Obituary: Dan Wheldon, England-born racing driver who found fame and fortune on the US IndyCar circuit

DAN Wheldon, who died aged 33 as a result of an horrific crash in the IndyCar season finale in Las Vegas on Sunday, was one of American motorsport’s most popular drivers. The fact he remained relatively unknown in his home country reflects significantly on the UK’s ignorance of overseas success in motorsport.

Fuelled by the success of his friend, Dario Franchitti, of Bathgate, Wheldon moved to the United States, aged 21, in 1999, eager to carve a name for himself in motor racing.

Acknowledging he could not raise the level of investment required to progress his career in Britain, his decision to move to America proved successful.

In 2005 he won America’s Blue Riband event, the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Englishman to do so since Graham Hill in 1966. It was a success he repeated in May this year. Wheldon, who enjoyed a rivalry with former Formula One world champion Jenson Button during his younger years, also won the Indy Racing League (IRL) IndyCar Championship in 2005.

During his formative years, Wheldon progressed through the ranks of karting — he started racing when he was just four. Fellow Englishman and former F1 driver Anthony Davidson called him the Michael Schumacher of the karting world.

Once settled in the US, Wheldon impressed in the F2000 series before joining Panther Racing’s IRL squad as a test driver in 2002. He then switched to Andretti Green Racing as one of its main drivers, joining his friend Franchitti as team-mate.

In March 2003 – the year he won the Rookie of the Year title – Wheldon miraculously escaped unharmed from a 220mph crash in the Indiana-polis 500 when, with just 14 laps remaining, he spun into a concrete retaining wall and flew through the air before landing upside down on the track.

His response afterwards illustrated his laid-back approach to racing. “I think the accident looks more spectacular than it really is,” he said. “All in all, I think it was a good race, and it is just unfortunate that happened at the end.”

In 2005 he beat Franchitti to the IRL title, racking up a series-record six victories in the process. He also became the first IRL racer since 1996 to win the championship and the Indy500 in the same season.

Wheldon switched from Andretti to the Target Ganassi team, but on 2 September, 2008, he was released from his contract to be replaced – ironically – by Franchitti.

The Englishman, though, vowed to continue racing, and in 2009 and 2010 he powered his Panther Racing car to second place, behind Franchitti in 2010, in the Indy500.

Replaced at Panther for the 2011 race, Wheldon claimed his second Indy500 win driving his Bryan Herta Autosport car. The win, though, came only when Panther Racing’s J R Hildebrand – the man who ousted Wheldon – crashed out of the lead just yards from the finish line on the final lap.

He was always acknowledged as one of the most likeable and fun drivers on the circuit, andWheldon’s career was about to enter a new, positive stage. The Englishman was poised to replace Danica Patrick at Andretti Autosport for the 2012 season.

Committed to pushing and developing safety, Wheldon had spent much of this year developing the new IndyCar chassis which will be used next year.

One of the pioneering safety developments is the incorporation of bodywork to cover the rear tyres aimed directly at preventing cars from being launched into the air, exactly as Wheldon was on lap 11 of Sunday’s race in Las Vegas.

Wheldon’s car ran over another car spinning in turn 2; the aerial ride was horrific. His car appeared to flip upside down before slamming into the outside wall and the fencing above it, before being struck by disabled trailing cars.

The race was red-flagged on lap 12 and abandoned two hours later. The drivers instead returned to their cars and performed a five-lap salute in Wheldon’s honour.

Wheldon was once seen as something of a playboy in the IndyCar paddock, but his life had, over the past few years, settled. Three years ago he married Susie, and he has a two-year-old son, Sebastian; his younger son, Oliver, will be seven months old tomorrow.

“I’ve never been happier,” Wheldon beamed recently, as he acknowledged how the loves of his life, and married life had changed his life for the better.

Wheldon’s smile and approach to life was infectious. He had a Cockney-type accent and his flashing white teeth contributed to his “pin-up” looks.

Franchitti was one of the drivers to lead the five-lap memorial drive in honour of his close friend Wheldon after Sunday’s tragic events.

The Scot – whose fourth IndyCar title, clinched in the race, was left near meaningless – is no stranger to tragedy, having also lost his close friend, Canadian Greg Moore, in another horrific crash in October 1999. He admitted he was left numb by Wheldon’s death.

“I just feel numb,” Franchitti said. “I told his son Sebastian that I’ve known his dad since he was about six years old.

“We’d known him since he was a little kid, and then he’s my team-mate in IndyCars.

“We had a couple of fallouts along the way, but he was a friend. I lost … we lost … a good friend. Everyone saw Dan as a good friend.

“When he first turned up in Indy he was brash but a charmer. I think about his wife, Susie, and the boys, and I struggle to hold it together.

“Dan was a guy everyone down the pit lane loved.”

JIM McGILL