Back on the Track, IndyCar Series Still Reeling From Wheldon’s Death on Astini News
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) —At the last IndyCar Series race, the drivers turned five tearful laps in honor of Dan Wheldon.
Sunday's season opener will practically be a tribute race.
The drivers will compete for the first time since Wheldon's death last October by racing through the streets of St. Petersburg, Wheldon's adopted hometown. They will drive a car named for him and navigate their way through Turn 10, recently renamed Dan Wheldon Way.
Holly Wheldon, his younger sister, will wave the green flag and present the winner's trophy. Fans have been asked to wear orange to honor Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, and the annual postrace party he traditionally hosted will carry on in his name.
St. Petersburg is the place IndyCar's drivers most associate with Wheldon. It is also the place where they will attempt to return to some normalcy, even with reminders of Wheldon everywhere.
"It's almost fitting in many ways, the way the calendar has worked out," Scott Dixon said. "I think it's going to be tough, but I think it's also a nice way to start the season, almost like it was written that way. But, yeah, it'll never be the same. Never be the same."
It has been five months since IndyCar's last race, and the drivers' appearance here this month was the first for most since Wheldon's memorial service. Now, it is a careful balance of embracing the excitement of a new season while also honoring Wheldon, a popular Englishman.
"Man, it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it," Tony Kanaan said. "Dan loved this city, and all the times here, spending time with him, there are so many memories. Now, one of those memories is of burying our best friend.
"We'll think about him all the time. All this season. At Indianapolis. But here, this will be hard all the way up until the national anthem, and we'll get in the cars and we'll go race."
When Dale Earnhardt died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Nascar was back on the track five days later. That is how racers heal: in the car, on the track, focused on winning instead of their mortality.
Wheldon's death in the Oct. 16 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the first fatality in a major racing series since Earnhardt's accident, and the circumstances were different for IndyCar. The race in Las Vegas was the season finale, and the 15-car accident halted the race after 11 laps.
More than two hours later, the drivers were summoned back to their cars for the five-lap tribute.
"It's been the longest off-season of my life," Marco Andretti said.
The healing process has been different for everyone, particularly veteran drivers. Three drivers entered in Sunday's race were in the 1999 CART season finale in which Greg Moore was killed in an early accident.
The four-time champion Dario Franchitti, a close friend of Moore's, was thankful for the five-month layoff after Wheldon's death.
"I wanted to get away," he said. "It was better that everybody had space. It was too raw. It's something I went through with Greg, and I asked myself the same question, 'Do I still want to do this?' And yeah, I do."
Franchitti never had a chance to celebrate winning his fourth title; he was the points leader headed into Las Vegas, and the race was canceled after the accident. No season-ending dinner took place, only memorial services here and in Indianapolis.
That is the kind of effect Wheldon's death has had on IndyCar, and those emotions could follow the drivers throughout a season that was intended to be a comeback for the series.
The scars from Wheldon's death clearly run deep, and no one is immune. This month, the drivers attended a solemn Turn 10 dedication to Wheldon, and when his wife, Susie, arrived carrying their 2-year-old son, Sebastian, those in the front row stood one at a time to hug her.
With heavy hearts, the drivers are careful to be respectful of Wheldon's memory, and they do not try to dodge the fact that his presence may overwhelm the weekend.
"It's very difficult for us," Helio Castroneves said. "It's my generation, someone that is still in the peak of his career. It's tough to see someone in that group, in our group, not be here, not be part of it."
