Defending Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon was killed during Sunday’s IndyCar season finale. He was 33.
Wheldon, a two-time Indy 500 champion, was involved in a multi-car crash eleven laps into Sunday’s IZOD IndyCar World Championship. The race was called after the crash.
Sunday’s race was only Wheldon’s third of the season.
During the season, Wheldon worked as an analyst for IndyCar telecasts on Versus.
Wheldon was one of the more recognizable names on the IndyCar circuit. He appeared on the ESPN talk show Pardon the Interruption on multiple occasions, and was a guest on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman earlier this year.
ABC stayed with coverage of Sunday’s race through 6:31 PM ET. The network carried the drivers’ five-lap salute to Wheldon. The 7 PM ET edition of SportsCenter opened with a five-minute report on the story. NBC, corporate sibling of IndyCar partner Versus, mentioned Wheldon’s death during Football Night in America, and Fox Sports mentioned the tragedy during The OT NFL postgame show.
(Sunday’s news from ESPN.com)
