IndyCar had been on the rise since the reunification of American open-wheel motorsport in 2008. CEO Randy Bernard had brought the sport into the public eye and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.
Overambition leads to tragedy
The 2011 IndyCar season saw an incredible title fight between Dario Franchitti and Will Power, and it would go down to the wire at the last race of the year at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
There was another interesting storyline going into the finale. The reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon had accepted a challenge put on by IndyCar.
The challenge stated that any non full time IndyCar driver that agreed would start at the back of the field in 34th place. If they then went on to win the race, they would win $5 million. Dan Wheldon accepted the challenge and thus started at the back of the field.
Going into the race, drivers had warned the organizers and journalists that the expected speeds of the cars could reach or exceed 230mph.
The pole position speed set by Tony Kanaan was 222.078mph and the multi-groove racing seen previously at Vegas would improve the ability for cars to draft each other and push speeds even higher.
Many drivers were worried going into the race that there would be problems, but the organizers pushed ahead, not wanting to cancel the season finale that everyone wanted to see.
Some had even suggested that they should increase the drag of the cars by adding a lip to the rear wing, although this would in itself create more side by side action and thus potentially create more crashes.
The race started and everyone was in one massive pack, with cars going two and three wide up and down the field. Then on lap 11, there was contact between Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe.
After clipping Hinchcliffe, Cunningham then collided with J. R. Hildebrand. Hildebrand's car then went airborne over the back of Cunningham.
Jay Howard and Townsend Bell were then collected by the swerving car of Cunningham who then hit the retaining wall. Vítor Meira then lost control of his car trying to avoid the crash, collecting the cars of Charlie Kimball and E. J. Viso.
Tomas Scheckter then braked hard to avoid the collision, but he was ran into by Paul Tracy, and by Pippa Mann who was trying to avoid the slowing car of Alex Lloyd.
Then both Dan Wheldon and Will Power came up on the collision at 220mph and although they tried slowing down, both went airborne trying to avoid the crash.
Wheldon went over the back of Kimball's car and launched about 325 feet (99 metres) into the air, hitting the catch fencing cockpit-first, with Wheldon's head striking one of the poles holding the fence up.
His car then landed back on the tarmac having been sliced apart by the fence and slid to a stop next to the SAFER barrier.
Power's airborne car went into the SAFER barrier, and rolled over, causing the front assembly of the car to break, and one of the wheels nearly struck Power's helmet.
15 cars in total were involved in the crash, with many being strewn across the track.
Ryan Briscoe said of the incident: "The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from the Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere."
IndyCar red-flagged the race and repair work began on the catch fence and the damaged cars that weren't beyond repair.
After a driver's meeting held at approximately 3pm Eastern time, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard made a statement to the media.
"IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and team owners, has decided to end the race.
"In honor of Dan Wheldon, the drivers have decided to do a five-lap salute in his honor. It will take place in approximately 10 minutes. Thank you."
The drivers did five laps at pace car speed to honour Wheldon, with the timing tower showing his number 77 at the top of it.
IndyCar have not returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway since Wheldon's death, and many drivers criticized the organizers' lack of consideration for safety at the event.
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Tomas Scheckter's father, the 1979 Formula One World Champion, Jody Scheckter, was heavily critical of the decision to race at Vegas.
He said that a serious accident was "inevitable" as "they were basically touching wheels at 220 mph (350 km/h). They all bunch up together so there are thirty-four cars in a small space of track.
"One person makes a mistake and this happens. You [shouldn't] have to get killed if you make a mistake. It was madness."
An investigation was conducted into the cause of Wheldon's death and Brian Barnhart detailed the events surrounding the crash.
He said: "The chassis of Wheldon's #77 impacted a post along the right-side of the tub and created a deep defect in the tub that extended from the pedal bulkhead, along the upper border of the tub, and through the cockpit."
"As the race car passed by, the pole intruded into the cockpit and made contact with the drivers' helmet and head. Dan's injury was limited to his head injury."
"Dan appeared to suffer two distinct head forces. The first head force created a level of Head Injury Criterion, also known as a HIC number, that normally does not produce any injury."
"During the initial crash sequence, the accident data recorder measured 12 or 13 impacts. During that timeframe one of those impacts measured a measurable HIC number for Dan – that's the number that does not normally cause injury."
"The number was low enough. The second force was a physical impact, and it was the second force that caused a non-survivable blunt force injury trauma to Dan's head."
Redemption
As a result of the events that transpired at Vegas in 2011, IndyCar has mostly removed itself from the idea of 'pack racing that caused Wheldon's crash, and continuous safety improvements have meant that Wheldon's death and that of Justin Wilson should be the last in major oval racing series'.
Since IndyCar's withdrawal, the only series to race regularly on the Las Vegas tri-oval circuit are the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series.
The track has mostly shaken off any bad reputation it had following the death of Dan Wheldon, and IndyCar has returned in one form to the track,
In 2022, IndyCar returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, promoting a new annual race event, the Indy Autonomous Challenge held during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The race has been held on the oval with autonomous cars.
So, Las Vegas' previous flirtations with motorsport have had mixed results, but how will the new Las Vegas Strip Street circuit do? There have been some major problems with the track itself causing damage to the cars of Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon.
Furthermore the scheduling of sessions has stopped fans from attending Free Practice 2, but only time will tell if the rest of the weekend goes swimmingly. I for one hope it will be a fantastic race event!