INDIANAPOLIS — IndyCar officials canceled this week’s two-day test of the new 2012 car at Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s decision came two days after Dan Wheldon, who did most of the testing for the 2012 car, was killed in a fiery 15-car crash at the same track.
Target Chip Ganassi managing director Mike Hull said IndyCar made the call on its own and that his team will test the new car later this year.
Four-time series champion Dario Franchitti was scheduled to run at the 1.5-mile oval today and Thursday. He and Wheldon were close friends.
Franchitti’s wife, actress Ashley Judd, wrote on Twitter: “I appreciate (at) IndyCar canceling my husband’s test at Las Vegas track. The new car needs development — but not now, and never again there.”
Dallara chassis to honor Wheldon
LAS VEGAS — IndyCar’s new Dallara chassis will be named in honor of Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
“Dan lives in the memory of everybody at Dallara,” company president and founder Gianpaolo Dallara said. “We will honor his memory for the years to come by dedicating the Dallara IndyCar2012 in his name.
“He deserves that.”
IndyCar vice president of technology Will Phillips, who oversaw the testing program, said Wheldon did everything he could to make the car safer and stronger and that his assistance will be “sorely missed.”
IndyCar is investigating the fatal crash. Formula One’s governing body (FIA) and the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States, an umbrella organization of auto racing sanctioning bodies in the United States, will assist in the inquiry.
Preliminary findings were expected within several weeks.
• Darren Turner will replace Wheldon in the V8 Supercars Gold Coast 600 this weekend at Queensland Raceway in Australia.
The Associated Press
