Nigel Mansell went over to race in the states back in 1993 and 1994 and although he successful he was never liked. Mario Andretti once said he had the greatest respect for Mansells talents but didnt like him at all as a person. Dan Wheldons situation was completely different. He was the first British driver I can remember for a long time that was genuinely loved by Americans. This season when he was out of a full time drive he was employed alongside Robin Miller by a US tv network as a race reporter.
This is a huge loss for British motorsport but its a bigger loss to world motorsport. Ive followed Dan for a long long time, I remember him racing in Indy Lights back in about 2001, I remember him making his debut for Panther in 2002, flipping his car at Indy in 2003 and taking his first ever podium the same year at Texas. That Texas race was marred by horrific injuries to one of the most naturally talented oval drivers Ive ever seen, Kenny Brack. I remember Dans interview after the race when he spoke to eloquently about Bracks situation and how his podium meant nothing given what else was going on.
I remember getting up at 4am to watch the 2004 Motegi race from Japan, Dan beat his teammate Tony Kanaan to claim his first ever win, Kanaan would go on to take the title that season. In 2005 he was THE man, winning race after race including the IRLs first ever race on a non-oval. He became the first ever driver in IRL history to win the Indy 500 and the series championship in the same season. Sam Hornish Jr repeated this feat in 2006 when he beat Dan on count back after their end of season point tallys were tied.
He had a couple of barren seasons back at Panther but he never ever lost the Indy magic, finishing 2nd two years in a row in what everyone considered to be inferior equipment. His defining moment for me came earlier this year though at Indy when driving for the desperately under funded Bryan Herta Racing (Herta being a great friend of Dans) he won the race. We all gasped when JR Hildebrand hit the wall on the last corner of the last lap but to see that orange and white car come cruising through to win was incredible.
If anyone could have won from 34th on the grid on Sunday it was Dan Wheldon, he was already up 10 positions when disaster struck. Many factors contributed to the accident but I dont want to talk about that, I want to remember Dan as the fantastic driver he was. I cant think of anybody that had a bad word to say about him, he always handled himself in a professional manner and for a racing driver his on track conduct was exemplarily. I truly believe that on Sunday we lost Englands greatest ever oval driver. Those two hours between the accident and the sad announcement of his death were awful, we all heard what we feared we was going too. It was so sad.
