INDYCAR: Wheldon Auction Brings In $590K; Bidders Default On Major Items

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Wheldon Auction Brings In $590K; Bidders Default On Major Items

The good news is that Graham Rahal's auction to benefit the Wheldon family raised $590K. The bad news? Many defaulted items need to go back up for bid.

Marshall Pruett | Posted December 21, 2011

Thanks to the underhanded actions by a number of winning bidders on things like Dan's firesuit, people will be able to bid on many unclaimed items starting Friday. (Panther Racing)

The good news on the auction that IZOD IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal held to benefit the Wheldon family is that it has raised a rather staggering sum of $590,000.

And what’s so bad about that? It should be well over $600,000.

Thanks to bidders defaulting on a number of the big ticket items on the recently concluded eBay auction, Rahal is going through the process of putting as many of those items as possible back up for bid during a special 10-day auction starting this Friday.

“Everyone is ecstatic that so much money came in to help Dan’s wife and kids,” Rahal told SPEED.com, “but we had some people who, for reasons I can’t fully go into, didn’t pay or did a few things that just were pretty devious. We screened and pre-qualified the bidders on the big items, and it’s unfortunate to say that’s where we’ve ended up having a lot of these problems—the ones who had the means but refused to follow through.

“eBay’s rules say that the No. 2 bidders get the first shot at buying the items, and once we get a clear sign on whether they’ll take these items, then we can go about re-listing them so people can bid during a 10-day window.”

Possibly the most sought-after item in the auction—a race-worn Dan Wheldon firesuit donated by Panther Racing that went for $17,000--was amongst the defaulted items, but Rahal believes a resolution could be in the works for the No. 2 bidder to claim the suit.

A signed firesuit from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and signed helmets from Juan Pablo Montoya and Max Papis are just some of the pieces of memorabilia that could also be headed back for a second round of bidding.

Rahal is hoping he’ll be able to re-list nearly all of the items, giving fans the chance to help themselves to some of more valuable or unique unclaimed/unpaid items during the holidays.

“I’ll be honest: on some of the items, the gap between the highest bidder and the No. 2 bidder was pretty big, so for the Wheldon family, I’d like to see as many things as possible start with a fresh 10-day bid,” he said. “People can help the family even more at a tough time of the year and can take home some amazing things. So many drivers and teams and other people that were moved by Dan stepped up to donate items—I’m really hoping we can make things right with the items left behind.”

The special Dan Wheldon commemorative bike Tony Kanaan had built by Trek (and then used in a triathlon) also had a winning bidder who disappeared when it came time to pay, but the Brazilian told SPEED.com he came up with a solution that will make everyone happy.

“The bike is sitting at home right now…I’ll just pay for it myself and save money on the shipping costs…” Kanaan said with a laugh.

“Now that it’s available again, I’d rather pay to keep it and I’m sure Trek would also like to know we’ll have the bike. We’ll make sure the auction is taken care of. It’s Christmas time, right? That’s what you do.”

The list isn’t final or complete, but here are some of the items that could be available beginning Friday at the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction.

• Juan Pablo Montoya Signed Race Worn Helmet
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Signed Dale Jr. Foundation Driver's Firesuit
• Ultimate Texas IndyCar Racing Weekend Package June 7-9, 2012
• Nick Mason Pink Floyd Personally Signed Commemorative Disc & Signed Drum Sticks
• 2012 Cincinnati Reds Ticket Voucher -- Field Box Seats for Four (4) April, 2012
• Traxxas T-Maxx 3.3 45+MPH Blue Remote Control Truck
• Jeff Bagwell Houston Astros Signed Baseball
• Vitaly Petrov Signed Mini Helmet Lotus Renault GP
• Bobby Labonte Race Worn Signed 2007 Helmet
• 3 Doors Down Signed Fender Squier Bullet Guitar + Signed CD & 8"x10"
• Cory Mac Signed Race Worn Fram Firesuit
• Craig Biggio Signed Houston Astros Commemorative 3000th Career Hit Bat
• Two (2) LA Racing Adventure VIP Race Passes: 20 Laps & Class Instruction
• Danica Patrick Signed 1:24 Stock Car & Authentic Racing Deco

Tony Kanaan will now pay to keep the DW tribute bike he donated to the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction. (Tony Kanaan)

Rahal was hopeful the new bidders will help to push the Wheldon auction well past the $600,000 mark by the time it comes to an end.

"When this first started, I thought it would be amazing if we reached $100,000," he said. "I never imagined it would get past a half-million...ever...but now that it has, I really want to give as much as we can to Dan's family now that we have a chance to keep the auction going a little while longer. Maybe the people who missed out the first time around can step in and make a difference."

The Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction ends on January 2nd.

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.