8) As the open-wheel community has known since the day of the crash, Wheldon lost his life as a result of contacting a steel catch fencing support pole, and the report confirms forces exceeding 200Gs were recorded when his car struck the pole. Wheldon's car, as the footage revealed moments after the crash, had its steel roll hoop ripped from the chassis. Conjecture regarding Wheldon's condition at the track was also questioned by some who believed he died instantly.

Thankfully, INDYCAR left the macabre details and timeline of Wheldon's condition out of the report, but claims that he was killed instantly and airlifted away from the track simply to be pronounced dead elsewhere are unfounded.

As some of the first responders confirmed to this reporter, Wheldon was alive and moving slightly in the cockpit when they arrived on the scene, but the severity of the head trauma he suffered was clearly visible, and his need for immediate medical attention was evident. Those first responders did not characterize Wheldon's condition in a manner that suggested a positive outcome was a reasonable expectation.

Impact Between #77 and Fence Post

The chassis of the #77 was then in a position with the rear of the race car on top of the SAFER Barrier and the nose lower than the rear of the race car, and slanted across the left rear of the #59. The chassis of the #77 then rotated so it was traveling parallel to the fencing along the top of the permanent wall behind the SAFER Barrier. The chassis of the #77 was oriented with the body of the race car parallel to the fence with the nose pointing in race direction, in an inverted posture so the cockpit was open toward the fencing. The chassis of the #77 impacted a post along the right side of the tub, created a deep defect in the tub that extended from the pedal bulkhead along the upper border of the tub through the cockpit.

This resulted in angular deformation of the roll hoop that was sheared off the tub from right to left. As the race car passed by, the pole intruded into the cockpit and made contact with the driver’s helmeted head. This was evidenced by damage to the right side of the helmet at the lower interface surface of the helmet and visor. The impact damaged the structure of the face portion, or chin bar, of the helmet and dislodged the visor from its anchor point on the right temple. It resulted in fracturing of the helmet on the face portion as well as damage to the attachment points of the visor on the right side. This impact produced non-survivable blunt force trauma injuries to Dan’s head. Dan's injury was limited to this head injury.

Head Forces to Wheldon Resulting from Impacts

Dan appeared to suffer 2 distinct head forces during the accident. The first significant force for Dan’s head took place approximately 1.7 seconds after the impact with the #83 race car. There is no video that correlated to Dan’s head actually hitting anything in the first force. This force to the chassis of -30Gs lateral, 47Gs longitudinal, and -25Gs vertical is likely the result of the reaction of the right rear of the #77 experiencing contact with the racing surface and #59. This is typical in other accidents where no other race cars or debris are present. In this first force, the head experienced forces of approximately 50Gs rearward, 100Gs lateral, as well as 100Gs vertical. Using this information, a Head Injury Criteria (HIC) number was calculated and was well below 1000. A HIC number below 1000 indicated it is a level low enough that normally does not produce any injury.

The second head force was a physical impact, and took place 0.4 seconds after the first force, and 2.1 seconds after #77 made contact with #83. There was good video correlation to the steering bulkhead, helmet, and roll bar hitting the pole supporting the catch fence on this time line. This correlation was achieved by setting a datum on the video at the point where the #77 and the #83 race cars made contact. Then, having used the time in the crash box data, each of the impacts were identified on the video. Prior to the driver's earplug sensors becoming unplugged in the second impact, his head experienced longitudinal forces of approximately -250Gs which indicated a frontal impact, and -200Gs vertical which indicated a hit from the bottom, and 100Gs lateral to the right. The negative longitudinal spikes indicated frontal hits to the head. The polarities of the longitudinal and vertical forces indicated a frontal hit from the bottom toward the top. The earplug sensors appeared to come unplugged during the second head hit. This has been seen in other accidents when the driver moved far enough that the mating connector located at the rear of the tub reached the limit of its length.

#77 Chassis Inspection

The inspection of the chassis of the #77 found an intrusion of the right front pull rod of the suspension impaled through the top of the tub down toward the floor and between the legs of the driver. This suspension was cut away by the track safety team performing the extrication of the driver of the #77. The suspension did not make contact with the driver, or penetrate his uniform. This requires further investigation as in the 9 years of this chassis being used in race competition, this is the first known instance of an intrusion of this type. The side intrusion panels performed as designed. The point of contact with the pole supporting the catch fence created significant damage to the tub, beginning at the pedal bulkhead. There was a deep void, extended along the upper border on the right side of the tub toward the steering bulkhead, and continued into the cockpit area. This void also damaged the steering column and shaft, temporarily binding the lower extremities of the driver. The roll bar and the entire top of the tub at the fuel cell compartment were sheared off. All of the detachable structures were stripped away, including all 4 wheel and suspension components.

The head surround horseshoe padding was broken into 3 large sections with signs of significant impact from the helmet. The driver’s restraints and seat belts were intact and functioning properly. While there was significant damage, the safety cell or tub generally performed as designed and gave the driver an opportunity to survive this accident. Inspection did not reveal the existence of pull back brakes (as further discussed below) or any set up abnormalities. There was no evidence of vehicle mechanical or structural issues contributing to this accident.

Summary of the Impact Sequence

The above analysis of the sequence of dynamic events revealed no extraordinary car-interactions or interactions that were specific to this incident that have not been encountered in other races. The impact with the fence that resulted in Dan's non-survivable injuries involved circumstances of location, direction, and orientation that were the chance result of the previous interactions.

Track Safety/Medical Response

The response to the accident by INDYCAR’s Holmatro Safety Team (hereinafter, “Safety Team”) and the Las Vegas fire crew was rapid and decisive. All drivers were out of their race cars in a rapid and controlled manner, and assisted as needed. All of the fires were extinguished rapidly and without incident. It was noted that the fires were primarily oil related and did not involve the fuel load of the race cars. Such a result is consistent with proper functioning of the car fuel safety systems. The drivers that required extrication were removed from their race cars in a timely fashion. Extrication of the driver of the #77 was temporarily impeded by entrapment of the lower extremities. This situation was dealt with without interruption of life support measures.

The Safety Team was on the scene with the #77 within 35 seconds of the initial impact in the multi race car crash, and the driver was extricated from the race car within 4 minutes on a long backboard and placed in the ambulance. The driver was transported by the ambulance from the race track to the infield care center and by air medical helicopter from the infield care center to the local hospital. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (“CPR”) efforts being performed on the helicopter, the driver was pronounced dead at the local hospital.