Dan Wheldon
Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldonwas a British racing driver. He was the 2005 IndyCar Series champion and a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the race in 2005 and 2011. Wheldon died from severe head injuries shortly after a collision during the IZOD IndyCar World Championship on 16 October 2011 at the age of 33...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth22 June 1978
cars close earlier engine felt hold line pick practice running speed strange strong teammates tony weekend
Tony and I did it to the Penskes earlier in the weekend in practice. If you've got two cars running in line very close to each other, you can pick up speed like that. It felt strange running up there by myself, because I'm used to having Tony or one of my other teammates around. But I had a strong enough engine to hold them off.
running children dad
The last thing I want my child to see is Dad running around in the middle of the pack. That would really upset me. And that would upset him. I would be embarrassed to take him to school with kids saying, 'Hey, how'd your dad do this weekend?' 'Well, he finished fifth or sixth'.
certainly enables following intention people perceived push run somewhat takes value win winning
In England, if you win the championship, that enables you to run the #1 the following year, and you do it because it somewhat takes the value of winning the championship away if you're not going to use the #1, ... That's how it's perceived certainly with the people I know in Europe. My intention would be to run it if I'm allowed. Certainly that's what I'm going to push for.
grew run somewhat takes value
How I grew up is, you have to run the No.1 because if you don't, it somewhat takes the value away from the championship if you are not going to use the No.1,
celebrate lap practice race run
I'm going to celebrate like a race winner, not a champion, ... If all I have to do is run a practice lap at Watkins Glen, it's going to be the slowest lap you've ever seen.
car good quickly runs speed target
I'm disappointed that we weren't quicker, to be honest. The Target car is really good on the long runs but I just couldn't get it up to speed quickly enough in qualifying trim.
california fifth fourth good happen obviously positions race third
I think California is going to be a really good race because obviously the championship has been decided, but second, third and fourth are up for grabs. There's going to have to be some big things happen for those positions to change. Then I think you have the fifth through 10th pretty close. I think everybody's going to be going for broke.
add certainly chased direction guide maintain matter nice people position pressure sure
I think for sure being chased is the position I want to be in. It does add pressure to the situation, and it's (a matter of) having the right people around you to guide you in the right direction and maintain focus. When you're leading, it's certainly a nice feeling.
screwed somewhat
I think Jenson somewhat screwed me up there,
certainly sometime
I thought I could do it sometime in my career, but certainly not this soon.
accident affects certainly nicest
It certainly affects me when you see an accident like that. It's not the nicest thing at all,
races six special strong winning
Winning the Indianapolis 500 was very special to me, ... but winning six races is something I'll look back on and think that was a strong season.
asking energy feeling helped indy means taken teammates thank three winning
My three teammates have really helped me, and I thank them for that. It's an unbelievable feeling to have this after winning the Indy 500 because that means so much to me. You think you're asking for too much for a championship. It's taken all the energy out of me.
beam bit car cost definitely gamble good hopefully klein race relatively
We didn't get everything we wanted to out of our qualifying run. The Klein Tools/Jim Beam car definitely had a little bit too much understeer and that cost us. It's so competitive out here that you've got to gamble a little bit, but we have a relatively good race car, so hopefully we'll get a good result.