 12 Running 7 0
9 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 12 Running 11 0
10 06 Canada James Hinchcliffe (R) Newman/Haas Racing 12 Running 14 0
11 5 Japan Takuma Sato KV Racing Technology – Lotus 12 Running 16 0
12 7 United States Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 12 Running 9 0
13 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 12 Running 13 0
14 10 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 12 Running 18 0
15 34 Colombia Sebastián Saavedra (R) Conquest Racing 12 Running 19 0
16 27 United Kingdom Mike Conway Andretti Autosport 12 Running 10 0
17 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing 12 Running 30 0
18 24 Brazil Ana Beatriz (R) Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 12 Running 29 0
19 11 United States Davey Hamilton Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 12 Running 24 0
20 18 United Kingdom James Jakes (R) Dale Coyne Racing 11 In Pits 32 0
21 14 Brazil Vitor Meira A. J. Foyt Enterprises 11 Contact 25 0
22 17 New Zealand Wade Cunningham (R) AFS Racing/Sam Schmidt Motorsports 10 Contact 12 0
23 4 United States J. R. Hildebrand (R) Panther Racing 10 Contact 15 0
24 22 United States Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 10 Contact 22 0
25 15 United Kingdom Jay Howard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 10 Contact 27 0
26 57 South Africa Tomas Scheckter Sarah Fisher Racing 10 Contact 23 0
27 83 United States Charlie Kimball (R) Chip Ganassi Racing 10 Contact 21 0
28 8 Canada Paul Tracy Dragon Racing 10 Contact 26 0
29 59 Venezuela E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology – Lotus 10 Contact 31 0
30 77 United Kingdom Dan Wheldon Sam Schmidt Motorsports 10 Contact 34 0
31 19 United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne Racing 10 Contact 20 0
32 30 United Kingdom Pippa Mann (R) Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 10 Contact 28 0
33 12 Australia Will Power Team Penske 10 Contact 17 0
34 44 United States Buddy Rice Panther Racing 10 Contact 33 0
Source:[52]

Standings after the race

As the race was abandoned after the accident, Dario Franchitti defended his series championship, finishing with 573 points
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti 573
2 Australia Will Power 555
3 New Zealand Scott Dixon 518
4 Spain Oriol Servià 425
5 Brazil Tony Kanaan 366
Source:[53]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

See also

References

  1. ^ "2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Fryer, Jenna (October 18, 2011). "Factors converged in crash that killed Dan Wheldon". Yahoo! News. Yahoo Inc. Associated Press. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Allen, James (October 16, 2011). "Dan Wheldon". James Allen on F1. James Allen. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  4. ^ Sturbin, John (September 14, 2011). "Bernard Revises INDYCAR Vegas Challenge". Racintoday.com. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  5. ^ Peltz, Jim (October 3, 2011). "IndyCar racing fires on all cylinders at Kentucky event". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011.
  6. ^ "Hawk to be Grand Marshal at Vegas". PaddockTalk. October 12, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "IZOD IndyCar World Championship: Qualifications" (PDF). IndyCar Series. IndyCar. October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011. [dead link]
  8. ^ "Tony Kanaan takes pole for season finale in Las Vegas". AutoWeek. Crain Communications. October 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  9. ^ Bradley, Charles (October 16, 2011). "IndyCar finale red-flagged after 13-car accident". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  10. ^ a b Oreovicz, John (October 17, 2011). "Dan Wheldon's death stuns racing world". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  11. ^ Clark, Laine (October 17, 2011). "IndyCar drivers want change after fatality". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  12. ^ a b c "Dan Wheldon dies in huge crash at IndyCar finale". USA Today. David Hunke; Gannett Company. Associated Press. October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  13. ^ Ritter, Ken (October 17, 2011). "Wheldon died of head injuries". Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo!. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 22, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  14. ^ a b "Dan Wheldon dies following IndyCar crash at Vegas". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  15. ^ a b c d Lewandowski, Dave (October 16, 2011). "Wheldon succumbs to injuries in crash". IndyCar Series. IndyCar. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  16. ^ "Briton Dan Wheldon dies in IndyCar race in Las Vegas". BBC Sport. BBC. October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  17. ^ Cavin, Curt (October 17, 2011). "Dan Wheldon had been helping IndyCar with safety for 2012". USA Today. David Hunke; Gannett Company. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  18. ^ a b c "Dan Wheldon's death ignites fresh IndyCar danger debate". PerthNow. News Limited. Agence France-Presse. October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  19. ^ "Motorsport pays tribute to Dan Wheldon". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  20. ^ "Courtney: Wheldon's fate a reality check". Speedcafe.com. SpeedCafe. October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  21. ^ "V8s and teams plan tributes to Wheldon". Speedcafe.com. SpeedCafe. October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  22. ^ "Wheldon's name to run on #1 HRT window". Speedcafe.com. SpeedCafe. October 20, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  23. ^ "BRDC members pay tribute to Dan Wheldon". Speedcafe.com. SpeedCafe. October 20, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  24. ^ Noble, Jonathan (October 17, 2011). "Tony Kanaan and Will Power pull out of all-star Surfers race". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  25. ^ a b O'Leary, Jamie; Strang, Simon (October 18, 2011). "Sam Schmidt could close team following Dan Wheldon's death". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  26. ^ Noble, Jonathan (October 18, 2011). "Paul Tracy hopes that Dan Wheldon's death acts as spur for IndyCar chiefs to improve oval safety". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship Presented by Honda of Las Vegas.


Previous race:
2011 Kentucky Indy 300 		IndyCar Series
2011 season 		Next race:
2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Previous race:
2010 Cafés do Brasil Indy 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway 		INDYCAR World Championship
Denotes final race of season, naming convention adopted in 2011 		Next race:
2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships
Auto Club Speedway
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