Dan Wheldon

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Dan Wheldon

Daniel Clive Wheldon (born 22 June 1978 in Emberton

Emberton

Emberton is a village and civil parish in the Milton Keynes , Buckinghamshire#Ceremonial County in England. The village is near the border with Northamptonshire, just to the south of Olney, Buckinghamshire and four miles north of Newport Pagnell....
, England

England

England

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports....
driver. The 2005 Indy Racing League

Indy Racing League

The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel Auto racing.The League sanctions two series, the premier IndyCar Series , whose centerpiece is the Indianapolis 500, and Firestone Indy Lights, the official developmental series of the Indy Racing League....
champion and Indy 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or commonly known simply as The 500, is an USA automobile auto racing, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana....
winner, Wheldon is nicknamed "Difficult Dan" in the IRL pit lane for his choleric temperament. He currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers, as well as a politically important swing state in U.S....
.

ng up karting at the age of four with funding from his father, Wheldon progressed through the junior ranks of motor racing during his school years.

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Encyclopedia

Daniel Clive Wheldon (born 22 June 1978 in Emberton

Emberton

England

England

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports....
driver. The 2005 Indy Racing League

Indy Racing League

Indianapolis 500

St. Petersburg, Florida

Beginnings

Taking up karting at the age of four with funding from his father, Wheldon progressed through the junior ranks of motor racing during his school years. Attending Bedford School

Bedford School

Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School .Bedford School is a independent school for boys in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England and one of five run by the Harpur Trust....
until he completed his GCSEs at age 16, he frequently took time off to race. During his early career in open wheel racing, he developed a rivalry with Jenson Button

Jenson Button

Jenson Alexander Lyons Button is a United Kingdom Formula One racing driver from England. He currently drives for the Brawn GP team. He won his first Grand Prix in 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, on 6 August 2006 after 113 races....
before ultimately leaving the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
to race in America. The reasoning behind the move was that the level of investment needed to fund his racing career in the UK wasn't able to be provided by his family.Moving to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
in 1999, he spent several years in lower open-wheeled

Open wheel car

Open-wheel car describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and, in most cases, one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, stock car racings, and touring car racing, which have their wheels below the body or fenders....
circuits like the U.S. Ford Formula 2000 series, the Toyota Atlantic series

Champ Car Atlantic Championship

The Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda is a formula racing series with races throughout North America. It is often colloquially referred to as the Atlantic Championship, Champ Car Atlantics , Toyota Atlantics , or just Atlantics or Formula Atlantic, although the latter two terms risk confusion w...
and the Indy Lights series.

IRL

In 2002, Wheldon moved up to the Indy Racing League

Indy Racing League

Panther Racing

Panther Racing is an American open wheel car auto racing team. It is one of the oldest continually operating teams in the Indy Racing League ....
as teammate to Sam Hornish, Jr.

Sam Hornish, Jr.

Samuel Jon Hornish, Jr. is an United States race car driver. He is best known for his open wheel accomplishments, which include an 2006 Indianapolis 500 victory and three Indy Racing League championships....
. The following year Wheldon joined Andretti Green Racing

Andretti Green Racing

Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, and A1 Grand Prix....
, taking the spot of Michael Andretti

Michael Andretti

Michael Mario Andretti is an United States retired Champ Car and Formula One driver with Italy heritage. He now co-owns the Andretti Green Racing team in the Indy Racing League....
following his retirement, and collected IRL Rookie of the Year honours. In 2004, he won his first IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi

Twin Ring Motegi

is an automobile racing track located at Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. Its name comes from the fact that there are two race tracks at the facility: a oval and a road course....
in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, ultimately finishing as runner-up to teammate Tony Kanaan

Tony Kanaan

Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho, commonly known as Tony Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driving of Lebanon heritage. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing's 7-Eleven sponsored car, winning three times in his Honda-powered Dallara....
in the championship with three wins.

He won the 2005 Indianapolis 500

2005 Indianapolis 500

The 2005 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2005. Dan Wheldon won the race under a Racing flags#The yellow flag....
as well as that season's IRL series championship. His six victories in 2005 also broke the record for most victories in one IRL season held by Sam Hornish Jr with 5. His win at Indy was the first for an Englishman since Graham Hill

Graham Hill

Norman Graham Hill was a United Kingdom racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He was born in Hampstead, London.Graham Hill is the only driver to win the so-called Triple Crown of Motorsport....
's triumph in 1966. "I was on Letterman, Good Morning America, I probably covered every state in terms of radio interviews, I threw the first pitch out for the Yankees, the Mets, the Cubs. I got in the car for a rest. But in November of 2005, it was announced that he would be driving for Chip Ganassi Racing

Chip Ganassi Racing

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....
in the IRL in 2006. Shortly after his first IRL test with Ganassi, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona

24 Hours of Daytona

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car racing endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida....
with Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon

Scott Ronald Dixon, New Zealand Order of Merit is a New Zealand motor racing driver who has twice won the Indy Racing League championship in the United States, in 2003 on his first attempt, and again in 2008....
and Casey Mears

Casey Mears

Casey James Mears is the driver of the #07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet Impala in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing. He is the nephew of four time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of Indy and off-road veteran Roger Mears....
.

He began the season by beating Hélio Castroneves

Hélio Castroneves

H?lio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 12 wins and 25 poles, and has championship point finishes ranging from second to sixth in a complete season of racing....
by 14 thousandths of a second at Homestead-Miami, before retiring at St. Petersburg thanks to contact with Sam Hornish Jr under the safety car. At the end of the 2006 IRL season, Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. were tied for the lead with each driver having 475 points. In the event of a tie, the driver with the most wins for that particular season is declared the champion. Hornish Jr. had four wins for the 2006 season, to Wheldon's two; therefore Hornish Jr. was declared the 2006 IRL champion.

During the close season he was offered a place in the BMW Sauber

BMW Sauber

BMW Sauber F1 are a Formula One team with bases in Hinwil, Switzerland and Munich, Germany. The team was formed at the end of 2005 Formula One Season as a result of a takeover of the existing Sauber by German car manufacturer BMW after their partnership with WilliamsF1....
Formula 1 team, but declined on discovering he would not be assured a regular drive. "I do want to race in F1. When my contract expires with Chip, I’ll take a serious look at Formula One".

Commenting in 2007 on the perception of him as 'difficult', Wheldon said "I put everything into my racing, and I expect the same back. If I see people who aren't giving it I'm not afraid to say so, but that sometimes comes out a little brash. That could be improved a little bit.

On 22 June 2008, his 30th birthday, he took his 15th career victory in the Indycar series after winning the 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250 from Hideki Mutoh

Hideki Mutoh

is a Japanese race car driver from Tokyo currently racing in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing....
and Marco Andretti

Marco Andretti

Marco Michael Andretti is an American auto racing driver who drives the #26 car for Andretti-Green Racing in the Indy Racing League. He is the son of 1991 IndyCar World Series champion Michael Andretti and the grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti....
. He donated his winnings to help the victims of the recent tornadoes and flooding which had occurred in Iowa.

Wheldon was released from his drive at Ganassi on 2 September 2008. He will be replaced by Dario Franchitti

Dario Franchitti

George Dario Marino Franchitti is a Scotland race car driver of Italian-Scots. He formerly competed in the Champ Car series before switching to the Indy Racing League where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500....
; "I have enjoyed these last three seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, but will be moving on to pursue a very exciting opportunity for 2009," Wheldon said. It would later turn out to be a return to former team Panther Racing

Panther Racing

Panther Racing is an American open wheel car auto racing team. It is one of the oldest continually operating teams in the Indy Racing League ....
.

Personal Life

He and his wife Susie have a son, Sebastian, who was born on February 1, 2009.

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2002	Panther Panther Racing Panther Racing is an American open wheel car auto racing team. It is one of the oldest continually operating teams in the Indy Racing League ....	HMS	PHX	FON	NZR	INDY 2002 Indianapolis 500 The 86th Indianapolis race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 2002. It was the seventh Indianapolis 500 held as part of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series schedule, and was part of the 2002 IndyCar Series season....	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI 10	TX2 15					36th	35
2003	Andretti Green Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, and A1 Grand Prix....	HMS DNS	PHX DNS	MOT 7	INDY 2003 Indianapolis 500 The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003.... Ret	TXS Ret	PPIR Ret	RIR 8	KAN Ret	NSH 4	MIS Ret	STL 5	KTY 8	NZR 7	CHI 4	FON 4	TX2 3				11th	312
2004	Andretti Green Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, and A1 Grand Prix....	HMS 3	PHX 3	MOT 1	INDY 2004 Indianapolis 500 The 2004 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was cancelled early due to Thunderstorm and a tornado in the area.... 3	TXS Ret	RIR 1	KAN 9	NSH 13	MIL Ret	MIS 3	KTY 3	PPIR 3	NZR 1	CHI 4	FON 3	TX2 3				2nd	533
2005	Andretti Green Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, and A1 Grand Prix....	HMS 1	PHX 6	STP 1	MOT 1	INDY 2005 Indianapolis 500 The 2005 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2005. Dan Wheldon won the race under a Racing flags#The yellow flag.... 1	TXS 6	RIR 5	KAN 2	NSH Ret	MIL 5	MIS 2	KTY 3	PPIR 1	SNM Ret	CHI 1	WGL 5	FON 6			1st	618
2006	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....	HMS 1	STP Ret	MOT 2	INDY 2006 Indianapolis 500 The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race with the first final-lap pass for victory in race history, by overtaking, on the final straightaway, rookie Marco Andretti, whose father Michael Andretti finished third.... 4	WGL Ret	TXS 3	RIR 9	KAN 2	NSH 2	MIL 8	MIS 3	KTY 4	SNM 6	CHI 1						2nd*	475
2007	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....	HMS 1	STP 9	MOT 2	KAN 1	INDY 2007 Indianapolis 500 The 91st Indianapolis 500 ran on Sunday, May 27, 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the 12th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and marked the fifth race of the 2007 in IRL just after the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 and just before the 2007 ABC Supply Company A.J.... Ret	MIL 3	TXS Ret	IOW 11	RIR 3	WGL 7	NSH 8	MDO 10	MIS Ret	KTY Ret	SNM 7	DET 3	CHI Ret			4th	466
2008 2008 IndyCar Series season The 2008 IndyCar Series season was the 13th season of the series. Its premier event was the 2008 Indianapolis 500 on May 25. The first race was held March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway....	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....	HMS 3	STP 12	MOT¹ 4	LBH¹ DNP	KAN 1	INDY 2008 Indianapolis 500 The 92nd Indianapolis 500-Mile Race was run on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. Scott Dixon of New Zealand won the race from the List of Indianapolis 500 pole-sitters.... 12	MIL 4	TXS 4	IOW 1	RIR 4	WGL Ret	NSH 2	MDO 17	EDM 7	KTY 5	SNM 4	DET 20	CHI 6	SRF² 11	4th	492

* Wheldon lost the title on countback - he won only two races compared to Sam Hornish, Jr.
Sam Hornish, Jr.

Samuel Jon Hornish, Jr. is an United States race car driver. He is best known for his open wheel accomplishments, which include an 2006 Indianapolis 500 victory and three Indy Racing League championships....
's four after the two tied on 475 points

¹ Run on same day

² Non-points race

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)**	Top 10s (Non-podium)***	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
7	3	97	5	15	23	35	1 (2005 2005 Indianapolis 500 The 2005 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2005. Dan Wheldon won the race under a Racing flags#The yellow flag.... )	1 (2005)

** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.

*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2003 2003 Indianapolis 500 The 2003 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25, 2003....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	5th	19th	Andretti Green
2004 2004 Indianapolis 500 The 2004 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 2004. It was cancelled early due to Thunderstorm and a tornado in the area....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	2nd	3rd	Andretti Green
2005 2005 Indianapolis 500 The 2005 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2005. Dan Wheldon won the race under a Racing flags#The yellow flag....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	16th	1st	Andretti Green
2006 2006 Indianapolis 500 The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held on Sunday, May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the race with the first final-lap pass for victory in race history, by overtaking, on the final straightaway, rookie Marco Andretti, whose father Michael Andretti finished third....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	3rd	4th	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....
2007 2007 Indianapolis 500 The 91st Indianapolis 500 ran on Sunday, May 27, 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the 12th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and marked the fifth race of the 2007 in IRL just after the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 and just before the 2007 ABC Supply Company A.J....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	6th	22nd	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....
2008 2008 Indianapolis 500 The 92nd Indianapolis 500-Mile Race was run on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States. Scott Dixon of New Zealand won the race from the List of Indianapolis 500 pole-sitters....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993....	Honda Honda is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan.The company manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, scooter , robots, jet aircrafts and jet engines, all-terrain vehicle, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies....	2nd	12th	Ganassi Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series....

External links

Dan Wheldon talks about his karting days