I awoke long before my alarm went off. Fresh off three hours
of sleep, I was ready for the day ahead. Myself, along with two best
friends were in Vegas celebrating my birthday, a friends graduation and the end
of a great Indy Car season. My uncle and grandfather were just excited, I
hadn’t seen either in four years. My grandfather use to take me to races a kid,
so today was going to be a great pay back to him.
I was ready for a near perfect day. My friend; Dan Wheldon, a friend to anyone who shook his
hand or received an autograph was racing for a 5 million dollar prize in the
final race of the Indy Car season. I was fortunate enough to have known Dan
since 2004, but got closer with him throughout the summer of 2011 when he would
come to Indy to test the new Indy Car or to make appearances. We would head to Broad Ripple where Dan was
recognized everywhere, signing autographs and posing for pictures at will. I
was ready to introduce my grandfather and uncle to the defending Indianapolis
500 champion.
As we approached our seats, I explained to my uncle that Dan
was the best. A two time winner of the Indy 500 and a fan favorite to everyone,
He was a favorite to my six year old
brother at the time. He always made sure everyone had everything they wanted
autographed. The prior August, I snapped a picture of my brother and Dan for
the first time and had him autograph a picture personalized to my brother,
little did I know, that autograph and picture would mean more to my brother
than I ever wanted to imagine.
As the green flag flew, I had no worries in the world. I was
in Vegas on vacation, had close friends and family next to me, and of course
the race. I knew it would be a wild
race, all those cars, some untested drivers, and a track that had not been ran
on by the Indy Car Series in a few years, I even tweeted it would be a chaotic
race, but the chaos that ensued was nothing like I could have ever imagined.
I recorded the 11Th lap on my digital camera, and
for whatever reason, decided to put the camera down for a few minutes and take
in the action. Everyone was still on their feet and as they cars went into turn
one that chaos came to life. I remember
seeing multiple cars get air born, and it was hard to tell who it was through
the smoke, fire and debris. I watched Dan’s #77 fly through the air and make
contact with the catch fence. My heart sank, I had never seen anything more
horrific in my entire life time of going to races. As the rest of the field circled around, I
tried to sort out who was involved in the accident. I could see Dan’s car on the back stretch and
a driver walking towards it. I had grown used to seeing horrific accidents and
had also grown used to seeing drivers making full recoveries, but this felt
very different.
Nothing was announced for a long time after the crash.
Something awful had to have happened, as I watched the safety crew place a tarp
over the cockpit of at least two cars, one of which was Dan’s. As a lifelong
race fan, I knew that was a sign of nothing positive. As my phone frantically
blew up, I remember following the helicopter from its launch pad over the top
of the bleachers and out of sight. We waited, and waited and it became more
apparent that the person in the helicopter was Dan, and the chances of him
surviving were little to none.
We tried looking on Twitter and listened to the Indy Car
Radio broadcast. We didn’t want to speculate until word came, the emotions
where too much as I had already started to cry. I walked around the outside of
the track, trying to get the better cell phone service, trying to collect
myself. As I walked back to my seat, the announcement came. Dan had been taken
from the Indy Car world.
The only memories I have of the tribute laps that followed
were through the pictures I had snapped during it. I walked through the paddock
to find a close friend who had worked with Dan in the past and told him to get
home safely. As I searched for another close friend, who was even closer to
Dan, I couldn’t bare it much longer and decided to leave the track.
Dan will be remembered for his determination on the track,
his 2 Indy 500 triumphs, his 2005 Indy Car Series Championship and his smile
and ability to turn every fan of his, into a friend. I was fortunate to have
gotten a little closer with him than most, and those memories I will cherish
and pass on to my kids in the future, God speed Danny boy.
