Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner of the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR).
Wheldon began competitive karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to open-wheel car racing in the U.S. F2000 National Championship, the Toyota Atlantic Championship and Indy Lights. He began driving in IndyCar with Panther Racing in 2002. The following year, Wheldon moved to AGR, finishing as runner-up in the 2004 championship. He won the drivers' title in 2005 with the record for most victories (including that year's Indianapolis 500) during a season. In the 2006 season, he moved to CGR, tying Sam Hornish Jr. in points but finishing second because of count-back on the number of victories taken by both drivers. During the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Wheldon's form lowered but he won four additional races to place fourth overall in both years.
Wheldon returned to Panther Racing for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, failing to win a race but taking a further four podium results during this period. Wheldon left the team at the conclusion of the season. He drove part-time for Bryan Herta Autosport and later Sam Schmidt Motorsports in the 2011 season. He won his second Indianapolis 500 in May of that year. At the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wheldon was killed in a multicar accident, when his car became airborne and collided with a catch fence post, alongside the circuit on the race's eleventh lap. He was 33 years old and the first driver to die in IndyCar competition since Paul Dana in 2006.
Early and personal life
Wheldon was born in the village of Emberton near the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England on 22 June 1978. He was the son of plumber and domestic heat electrician Clive Wheldon and his wife Sue. Wheldon was of Irish descent. He attended Bedford School until he completed his GCSE examinations at the age of sixteen. Wheldon attained good reading grades and excelled in cross-country running, rugby and squash. He was also captain of the school cricket team. They have two children, Sebastian and Oliver, who compete in go-karting events. Their sons have been supported by Andretti Autosport since 2021.
Wheldon was a guest voice over for the television series Hot Wheels Battle Force 5, and assisted in the physics development for Ignite Game Technologies's online simulation racing game Simraceway. He partook in philanthropic activities, such as raising money for Alzheimer's disease research, and met unwell children at the Peyton Manning Children's Cancer Hospital in Indianapolis every year. He drove a self-built 60cc kart during the intervals before switching to a 100cc kart later on. He won the RAC British Cadet Karting Championship three times in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Wheldon won the 1995 FIA Formula A World Cup with Fullerton's team. Aged seventeen, he progressed to car racing, competing in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship for Team JLR in 1996, winning the Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Oulton Park races and taking seven top-three results to finish second overall.
The following year, Wheldon was fourth in both the British Formula Ford Championship and the European Formula Ford Championship for Andy Welch Racing, with three victories in the British series. He was named a finalist for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award in 1996 and 1997. Wheldon did not have the necessary level of funding from his father and sponsors to further his career in the United Kingdom and progress into either the British Formula 3 International Series or the British Formula Renault Championship.
At the suggestion of his former team principal and car manufacturer Ralph Firman Sr., Wheldon also observed an Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic test session for future preparation. Wheldon's early performance was affected by jet lag from constant travel to the United Kingdom to visit his family and his desire to compete in Formula Three. and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2012 as a 1999 graduate.
Wheldon progressed to the 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship, driving for PPI Motorsports in its 3 Swift 008.a vehicle, winning the season-opening Homestead–Miami Speedway round to become the first driver in series history to win on his debut. He won the Laguna Seca race, finishing runner-up in the championship standings with 159 points and a further nine top-ten finishes. In the No. 1 Lola T97/20-Buick 3800 V6, he won two races in the championship's second half (Gateway Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta) and placed in the top-ten in all twelve events to finish runner-up in the drivers' championship with 149 points. Wheldon was named the 2001 Indy Lights Rookie of the Year. He brought capital to the team and drove their second car for the final two races of the 2002 season. When funding for a second Panther Racing car fell through, Andretti Green Racing (AGR) co-owner Kim Green contacted Wheldon in October and asked him to test its IRL car and develop its Honda engine at Homestead–Miami Speedway the following month. Wheldon was signed to be the team's test driver in November as they sought sponsorship to enable his participation in the 2003 season.
thumb|The Dallara IR03 car Wheldon drove to achieve his first IRL victory in the 2004 Indy Japan 300
The lack of sponsorship prevented him from starting the season though he was called up to drive when regular driver Dario Franchitti broke his vertebrae in a motor bike accident in Scotland. In his first race driving the No. 27 Dallara IR-03 Honda HI3R V8 car, at the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, Wheldon qualified fifth and finished the accident-shortened race seventh. Wheldon qualified fifth for his first Indianapolis 500. After Franchitti returned, and was voted the 2003 Autosport Rookie of the Year.
Wheldon returned to AGR for the 2004 season. At Phoenix International Raceway, the season's second race, Wheldon won his first career pole position and finished third. He took his first series win at Twin Ring Motegi, leading an event-high 192 laps from pole position. Wheldon qualified second for the Indianapolis 500; he led 26 laps to finish the rain-shortened race third. His second win of the season came at Richmond International Raceway after holding off Team Penske's Hélio Castroneves on the last lap. Wheldon took four top-ten finishes in four of the next six races, before achieving his third series victory in Nazareth Speedway's final motor race to move into second in the drivers' championship. His title challenge to his teammate Tony Kanaan ended in the season's penultimate round at California Speedway, but secured second overall from Buddy Rice at the season-ending Texas Motor Speedway race with 533 points.
2005–2007
left|thumb|Wheldon celebrating his victory at the 2005 Indy Japan 300
For the 2005 season, Wheldon again drove for AGR. He started from eleventh to lead a race-high 158 of 200 laps of the Homestead–Miami Speedway season-opener to win. After that, Wheldon went on to win consecutive races at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (his first road course series win), and the Indy Japan 300 for the second successive year. His season highlight was the Indianapolis 500 where he exchanged the lead with Danica Patrick until she slowed due to a lack of fuel. Wheldon made the race-victory overtake with seven laps to go to become the first British driver to win the event since Graham Hill in 1966. He continued to drive consistently in the top six in the next seven races. At Pikes Peak International Raceway, Wheldon took his fifth win of the season (after leading 67 laps) to equal Sam Hornish Jr.'s 2002 record of five victories during a season. Two races later, at Chicagoland Speedway, he led a race-high 88 laps to surpass Hornish's series record with his sixth win of the year. Wheldon won the championship before starting the season's penultimate round by setting a single practice lap of Watkins Glen International. Since the last place finisher scored twelve points, his 102-point lead clinched the title with one race remaining.