Dan Wheldon became a full time Indy car driver in 2003 at age 25.  I was 10 about to turn 11.  Wheldon had just signed to run for what is now Andretti Autosport and was running for rookie of the year replacing his car owner Michael Andretti. 

I remember seeing a young British man who was brash, yet had a smile and seemed like an all around nice guy.  I wasn't a fan nonetheless.  He was a pretty boy Kyle Busch to me.

Wheldon won rookie of the year despite not even having a podium finish.  I didn't know what to think of him.

But after 2003 he showed not just myself but the world what kind of special driver he really was.

In 2004 he won three races, his worst finish was 18th and finished second in points behind teammate Tony Kanaan.

In 2005 Wheldon won a then record six races including the Indy 500 and won the series championship.

After all this success with Andretti Autosport, Wheldon decided to go to Chip Ganassi racing. A move that I questioned. How could you be so successful with a team and leave them?  Wheldon wanted more, he wanted to be with the best.

Wheldon won two races a season the three seasons that he was with Ganassi  Never finishing lower than fourth in points. His first season with them his worst finish was 13th when he tied with Sam Hornish Jr for the championship.  Hornish won the tiebreaker based on wins.

Wheldon was yet being out performed by his teammate Scott Dixon, especially on road and street courses.  When he found out Ganassi was trying to bring his former teammate Tony Kanaan to the team to possibly replace him, hurt Whedlon left for the team that he raced for during his first two starts.  Panther Racing.

Wheldon and panther Racing finish second in the Indy 500 two years in a row and finished tenth and ninth in points.  But for a young champion that was hardly enough for him.  And the team expected more.  Panther Racing unfortunately let Wheldon go at the end of the season for rookie JR Hildebrand..

Here was a champion, an Indy 500 winner too, who had never finihsed worst than 11th in points and had 15 career wins, was out of a ride.  Wheldon than decided to do whatever he could for a ride. And put something together for the Indy 500 with Bryan Herta. 

What happened after shocked us all.

The team went out and had speed instantly.  They were contenders all day in the race.  Last lap rookie Hildebrand was leading in Wheldon's former car when trying to pass a lapped car slammed the turn four wall.  Wheldon in second (no one really knew he had made it to second) passed Hildebrand and won his second Indy 500 and his 16th win in the Indy racing league.

Wheldon was in tears in victory lane. A young man with a full time ride had just joined the list of multiple Indy 500 winners.

Wheldon than went into the TV booth.  Everyone was impressed by the job he did commentating.  It was almost certain that when his driving days were officially over that he would be a full time play by play commentator.

But his driving days were not over.

Wheldon allowed by a rule change to compete for $5 million that would be spilt by him, and a fan if he won at Las Vegas. He would team up with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

Wheldon raced at Kentucky and finished 14th.  He went on to Las Vegas where he started 34th.  But he didn't care.  He was in race car and racing against his buddies.  He was having fun.

Wheldon by lap 11 was up to 24th when what everyone saw happening had happened.  A big one. Wheldon was in it.  Intitally everyone thought it was just going to stall the race and everyone was okay.  But Paul Tracy made us this otherwise when he revealed that there were two doctors around Wheldon and that we should pray for him.

We all started praying worrying.  And after hours we got what we all had feared.  Dan Wheldon was announced dead.  It was later revealed that it was due to head trauma. 

The 19 drivers that were left ran a five lap tribute to the young british man who gave his life to racing. 

Drivers from Dario Francittii, Tony Kanaan (who were former teammates and more than likely the closest to Wheldon), to Danica Patrick who didnt always get along with Wheldon, but ultimately became friends with him were tears that one of the best open wheel drivers of the last twenty years was dead.

Wheldon was going to replace a departing Patrick in the 7 car and be Godaddy's new guy in the Indycar racing league. He was going to win more races and championships with no doubt.

But within one lap things changed forever.

The whole racing community mourned the loss of Wheldon.  From NASCAR, Formula One, road racing, V8 cars and etc. 

I watched Wheldon race since I was ten.  I watched him growing up.  I already stated I wasn't a fan.  But when he went to Panther and I saw how he wans't as competitive and still had a great attitude I was impressed.  I saw him get married and have kids I saw the maturity.  He had changed from that brash British 25 year old kid, to a 33 year old man with a family. I was impressed with how he handled himself when he had no ride.  He didn't cry or whine, he waited. I was impressed with how he handled himself after beating the team who dumped with having nothing bad to say about them.

He was a class act.

It was hard to see Dale Earnhardt a man I watched growing up in the 90s too die.  It was just as hard to see Dan Wheldon die.  I never met him, but it felt like I knew him.  And I will miss him

Everyone will.  Rest in Peace Dan.

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On Sunday, October 16, 2011 Dan Wheldon died in Las Vegas while entertaining us.  The concepts of death and entertainment appear mutually exclusive, but they seem to intersect in this tragedy. 

The grisly scene at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sickened us.  We stared.  We hoped. And lastly, we cried.  But we watched.  And that gnaws at me.

I have loved open wheel racing as long as I can remember.  Memorial Day meant listening to Sid Collins call the Greatest Spectacle in Racing on the radio.  My father, born on Memorial Day in 1913, told stories of the races he attended and the drivers he remembered.  My brother, 17 years my senior, regaled me with stories of his races and took me to my first 500 where, at 10 years old, I spent the night before the race on 16th Street and saw Graham Hill win the 500.  Nothing has ever compared to it in pageantry, color, and excitement.  Tom Carnegie’s voice is part of the sound track of my life.  Racing flowed through my veins and made my heart pound.  It still does.  But I am troubled.

The citizens packed the coliseums in Rome to watch gladiators fight to the death.  I can only assume they liked the pageantry, color, and excitement.  I am sure their hearts pounded as the gladiators stepped forth to do battle. 

I am not going to compare modern race fans to the blood lusted citizens of Rome.  None of us want to see the shadow of death drape over a race. I will, however, point to the fact that these drivers, these steely-eyed missile men, risk their lives for our entertainment, risk their lives to make our hearts pound, and sometimes die in the process.  But unlike the Roman gladiators, they choose to do it.

Men and women will continue to risk their lives to go the fastest, to compete with others in contests of speed, stamina, and courage. I think some people are programmed that way.  We will continue to be thrilled and entertained by their attempts.  But are we culpable?  Do we not clamor for more speed, more side-by-side racing.  Do we not demand excitement?  Are we willing to give up the short, high banked ovals?  Are we willing to accept less risk?  Are we willing to be less entertained?

After surveying the Fredericksburg battlefield in 1862, Robert E. Lee said, “It is well that war is so terrible.  We should grow too fond of it.”  Are we still learning this lesson?        

“A good day is any day that you’re alive” - Paul Westerberg

It started raining just as I began the 30-minute trek home from my buddy Dan’s house. Nothing too heavy, mind you, just a sprinkling, certainly nothing like the rain that had dropped on me a few days ago. In fact, it was absolutely perfect, given the circumstances that dictated I even have to walk home - witnessing the passing of racing champion Dan Wheldon, only 33 years old, on national television earlier today, and just how heavily that hit home for me.

About an hour after IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard made the worst announcement that anybody ever has to make, we saluted Wheldon the most fitting way we knew how to as Bostonians - with his drink (Jim Beam, as a former sponsor, was the drink of choice) and with the Dropkick Murphys. “Fields of Athenry” was the choice of song.

But as I walked home, fiddling with my music and perusing the sad, introspective output of Westerberg, something convinced me that “Good Day” was the song to go with. Written to celebrate the life of Westerberg’s former Replacements bandmate Bob Stinson, I had actually skipped it a few days before, thinking “It’s a very rare mood that gets me into this song.” Commence that mood.

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Being a race fan has never been the easiest thing in the world.  On one side you have those who don’t understand why you could watch cars go around in circles for hours upon hours and on the other you have the race fanatics who give you a bad name.  Coming from a Dale Earnhardt, Jr fan this is especially true.  Then there are days like today that you wish you were never introduced to the sport of auto racing.

Death.  The one subject nobody, let alone those involved in racing want to talk about.  It gets shoved so far into the background with all the talk of safer barriers and hans devices, and all the other safety improvements that have been made that when it happens it seems as though the world stops spinning.  And today in a fiery 15 car wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the world stopped spinning.

I have always liked Dan Wheldon.  I can’t say I watched Indy cars religiously but living in Indianapolis it’s all you hear about in the month of May.  Even without having a full time ride this year Dan seemed happy just to be in the Indianapolis 500.  In fact I am certain I have never seen him without a smile on his face or an upbeat attitude.

There is one thing I know for certain.  Everything in this world happens for a reason sometimes we never know why something happens, but the last lap of the Indy 500 was explained fully for us today. 

We as fans will always remember the wins and the heartbreaking finishes.  Only in very extreme circumstances do we remember the exact date something happened, but only in these situations do we come together as race fans to honor those who have passed doing what they love to do.

February 18, 2001.

March 27, 2006.

October 16, 2011.   

Danica Patrick officially announced a few weeks ago that she will be racing in NASCAR full time next year.  Full time in the nationwide series that is for JR Motorsports and 8-10 races for Stewart Haas racing with intentions of running full time in 2013.

But Patrick still has to finish out the 2011 IRLseason.  Her season hasn't been what she wanted.  She has just one top fives, but eight top tens.  Yet she is stuck in 11thin points.  She has yet to really contend for a race win this season too.

The three tracks left are three races that it isn'tout of the question she could win.  She won her first and so far her only win at Twin Ring Motegiin 2008.  But because of damage to the oval they will be racing on the road course.  Patrick despite a road acing background is stronger on ovals.  She will be a top ten car but winning will be harder without strategy.

Kentucky has been fair to her.  And she seems to like the 1.5 mile tracks.  Which is a great thing because right after Kentucky is the last race of the season: Las Vegas.  She should have a shot at the win at bothof those tracks with the equipment that Andertti Autosportfields.  She is the only car that hasn't won this season.

It would be quite something if Danica could leave the Indy racing league withanother career win.  Possible?  Indeed.  But as late as it is in the year it is going to be hard to go against the Dario Francittisand Will Powers of the world.  And with Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan and Helio Catsroneves win lessdrivers with far better resumes then her it seems likely she will end her career with just one win.

(Courtesy of IMS PR)

INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Sept. 9, 2011 - Ron McQueeney stood adjacent to Turn 4 on Opening Day for the 1972 Indianapolis 500, snapping pictures of cars with a sleek, new 35-millimeter motorized Minolta and a boxy, traditional 3 x 5 Speed Graphic camera.

He was on top of his world on his first day as an Indianapolis Motor Speedway track photographer, seemingly at the peak of his creative abilities as a racing photographer.

Then he was assigned to shoot the Garage Area on Race Day, away from the action on track. McQueeney, who took up photography as a U.S. Army motorcycle policeman in Okinawa in the 1960s, was mad.

"First of all, I thought I was better than that," McQueeney said. "Secondly, I thought it was not a very good assignment because not much goes on after the race in the garage area other than people being not too happy."

Veteran IMS photographers Chuck Duffy and Bob Scott told McQueeney that he needed to improve his technique and buy better equipment if he wanted to stay on the job for the 1973 Indianapolis 500.

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Where to start...

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Aaaaand we are back again with more multi-make, multi-class racing from Virginia International Raceway as everything from BMW M3s and Mustang Boss 302Rs to GTIs, MINIs and the first ever Kias to turn a wheel in anger return to our televisions on the SPEED channel.

The Conti' series is the opening act for Grand-Am as that series crosses the country, but often times puts on a better show than big brother.  61 cars make up the field at V.I.R. today in the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes at what is thankfully a fairly large course that will no doubt see some bumps and shunts before the day is over.

Start at 0:40 and see what happened last year at Barber to see a little of what I mean:

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Barber Motorsports Park (via GrandAmVids)

The top qualifiers to start the race in GS are Al Carter in the #45 M3, Joe Foster in the #15 Boss 302R, the #79 M3 of James Clay, the #35 WRX STi of Bret Spaude, and Jack Roush Jr. driving his #61 Boss 302R.

Getting a rolling start behind the larger displacement cars are the ST leaders headed by David Murry and Sam Schutlz in the #73 and 09 Porsche Boxsters, a pair of Volkwagen GTIs driven by teammates Chris Gleason (#181) and Ryan Ellis (171) and Adam Burrows in the #12 Kia Forte Koup - one of the only two Kia race cars in the world.

Eggs/bacon = eaten. Cold one = cracked. Let's get to the racin'...

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GRAND-AM, the sanctioning body that controls the Rolex Sports Car Series (Ever seen the 24 hour race at Daytona? That's them.) has placed a $25,000 bounty on the Ganassi Racing TELMEX BMW/Riley which has won six races in a row stretching back to the 2010 season. Tactics like "rewards" weight and engineering restrictions were apparently deemed too subtle for GRAND-AM Director of Competition Mark Raffauf. Drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas now face an entire field of Daytona Protoype Boba Fetts.

Again: the sanctioning body of a sport offered $25Gs to anyone who can beat one of its competitors. That's unheard of, and there's an official "wanted" poster below the jump.

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Likened to Norman Rockwell on CBS Sunday Morning, artist David Uhl is honored to be selected Program Cover Artist for the historic running of the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500.    

David Uhl has devoted much of his career to creating masterpieces reflecting his passion for the romance of eras past. His understanding of light and color has allowed him to provide beautiful windows into historically intriguing subjects which were originally recorded in black and white.   Because of the timeless nature of his works, David's pieces are sought after by a diverse range of collectors around the world.

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