Dan Wheldon Dead After Indy 300 Las Vegas Horror Crash: Driver Revealed Car Issues Before Race (VIDEO)
Before his last life-ending race on Sunday Dan Wheldon wrote about issues that he was having with his car in USA Today.
Right before the Izod IndyCar World Championships, Wheldon, 33, said he encountered some problems.
“So far, things haven't been going very well as we've started our pursuit of the GoDaddy IndyCar Challenge this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but I'm confident in the ability of the guys at Sam Schmidt Motorsports to find the problem and get it fixed,” Wheldon wrote.
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In what was supposed to be his comeback performance, Wheldon was racing for half of a $5 million reward from Randy Bernard, IndyCar CEO. Bernard reportedly wanted to generate more interest in Indy sports, and thought Wheldon would be a good opportunity, since he was the last car in the race.
However, Wheldon admitted that issues may have stood in the way of his obtaining $2.5 million, half of what he would split with a fan from Bernard’s offer.
“It's actually been a very difficult weekend for us so far,” Wheldon told USA Today. “Basically we carried over our problem from Kentucky Speedway, where we just didn't have the speed and never really found it.
Although Wheldon said his team was working hard, he said that Thursday and Friday practice runs showed that issues still remained before his big race.
“During Thursday's practice session and Friday's practice and qualifying sessions, we were quite a bit off the pace in the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins Magnolia/William Rast Dallara/Honda,” Wheldon wrote in USA Today. “When I say quite a bit, I mean more than 3 mph off the pace. If we start the race that far off the pace, it's going to be difficult to keep up.”
The race on Sunday was Wheldon’s last, and he was pronounced dead after his car crashed and erupted in flames following a 15-car pile up.
Dan Wheldon Dies in Massive Crash at Indy 300 in Las Vegas (WARNING: STRONG CONTENT):
