The little team that could ... and did
October 20, 2011 | By Dave Lewandowski
LAS VEGAS -- Bryan Herta had phoned Dan Wheldon ostensibly to check in and chat, but toward the end of the conversation Herta dropped in a question that caught his longtime friend off-guard.
“How’d you like to drive for me at Indianapolis?” the IZOD IndyCar Series driver turned team owner inquired.
Wheldon, who didn’t have a full-season ride after leaving Panther Racing at the end of 2010, didn’t keep his former teammate at then-Andretti Green Racing waiting long for the answer that weeks later would alter their lives. Wheldon was the Indy 500 runner-up in 2009 and ’10 -- disappointments in his mind in not being able to close the deal following his victory in 2005 on the way to the IZOD IndyCar Series championship -- and was determined.
The deal was formally announced on March 25 and the partnership lineup of clothier William Rast and record labels Curb and Big Machine was unveiled during the race weekend in Long Beach, Calif., in mid-April. A technical partnership already had been forged with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which provided the chassis.
It would be the second foray at Indy for Herta as a team owner, who elevated his Firestone Indy Lights driver, Sebastian Saavedra, for a run in 2010 on a tight budget that proved to be modestly successful. This time out, when it was clear that Wheldon would be available – and quite obviously willing – Herta sought out the veteran.
Wheldon surprised many by qualifying sixth, and his final-lap pass of JR Hildebrand’s crumbled car on the way to the checkered flag might be the biggest sports moment of the year. On Oct. 16, Wheldon was killed in a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“Dan was the glue that bound our little team together,” said Herta, who competed in the 500 Mile Race five times as a driver. “It was his spark and belief in us that carried us all to Victory Lane at Indianapolis this year, and his legacy within the sport as a tremendous champion and competitor is unquestioned.”
Schmidt, who had entered a car in the “500” the previous nine years, had technical alliances with three teams this year. It was during the Month of May that Schmidt, also a former IndyCar racer who was paralyzed in a racing crash in 2000, had had the opportunity to unearth Wheldon’s personality behind the persona.
“Sitting in this (wheelchair), I have a lot of time to observe people,” he said. “He was just an unbelievable individual. He understood the Indianapolis Motor Speedway probably as good as any driver I ever met – mainly Rick Mears. He just had an approach to it the intellect that was just unbelievable. With three teams, three drivers and three sets of engineers, he was extremely open about the whole process, which isn’t always the case with race car drivers, and I think that is a good example why he was so loved in the paddock.
“He got along with everybody off the track and had the respect of every driver out there, which is not always the case. More importantly, I got to know Dan off the track and his love for his wife and children was on his brain all the time. He would go out of his way to autographs, to put a smile on a kid’s face. He had this energy and everybody wanted to be around him.
“A lot of guys are great drivers but they have no charisma, and that was not Dan.”
Herta quickly came to the same conclusion when Wheldon completed the Andretti Green Racing foursome that also included Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan. He was “the kid” among the trio of Indy car veterans, with his white shoes/belt providing the fuel for one-liners and his proclivity for pranks.
“Dan became my little brother from our time together as teammates at AGR,” said Herta, 41, a California resident. “I watched with pride as he developed from the brash young hotshot on the circuit to a man who was a great husband and father, ambassador, friend, champion and hero.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Susie and the boys, and all of Dan’s family and fans who are trying to make sense of this terrible loss. We are all lucky and blessed to have had Dan Wheldon influence our lives, and his spirit lives on in each one of us.”