The crash involving JR Hildebrand, Cunningham, and Jay Howard was next in the breakdown, followed by the crash of Tomas Scheckter, Paul Tracy, Pippa Mann, and Alex Lloyd. The analysis closed with the crash of Will Power and Lloyd, with Power’s airborne event estimated to be nearly identical to Wheldon’s at 315 feet which left the Australian with a “compression fracture in his back.”

Although there was no question as to Wheldon’s lack of voluntary participation in the crash that ended his life, the report confirmed what was already known.

“No conduct by Dan Wheldon’s driving of car No. 77 during the course of the race including lap 11 was found to have contributed to the cause of the racing incident or its consequences,” IndyCar wrote. “Furthermore, no conduct by any drivers on lap 11 was found to be inconsistent with expected driving during the race.”

IndyCar’s summary for the fatal outcome at Las Vegas was somewhat puzzling. While nobody held realistic expectations for the series to speak truthfully and blame itself for the conditions that created the pack racing that led to the crashes, the conclusion it offered was cold and detached, like it was another series’ race being reviewed.

For those who were hoping to find meaningful answers or accountability, none were offered.

“The accident was significant due to the number of race cars damaged, but more importantly due to the non-survivable injuries to Dan Wheldon,” IndyCar wrote. “While several factors coincided to produce a ‘perfect storm,’ none of them can be singled out as the sole cause of the accident. For this reason, it is impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist.”

STILL DEBATED 

There’s a difference of opinions on whether IndyCar was adequately warned by its teams and drivers about the potential for pack racing at Las Vegas. Was the series sufficiently interested in listening to those concerns? And were those concerns registered at the highest level?

An indisputable truth exists on this topic: Long before the IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was run, some drivers were outspoken in their beliefs that the series did not belong at that track with those cars. Many of us listened to those drivers and wrote or spoke about their fears of pack racing and the unreasonable risks it would produce.

Unlike any other IndyCar race I can recall in my lifetime, there was a pervasive feeling of dread expressed by more than a few in the paddock as October 16, 2011, approached.

Fans, team members and officials lined up along pit lane as the remaining 19 cars run five laps to honor Wheldon. Phillip Abbott/Motorsport Images

Graham Rahal, No. 38 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda: On our side, the drivers were pretty vocal. But unfortunately, for many years, the culture was that the drivers are easy to replace. And that’s just the truth. For many years, it was, ‘Hey, you don’t want to drive? Somebody else will.’ And I think a lot of people felt that they had to go do it. Again, that’s not right. But I do think that that’s how a lot of people felt. So we all just thought, ‘Well, this guy will take care of me, that guy will take care of you,’ so on and so forth.  

Dario Franchitti: My opinion hasn’t changed. The track combined with the cars wasn’t suitable. And we knew that going in. Hindsight is obviously great. Going back with hindsight, we should have said we’re not driving. But that’s what we do, we race. Whoever’s in charge if it comes up again in the future, I’d hope would never ask drivers to race in those conditions or put the decision on the drivers. 

Graham Rahal: I remember Ryan Hunter-Reay and I, before driver intros, we looked each other in the eyes and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got my back, I’ve got yours today, let’s give each other some room.’ In the end, that didn’t work all the way through the field. I think people did their best, I really do. But again, we’re racers. That’s the truth. You put that helmet on, God only knows what can happen. We were all aware of that.  

Sam Schmidt, Wheldon’s team owner: It was way too easy to drive those cars on that day, on that track, with that downforce. You hope that everybody doesn’t lose their memory and lose sight of those factors.  

IndyCar’s former president disputes the notion of alarm bells being rung — at least within his office — prior to the season finale.

Randy Bernard: Not one person sent me an email prior saying that we shouldn’t have the race. Everybody liked the idea of what we’re trying to do. And so there are a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, we warned them.’ Absolute bull****.

BLAME  

From the moment the crash happened, Bernard came under fire for conceiving the prize-driven event, the choice of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the technical configuration of the cars, and for Wheldon’s demise. I’ll admit to harboring critical feelings towards Bernard on the first topic — turning an IndyCar race into a cash grab — but those views have softened, even during this writing process.

The rest of the criticisms seem misplaced, but as the person in charge of the series, the bullseye was placed squarely on his back.

Randy Bernard: I don’t want this to be mean, but there was a lot of scapegoating. A lot of people wanted to blame me for having that event. I felt that one that was unfair. There were some team owners who were already against me because we went the way we did with Dallara for the new 2012 car that was coming. There were some who were going to get even with me, and I feel that this was one way that they could. Blame it on Randy. 

And consequently, it created death threats, created a lot of stuff you didn’t want your family to see. But the bottom line was we lost a life that. It was the most painful thing that that you could ever, ever have. When you’re in a position like that, the bottom line is you have to accept responsibility. And that happened under my watch. 

Wheldon’s entrant at Las Vegas sees Bernard as someone who did what he was hired to do by creating the season-ending spectacle.