2011 IndyCar Accident
At the IZOD IndyCar World Championship there on 16 October 2011, the final IndyCar race of the IndyCar season was held at Las Vegas. However the race was marred by a horrific crash during the 11th lap of the race which involved 15 cars, some of which burst into flames. The crash resulted in a red flag being shown very soon after, due to the remains of the cars and the amount of debris left on the track. The crash was started by light contact between James Hinchcliffe and Wade Cunningham, but the problem soon became a pile-up.
Four drivers were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, one of whom was two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon who suffered severe blunt force trauma to his head after his car flew into the perimeter fence of the track and burst into flames. He was pronounced dead by the hospital two hours after the crash and the race was formally abandoned by IndyCar officials. Instead of completing the race, the unaffected drivers drove a five-lap salute on the track in honour of Wheldon.
Read more about this topic: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Famous quotes containing the word accident:
“A work is never completed except by some accident such as weariness, satisfaction, the need to deliver, or death: for, in relation to who or what is making it, it can only be one stage in a series of inner transformations.”
—Paul Valéry (1871–1945)