Dan Wheldon Crash: Death at Las Vegas 300 Leaves IndyCar Searching for Answers

If IndyCar drivers didn’t appreciate and cherish life before the IndyCar Series’ Las Vegas Indy 300 on Sunday, they certainly should now.

With the untimely and unnerving passing of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon stemming from an accident in the early laps of the race, the participants in the sport need to realize winning isn’t everything.

The accident stemmed from a 15-car pile-up, which Wheldon tried to avoid, as he ended up clipping another car and was sent flying into a fence, ultimately bursting into flames.

"Things happen in this kind of racing," said Wade Cunningham, also caught up in the wreck. "It's so close. Not much room for error. I was near the front of what caused all this, so I'm not thrilled about it. At this point, whose fault it was is kind of immaterial."

John Marshall of the Associated Press described the crash and reasons for it in vivid detail.

"With the speed—close to 225 mph during practice—and a crowded 34-car field, a big worry was aggressive driving early in the 200-lap race.

Chaos started when two cars touched tires coming around turn two and almost no one had time to react.

Within seconds, several cars burst into flames and debris covered the track nearly halfway up the straightaway. Some points of impact were so devastating workers had to patch holes in the asphalt."

It’s a terrible tragedy and IndyCar is going to need to address the reasons as to why it happened in the offseason, which begins today.

The lasting damage and repercussions of this event will be slow and hard to heal. Wheldon's loss may never fade, so the least IndyCar can do is put in safety measures to insure that the chances of tragedy like this happening ever again are greatly reduced.