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'Daniel Clive Wheldon' (born 22 June 1978 in Emberton, England) is a successful English auto racing driver. The 2005 Indy Racing League champion and Indy 500 winner, Wheldon is nicknamed "Difficult Dan" in the IRL pit lane for his choleric temperament. He currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Contents

Career

Career Results

IndyCar

Indy 500 results

Notes

External links

Career

Taking up karting at the age of four with funding from his father, Wheldon progressed through the junior ranks of motor racing during his school years. Attending Bedford School until he completed his GCSEs at age 16, he frequently took time off to race. During his early career in open wheel racing, he developed a rivalry with Jenson Button before ultimately leaving the United Kingdom to race in America. The reasoning behind the move was that the level of investment needed to fund his racing career in the UK wasn't able to be provided by his family.^[1] He once admitted that he preferred socialising in America than Britain because "it's easier to get laid".
Moving to the United States in 1999, he spent several years in lower open-wheeled circuits like the U.S. Ford Formula 2000 series, the Toyota Atlantic series and the Indy Lights series.
In 2002, Wheldon moved up to the Indy Racing League (IRL) for two events, with Panther Racing as teammate to Sam Hornish, Jr.. The following year Wheldon joined Andretti Green Racing, taking the spot of Michael Andretti following his retirement, and collected IRL Rookie of the Year honours. In 2004, he won his first IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, ultimately finishing as runner-up to teammate Tony Kanaan in the championship with three wins.
He won the 2005 Indianapolis 500 as well as that season's IRL series championship. His six victories in 2005 also broke the record for most victories in one IRL season held by Sam Hornish Jr with 5. His win at Indy was the first for an Englishman since Graham Hill's triumph in 1966. "I was on Letterman, Good Morning America, I probably covered every state in terms of radio interviews, I threw the first pitch out for the Yankees, the Mets, the Cubs. I got in the car for a rest." But in November of 2005, it was announced that he would be driving for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IRL in 2006. Shortly after his first IRL test with Ganassi, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Casey Mears.
He began the season by beating Hélio Castroneves by 14 thousandths of a second at Homestead-Miami, before retiring at St. Petersburg thanks to contact with Sam Hornish Jr under the safety car. At the end of the 2006 IRL season, Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. were tied for the lead with each driver having 475 points. In the event of a tie, the driver with the most wins for that particular season is declared the champion. Hornish Jr. had four wins for the 2006 season, to Wheldon's two; therefore Hornish Jr. was declared the 2006 IRL champion.
During the close season he was offered a place in the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team, but declined on discovering he would not be assured a regular drive. "I do want to race in F1. When my contract expires with Chip, I’ll take a serious look at Formula One".^[2]
Commenting in 2007 on the perception of him as 'difficult', Wheldon said "I put everything into my racing, and I expect the same back. If I see people who aren't giving it I'm not afraid to say so, but that sometimes comes out a little brash. That could be improved a little bit."
He is in fourth in the 2007 championship with two wins so far at Homestead-Miami and Kansas.

Career Results

IndyCar

(Races in 'Bold' indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
'2002'	Panther														'CHI' 10	TX2 15			'36th'	'35'
'2003'	Andretti Green	HMS DNS	PHX DNS	JPN 7	IND Ret	TXS Ret	PPIR Ret	RIR 8	KAN Ret	NSH 4	MIS Ret	GIR 5	KTY 8	NZR 7	CHI 4	CAL 4	TX2 3		'11th'	'312'
'2004'	Andretti Green	HMS 3	'PHX' 3	'JPN' 1	IND 3	TXS Ret	RIR 1	KAN 9	NSH 13	MIL Ret	MIS 3	KTY 3	PPIR 3	NZR 1	CHI 4	CAL 3	TX2 3		'2nd'	'533'
'2005'	Andretti Green	HMS 1	PHX 6	STP 1	JPN 1	IND 1	TXS 6	RIR 5	KAN 2	NSH Ret	MIL 5	MIS 2	KTY 3	PPIR 1	SNM Ret	CHI 1	WGL 5	CAL 6	'1st'	'618'
'2006'	Ganassi	HMS 1	STP Ret	JPN 2	IND 4	WGL Ret	TXS 3	RIR 9	'KAN' 2	'NSH' 2	MIL 8	MIS 3	KTY 4	SNM 6	CHI 1				'2nd-TB'	'475'
'2007'	Ganassi	'HMS' 1	STP 9	JPN 2	KAN 1	IND Ret	MIL 3	TXS Ret	IOW 11	RIR 3	WGL 7	NSH 8	MDO 10	MIS Ret	KTY Ret	SNM 7	DET 3	CHI	'4th ★ '	'449 ★ '

:
★ 2007 season currently underway

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
6	3	78	5	13	21	27	1 (2005)	1 (2005)

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
2003	Dallara	Honda	5th	19th
2004	Dallara	Honda	2nd	3rd
2005	Dallara	Honda	16th	'1st'
2006	Dallara	Honda	3rd	4th
2007	Dallara	Honda	6th	22nd

Notes

1. Dan Wheldon: 'Winning at Monaco would be great, but it's nothing next to the Indy 500'
2. Dan's Indy mood for F1

External links

★ Official Site

★ Dan Wheldon Fans -The Unofficial Site

★ IndyCar Profile

★ Audio Interview with Dan Wheldon Dan Wheldon talks about his karting days