Indy 500 2012: Dan Wheldon’s Absence at the Forefront of Racing’s Greatest Day

For the first time since 2008, this year's Indianapolis 500 will start without its defending winner in the field.Telling that story is, and will always be, heartbreaking. It still doesn't even seem real. In last year's event, Dan Wheldon capitalized on a last-turn crash by J.R. Hildebrand to inherit the lead and win his second Indianapolis 500. It was Wheldon's only scheduled race of the season at the time, as he had been spending much of the year developing the cars that will contest this year's race.Five months later, he was gone, the victim of a fiery accident at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway that sent him flying into the second turn catchfence. He left behind a wife, Susie, and two young sons, Sebastian and Oliver.Now, one year removed f...

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