Report: Fence impact killed Dan Wheldon

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A fence post that tore into Dan Wheldon’s IndyCar, striking him in the head, caused to the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion’s fatal injuries.

IndyCar released a report on the investigation into the crash that killed Wheldon Wednesday that revealed sensors in Wheldon’s No. 77 car measured 12 or 13 impacts; only one of those was strong enough to cause non-survivable injuries.

The investigation found not one single factor contributed to Wheldon’s death. Overall, an “absolute perfect storm” led to the crash that claimed Wheldon’s life IndyCar Chief Executive Officer Randy Bernard said.

Immediately following the crash, some speculated there were too many cars on the track. In the report, IndyCar says there could have been as many as 37 cars on the track. There were only 34 which started in the Las Vegas race.

The investigation found that the track was different from the rest of the 1.5-mile ovals on the IndyCar circuit, saying due to the lack of racing groves, drivers could very easily move from lane to lane on the track.

“Whatever the reason, the combination of track geometry factors allowed for relatively unrestricted movement within the racing pack not previously experienced. This movement not only allowed for increased probability for car to car contact but made it more difficult for drivers to predict the movement of other drivers. As a result, the opportunity for this incident was increased.”

During the investigation, officials looked at onboard telemetry to determine what drivers were doing and when.

At 3.8 seconds before the initial impact, Dan Wheldon reduced his throttle from 100 percent to 55 percent. One second later he reduced it to less than 10 percent; it remained at that level until he made contact.

Wheldon hit the brakes 2.4 seconds before making contact; He slowed from 224 MPH to 165 MPH as the right front of his car hit the left rear of the No. 83 car. The impact registered 24G longitudinal and 23G vertical.