There were a lot of snide remarks in the audience that day. A few more were outspoken about immediately putting DW on their short-list of drivers “who might not make the field” at Indianapolis. I honestly can’t recall my expectations at the time for Dan and Bryan’s pairing at Indy, but I knew Dan wouldn’t put his signature on any Indy 500 deal that didn’t have a chance of concluding with a glass of milk and immortality. A quick look at the team’s roster, which included at least four of my former Panther teammates, should have made it pretty clear this wasn’t an also-ran group. I knew he would accept nothing less at Indianapolis.

As he would tell it, the first time he ever came to the Speedway as a spectator, years before he ever ran there, he told his buddy Mark Dismore Jr. that someday he was going to win the race. People thought he was crazy then too. No moment in his career meant more than when he won Indianapolis the first time in 2005. No conversation about racing in the six years since that day had gone without a mention of him being a winner at the Speedway. And any media interview with Dan somehow made its way around to the subject of how the Indianapolis 500 was the greatest sporting event in the world.

It was less than a year earlier at the Speedway, in 2010, after finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year with Panther that he spoke in declarations:

“I don’t care if I have to race here until I’m 86-years-old,” he said. “I’m winning the Indianapolis 500 again.”

Susie Wheldon spoke recently at the St. Petersburg circuit where Dan Wheldon Way was unveiled. (Photo: LAT)

I thought about that night out in St. Pete a lot during 2011.

Like when the No. 98 car went streaking past our National Guard car in the final 100 yards of the race to win the Indianapolis 500. I thought about it when he was all over SportsCenter again, taking private planes around the country to tell stories of his latest ‘W’ at Indy. I thought about it when he joined the Versus television broadcast, quickly cementing a long TV career if he ever decided to retire. Or when he was handpicked by IndyCar to help develop a new chassis that is currently defined by his name.

I remembered that night in St. Pete when the Las Vegas promotion with GoDaddy was announced, and when I knew every CEO from Bernard to Parsons had seen enough of Dan Wheldon in one summer to conclude there was no way in hell he should be doing anything other than driving an IndyCar and promoting the series for a living.

And I thought about it on the weekend of the last race of the year, when he half-jokingly refused to tell me about his impending deal with Andretti Autosport, when we all knew that DW was back in the saddle.

No legend’s career is complete without a comeback. Just two months after being on the verge of embarrassment about his lack of participation in his hometown race, he was back atop the tallest mountain in motorsports - lying on the Yard of Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, gleefully pumping his fists into the air. Just minutes before that, he’d been pouring milk on top of his head fresh off winning the most improbable and captivating finish in the 100 years since the first 500 Mile Race. And by season’s end he’d signed on the dotted line for a full-time deal to return as the headliner with a big sponsor on the team where he first tasted glory.

All told, he won Indy twice, and was so dominant in 2006 before a cut tire robbed his chance of victory, they should have at least put half his face on the Borg. He ran Indy nine times: led in five, had two wins, two seconds, a third, a fourth and was a front-row starter three times. It’s safe to conclude that if IMS had a re-vote of “The Greatest 33” he’d have a pretty damn good view of turn one from his starting position.

Sitting here this weekend, just a year removed from that evening, one thing is very certain: there will never be any more question marks about where Dan Wheldon ranks amongst the best IndyCar drivers of his generation.