Dan Wheldon Crash: Where Does IndyCar Go From Here?

The specter of tragedy that hangs over every race in the world of motorsports descended on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, claiming the life of superstar driver Dan Wheldon and sending the IndyCar Series into an offseason of uncertainty in the most unsettling way imaginable.

Wheldon's car was one of 15 involved in a horrific crash on the 12th lap at the Las Vegas Indy 300. Several other drivers—including Will Power, Pippa Mann and JR Hildebrand—were taken to the University Memorial Hospital after the accident. All three appear to be fine and are expected to be released tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the sport of open-wheel racing finds itself at a difficult crossroads. Wheldon had been a staple of the sport, a 33-year-old Briton with two wins at the Indy 500 and the fourth-most victories in the history of the IndyCar Series under his belt.

Wheldon had been scheduled to move into the GoDaddy.com car next season, with Danica Patrick making the jump to NASCAR. Now, the IndyCar Series will have to pick up the pieces without two of its most prominent, most popular and most marketable drivers.

The drivers collectively decided to cancel the rest of the race after a five-lap tribute, leaving Dario Franchitti with his third-straight series championship in what is undoubtedly the most bittersweet moment of his long and storied racing career. Power had been in the running for the title, but for the second time in as many years, he was knocked out by an accident in the finale.

As for the IndyCar Series itself, this latest tragedy raises serious questions about the safety of the sport and, more importantly, the provisions taken by the organization as a whole to ensure that safety. There is no way to ensure that nothing bad will happen when you have lightweight vehicles traveling at speeds upwards of 200 miles per hour and, occasionally, colliding with each other in the process.

However, Wheldon's death is the fifth casualty for the series since 1996 and the first since 2006. Some drivers had also expressed concern about the fitness the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for hosting an IndyCar event, particularly after seeing some hit extremely high speeds in practice. As such, it's entirely possible that an investigation into the circumstances of the crash will show negligence on the part of those in charge of the event, most notably IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard.

Furthermore, the IndyCar Series was already on thin ice before Sunday's tragic events. In just his second season as the CEO of the sport, Bernard had gone above and beyond to make sure that the Las Vegas Indy 300 would be an all-around success after last season's finale pulled in an abysmal 0.8 rating on ABC. Bernard went about renting the speedway and promoting the event himself, with a veritable party all over the Las Vegas Strip, while putting up $5 million as a reward for any moonlighting driver who came away victorious.

The same $5 million that Wheldon had been competing for.

All told, the IndyCar Series now finds itself ever closer to the brink of disaster, with only sadness and a pile of smoldering wreckage to show for what was supposed to be a renaissance in open-wheel racing.