Dan Wheldon: 2 Memories of the Two-Time Indianapolis 500 Champ

Until October 16th, 2011, I had only two memories of the recently deceased IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon. While not a fervent fan of IndyCar itself, I do usually watch the the Indy 500 and note the champions.

Dan Wheldon's victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were memorable racing moments.

The first was his victory over Danica Patrick at the 2005 race. At the time, I was not happy for him. I wanted to see the spectacle of a female driver actually winning. It was not enough just to see her grab first place and finish in fourth. 

I had no real animosity at the time for him, but I remembered his name as "the guy who beat Danica."  Perhaps it was a bit unfair to him, but the Indy 500 is spectacle and, as a racing fan, I was yearning for just that.

Fast-forward to 2011. I had my first chance to go to Charlotte Motor Speedway and witness the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend. It was on the same day as the Indy 500.

I had the chance to get to the track early; the NASCAR race did not begin until well after the race in Indianapolis had concluded.

Standing in the concourse, after going through the turnstiles, I noticed televisions that were broadcasting the race live at IMS.

It was towards the end and I, with a few other fellow fans, witnessed Wheldon's unlikely win after the unexpected crash of the prior leader in turn four. We looked at each other incredulously, asking, "Did that just really happen?" Little did we know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would do almost exactly the same thing a few hours later, only he ran out of fuel vice crashing.

It was a crazy day in racing, full of joy for some and pain for others.

On October 16th, 2011, only one emotion was present: pain.