5 Worst Crashes at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway

1. Dan Wheldon 2011

Although most of the picks on this list will be centered around wrecks that happened in NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing), it would be an absolute crime not to mention the wreck that took the life of Indycar driver, Dan Wheldon. The saddest part of all this however is the fact that Indycar was warned multiple times about something like this happening and went through with it anyway. 

Now, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of those racetracks that are known for its dizzying speeds and intense racing, which is part of why Indycar wanted to make it the finale race for the 2011 season. The organization even put together a million-dollar prize for fans if a selected driver won the race and that only raised the stakes further. 

With that being said, however, the dirty air, fast speed and pack-like racing that happened at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was nothing short of dangerous. If nothing else, a wreck wouldn’t only take out half of the field, it would also most likely leave drivers injured or dead due to speeds reaching over 230 MPH at certain points on the track 

Unfortunately for Dan Wheldon, that’s exactly what happened to him as he was navigating traffic at the back of the pack. A wreck suddenly happened in front of him and spotters could be overheard begging drivers to go low. The problem with that strategy though was that the track was clogged at that point and cars were literally pinballing off each other. 

At some point during the accident, Wheldon’s car was launched into the air by an upside-down car and hit the catch fence. While the initial impact isn’t believed to have killed him, a wheel from his car came loose and hit him in the head, which killed him instantly. He was 33 years old and left behind a wife and kids.