Upcoming HBO film salutes driver killed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Dan Wheldon, the British driver who died in 2011 following a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, is being remembered in an upcoming HBO documentary.
“The Lionheart,” as Wheldon was known, looks back at his famed career while telling the story of his widow, Susie, as their sons, 12-year-old Sebastian and 10-year-old Oliver, begin their professional racing careers.
“What was to have been a sun-kissed afternoon of exciting open-wheel racing turned into unfathomable tragedy when two-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died as the result of a horrific 15-car crash only 11 laps into the IZOD IndyCar World Championships,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote on Oct. 16, 2011.
“We were at a sponsor dinner at the Palms, and on a whim, we walked into this tattoo place and got each other’s initials tattooed on our wrists,” Susie Wheldon told us leading up to the 10th anniversary of the crash. “Looking back at what transpired the next day, I’m so grateful for that moment with him.”
According to a release, “the film explores Susie’s dilemma as a mother who questions whether her family’s lineage is a blessing or a burden while watching her sons, with the high-risk sport deeply embedded in their DNA, try to reconcile their father’s absence by embracing the very sport that took him from them.”
IndyCar racing hasn’t returned to Las Vegas since.
“The Lionheart” will debut at 9 p.m. March 12 on HBO.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on X.