Dan Wheldon’s return to Panther Racing after a six-year hiatus saw the former league champion run within the top three contenders for a bulk of the race Sunday at St. Petersburg before a late-race crash with Robert Doornbos ended the day for the team in 14th position. Wheldon appeared poised for a Top Five result before contact with the Newman/Hass/Lanigan driver ended his run at his hometown racecourse.
After starting 11th, Wheldon slipped past two competitors during a messy crash in Turn One on the first lap of the race. On lap 32 he pitted along with Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe just prior to a full-course caution for contact between Raphael Matos and Danica Patrick. The timely stop helped elevate the No.4 team into the second position, where they would remain until the team pitted its final time on Lap 67.
After the field cycled through pit stops, Wheldon was running in third position until a restart on Lap 78, where after being passed by Ryan Hunter-Reay in the first turn, challengers Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti were able to slip past the No. 4 car as it got into the marbles. Three laps later, Scott Dixon crashed into the into the tire barriers in Turn Three, again bringing out the caution flag. On what would be his final restart of the day, Wheldon was able to pass Kanaan on the inside of the first turn, but the Andretti Green Racing driver was able to take the position back quickly. The pass checked up Wheldon as he approached Turns Two and Three, one of the high-speed sections of a track.
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The slow run into Turn Four enabled Doornbos to run alongside Wheldon as the two went side-by-side into the fourth turn, but they could not avoid contact and the No.4 car ended up in the tire barriers, effectively stuck in 14th position.
Despite the disappointing finish, Panther officials were positive about their showing on the difficult St. Petersburg street course. The team will now prepare to travel to the west coast for the historic Long Beach Grand Prix, one of open-wheel racing’s most celebrated events. It will be the first time in team history that Panther has been able to compete in the prestigious race, but Wheldon has competed there on one previous occasion while in the Toyota Atlantic Series.
Dan Wheldon, No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda
“On the last restart I got a real good run on TK (Tony Kanaan) out of the last corner and went down to the inside, but anytime you pass TK it’s a challenge and I braked just a little bit late and missed the apex and he got me back and it just kind of bottled me up. Then I got a poor run out of turns two and three and going into (turn) four Doornbos had a go at me and I thought I left him enough room, but unfortunately we touched. There were so many marbles out there. It was a great racecar that the National Guard Panther Racing team gave me, and I want to thank all these St. Petersburg fans for coming out today. This is a great city to live in and I’m sorry this race didn’t pan out the way I’d like it to.”
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