It has been frustrating to read all of the “articles” on Dan Wheldon, by writers that have no idea who he was. Even more, it seems people are only talking about what the sport needs to change, and who is to blame for the accident.

For once, can we please just reflect on the life of a tremendous individual that was lost?

No, this isn’t the IRL, and no, it was not anyone’s fault. The series of multiple events that combined to take Dan’s life were a perfect storm. An inch here or an inch there, and he could have walked away with just a couple of scratches.

The cliché has been heard too often. While it is true that race car drivers know the risks before they get into the car, we are never fully prepared when they don’t return.

Dan Wheldon got into his car for the final time on Sunday, all smiles of course. The accident shook everyone up as soon as it happened. We waited and prayed for good news on his condition, until we received the fateful words from Randy Bernard.

The press conference was eerily similar to that of Mike Helton, 10 years ago when he announced that Dale Earnhardt was gone. NASCAR fans all across the nation wept for days, and weeks at the news of his departure. The loss of Wheldon was no different.

It is truly amazing how one man can touch so many people on this planet. Dan was beloved by everyone he encountered. He could charm anyone with his quick wits and golden smile. Dan was a very happy man, and it always showed.

This wasn’t just a loss for the IndyCar Series. Drivers from NASCAR and Formula 1 were also shaken by the news of Dan’s passing. Soccer stars, musicians, actors, and other prevalent figures across the globe have expressed their sadness this week.

It is staggering to think how he and his family went from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows in a mere five months.

Wheldon won his second Indianapolis 500 race this year, and was able to share this one with his family—his wife Susie, and sons Sebastian and Oliver. Dan won the greatest race in the world twice, and also finished in second twice, in addition to his series Championship in 2005.

Dan was one of the best drivers to ever race in the biggest race in the world. In nine starts in Indianapolis, he finished in the top four an impressive six times.

As amazing and talented as he was on the track, he was even better off of it. Dan and his wife had their second son, Oliver, earlier this year. He had time off this season and was able to spend every day with them. He was truly as happy as a man could be.

It is impossible to find someone that didn’t like Dan. He was very well-spoken, and took time out of his day to visit with anyone and everyone that adored him. He would spend time at hospitals and other charity events that he wasn’t even asked to go to. He loved being around kids, and he cherished every moment he had with his family.

There is a memorial website that the IZOD IndyCar Series and GoDaddy.com put together. The website salutes the person, the driver, and the friend that Dan was to all of us.

Fellow driver Graham Rahal has been putting together quite an impressive auction for the Wheldon family. He has been working around the clock, adding everything from authentic signed racing gear, to island vacations, to 2-seater rides around IMS. You can keep track of the hundreds of items that are going up for auction on his Facebook page.

Wheldon was ready to replace Danica Patrick in the No. 7 Go Daddy car for Andretti Autosport next season. He was going back to where he belonged, a full-time driver on a circuit that needed him as badly as he needed it.

On Sunday, you could hear millions of hearts breaking, all across the world.

Perhaps no driver had as much love, appreciation, and dedication to Indianapolis as Dan did. In 2010, Dan spoke with reporters at IMS, telling them “I’m not quitting this thing until I win it another time. If I have to race until I’m 86, I’m doing it. I love this race, man. I love it.”

Dan of course won the 500 the following year, his second win here.

Wheldon will always have a special place here in Indianapolis, and with all of the fans. This place was his holy grail, and he loved coming back every May. This race was the single reason why he chose to stay in IndyCar, instead of going over to NASCAR and/or Formula 1.

Sunday was supposed to be a day of celebration; A day to celebrate a Champion of the series. In a way, it was. It wasn’t Franchitti or Power on our minds, it was the 2005 Champion.

He is here, but he isn’t here. He is gone, but he isn’t gone.

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Dario Franchitti led the first 71 laps of the race, before green flag pit stops began. As drivers cycled through the stops, Ryan Briscoe led two laps. By the time the caution came out on lap 76 for rain drops, the top 15 cars had all made their stops, giving Dario the lead once again.

The race was started about a half hour earlier than what was scheduled, due to the threat of rain. The cars took the green flag at 3:37 pm, but two early caution flags got the race off to a slow start. The first yellow was thrown on the first lap, when Mike Conway lost control of his car and spun, taking out Graham Rahal.

Rahal had one of the best cars all weekend, as they were never outside of the top three in practice, and were only in the back of the field after he had a slip on his qualifying run. He had a car capable of getting to the front and winning the race, but lady luck dealt his team another blow.

After the restart, Helio Castroneves lost control of his machine in the exact same place on track where Conway did. He managed to avoid contact with the other cars, but it was not the way he envisioned his 200th race going.

After running about 30 laps under caution for the light sprinkles, the race was able to resume. After the green flag came back out, all hell broke loose.

Just a few laps after the restart, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and Tomas Sheckter were all trying to go three-wide in the corner, which sent Kanaan and Sheckter into the inside retaining wall. Marco suffered suspension damage, and all three were out of the race.

As the cars were coming to take the green flag for the restart on lap 119, Takuma Sato (running in second) touched tires with race leader Franchitti. Dario had been dominating the race, but coming to the start/finish line, he seemed to veer over into Sato’s lane, although he wasn’t quite clear of him.

Sato and JR Hildebrand suffered cut tires, but Dario ended up against the pit lane wall, ending his day. Dario had gone 43 starts since his last DNF. While watching the replay from his pit stall, Dario insisted that Sato was to blame for the accident. It was fairly obvious that this was 100 percent Dario’s fault.

At one point during the race, Franchitti’s championship lead over Will Power was 98 points. Now after Power’s fifth place finish, the points lead is down to just 47 with five races remaining.

One more caution came out for moisture with just 19 laps to go, with Ryan Hunter-Reay still in the lead. With less than 10 to go, IndyCar officials called for the green flag to be waived. Many drivers, most notably Will Power, were begging and pleading with them to waive off the restart. The drivers were saying they couldn’t even see, and that the track was too wet.

They waived the green flag anyway, and chaos ensued.

Danica Patrick spun her rear tires, which caused her to spin in front of the entire field. Power, Sato, Ana Beatriz, and others were all trying to avoid contact, but all of them ended up wrecking.

Power got out of his car and was furious. He stormed to the infield, trying to find someone to scream at. On his way back to the Penske trailer, he gave the “double bird” to the race officials in the booth.

Team owner Michael Andretti was also livid at the situation that took place. He was upset because not only did three of his cars get taken out of the race, but the one that was in the lead got passed on the restart. He called this the “worst officiating I have ever seen.”

Luckily for Michael, the officials reverted the order of the field back to where it was before the restart, giving Hunter-Reay the lead again. They also called the race due to the rain, despite just five laps remaining. Hunter-Reay was declared the winner, and Oriol Servia and Scott Dixon joined him on the podium.

In the end, it was the right call because so many cars were torn up for no reason. The officials made the mistake of trying to go back to green, when the drivers were all pleading them not to. From the crazy start, to the Dario and Sato incident, to the unbelievable finish, it was a very busy day in New Hampshire.

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Scott Sharp won here in 1996, Robbie Buhl in 1997 and Tony Stewart was the winner here in 1998. While most assume that the Ganassi and Penske drivers will be the ones to beat here, it might not be that simple.

The one-mile oval is a very tricky track, with many bumps and tighter corners than similar tracks like Milwaukee. There will be plenty of room to pass on the longer straights, so traffic shouldn’t be a big issue here.

With no one really having an advantage (even though Penske tested here earlier in the year), it is anyone’s guess as to who will be the “driver to beat” on Sunday.

I am going to predict that Tony Kanaan will win the pole for this race, as he will be relying on his veteran driving experience to find his way around the track. I also think, since the track is similar to Milwaukee, he could be very good here.

I think we will see last week’s winner, Scott Dixon, making the podium this weekend, coming home in third place. In second place, I am going to predict that Ryan Briscoe drives a clean race and stays out of trouble to bring home a solid finish.

I do believe that Dario Franchitti will win this race on Sunday. With the win, he will put an even wider separation between himself and rival Will Power. This will put more pressure on Power’s team with just five races left in the season.

Four of the final six race tracks are new to the Series this year, including the switch from the 1.5-mile oval to the road course at Twin Ring Motegi, because of the March earthquake in Japan.  Power trails Franchitti by 62 points in the series championship heading into this Sunday’s race. The change from oval to road course in Japan could be a big blessing for him.

Sunday’s MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 can be seen on ABC. Coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. EST.

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Scott Sharp won here in 1996, Robbie Buhl in 1997 and Tony Stewart was the winner here in 1998. While most assume that the Ganassi and Penske drivers will be the ones to beat here, it might not be that simple.

The one-mile oval is a very tricky track, with many bumps and tighter corners than similar tracks like Milwaukee. There will be plenty of room to pass on the longer straights, so traffic shouldn’t be a big issue here.

With no one really having an advantage (even though Penske tested here earlier in the year), it is anyone’s guess as to who will be the “driver to beat” on Sunday.

I am going to predict that Tony Kanaan will win the pole for this race, as he will be relying on his veteran driving experience to find his way around the track. I also think, since the track is similar to Milwaukee, he could be very good here.

I think we will see last week’s winner, Scott Dixon, making the podium this weekend, coming home in third place. In second place, I am going to predict that Ryan Briscoe drives a clean race and stays out of trouble to bring home a solid finish.

I do believe that Dario Franchitti will win this race on Sunday. With the win, he will put an even wider separation between himself and rival Will Power. This will put more pressure on Power’s team with just five races left in the season.

Four of the final six race tracks are new to the Series this year, including the switch from the 1.5-mile oval to the road course at Twin Ring Motegi, because of the March earthquake in Japan.  Power trails Franchitti by 62 points in the series championship heading into this Sunday’s race. The change from oval to road course in Japan could be a big blessing for him.

Sunday’s MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 can be seen on ABC. Coverage starts at 3:30 p.m. EST.

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Dixon clearly had the best car all weekend, as he started on the pole and led 50 of the 85 laps in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. His teammate Dario Franchitti was eight seconds behind, giving Target/Chip Ganassi racing another one-two finish on the year.

Ryan Hunter-Reay got a podium finish, coming across in third place, while KV Racing teammates Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five.

It was a rough day for Team Penske, especially Will Power, who came home in 14th position. All three of the team cars were running up front for most of the race, but they had an unlucky break during a caution when they tried to pit. They went to the back, and couldn't get around all of the traffic.

Power has finished 14th or worse in three of the past four races. He now trails Dario Franchitti by 38 points heading into next weekend's race at New Hampshire. Dixon trails by 106 points.

It was also a frustrating day for hometown kid Graham Rahal. Graham had trouble on his first pit stop, then made contact with Danica Patrick, sending him spinning off the course.

Scott Dixon has now won three of the five IndyCar races here at Mid-Ohio.

With more oval races coming up on the schedule, it looks like the championship could be Dario's to lose. Power is slightly better on the road and street courses, while Dario is a bit better on the ovals.

Next Sunday's MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 from Loudon, New Hampshire is set for 3:30 pm EST, and can be seen on ABC.

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Dixon clearly had the best car all weekend, as he started on the pole and led 50 of the 85 laps in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. His teammate Dario Franchitti was eight seconds behind, giving Target/Chip Ganassi racing another one-two finish on the year.

Ryan Hunter-Reay got a podium finish, coming across in third place, while KV Racing teammates Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five.

It was a rough day for Team Penske, especially Will Power, who came home in 14th position. All three of the team cars were running up front for most of the race, but they had an unlucky break during a caution when they tried to pit. They went to the back, and couldn't get around all of the traffic.

Power has finished 14th or worse in three of the past four races. He now trails Dario Franchitti by 38 points heading into next weekend's race at New Hampshire. Dixon trails by 106 points.

It was also a frustrating day for hometown kid Graham Rahal. Graham had trouble on his first pit stop, then made contact with Danica Patrick, sending him spinning off the course.

Scott Dixon has now won three of the five IndyCar races here at Mid-Ohio.

With more oval races coming up on the schedule, it looks like the championship could be Dario's to lose. Power is slightly better on the road and street courses, while Dario is a bit better on the ovals.

Next Sunday's MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 from Loudon, New Hampshire is set for 3:30 pm EST, and can be seen on ABC.

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It should be noted that a driver who has finished on the podium at Mid-Ohio has gone on to win the championship each of the past three seasons. Defending race winner Dario Franchitti and defending pole winner Will Power will once again go head-to-head as the two fight for the championship again in 2011.

In the four races that IndyCar has run here, Team Penske has won the pole for every one of them. Unfortunately for them, it hasn’t translated to wins, as they have just one. The other three winners, of course, were all driven by Chip Ganassi cars.

Begin Slideshow

It should be noted that a driver who has finished on the podium at Mid-Ohio has gone on to win the championship each of the past three seasons. Defending race winner Dario Franchitti and defending pole winner Will Power will once again go head-to-head as the two fight for the championship again in 2011.

In the four races that IndyCar has run here, Team Penske has won the pole for every one of them. Unfortunately for them, it hasn’t translated to wins, as they have just one. The other three winners, of course, were all driven by Chip Ganassi cars.

Begin Slideshow

While everyone was watching Franchitti and Power’s every move, Takuma Sato went out on Saturday and won the pole for Sunday’s race in Edmonton.

Sato led the first 18 laps of the race, in what was a great run for KV Racing. All three of the Lotus cars were running in the top 10. On lap 19, Power was able to get under Sato to take the lead, and the Ganassi cars followed. Scott Dixon and Franchitti both were able to follow Power, putting Sato back into fourth.

It was a rough start for two of the three Canadian drivers, and Graham Rahal. Surprisingly, all 26 cars made it through turn one without any contact, but soon after, Alex Tagliani pressed hard going into turn five, and locked up his wheels. He slid into the back of Rahal, cutting his left-rear tire. Rahal eventually spun off the track, and came back on directly into the path of Paul Tracy.

Both Rahal and Tracy were out of the race on the first lap, and Tagliani had to serve a drive through penalty, although he was already set to restart in the back of the field after changing his damaged wing.

On lap 25, Oriol Servia got put into the tire barrier after Mike Conway attempted to make a pass. Conway got under him, but there really wasn’t much room to make a pass. Servia had just made his first pit stop of the race. Conway was given a drive-through penalty.

On the restart, Dixon had problems when he and EJ Viso got together. Dixon’s car was smoking, and he brought his car into pit lane. The team discovered the problem was with the radiator, and he had to go behind the wall for the repair. He finished the race in 23rd, and is now more than 100 points behind in the championship.

Once again turn five was the center of attention on lap 39, when Ryan Hunter-Reay got into pole sitter Takuma Sato. Both drivers were running in the top five, but Sato fell back into 19th position. Ryan was given a drive through penalty, which put him back into 13th position.

Alex Tagliani came into pit on lap 49, which gave the top three positions in the race to team Penske. The team has had quite an up and down season, but they all looked good in Edmonton.

Dario got by Briscoe as the final pit stops cycled through, and both he and Castroneves closed the gap on race leader Power. These three separated themselves from the rest of the field, and it was a three-car shootout from there on.

Power was able to fend off his teammate to win the race, and Franchitti settled for third. Tony Kanaan finished in fourth after Briscoe had to come in on the final lap for fuel. Justin Wilson had a solid day as he rounded out the top five.

Will led 58 of the 80 laps on Sunday, which was his fourth win of the 2011 season.

Power was able to make up a few points on Dario in the championship as they head to Mid-Ohio for the next race on August 7. The gap between the two now is just 38 points, with seven races remaining.

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While everyone was watching Franchitti and Power’s every move, Takuma Sato went out on Saturday and won the pole for Sunday’s race in Edmonton.

Sato led the first 18 laps of the race, in what was a great run for KV Racing. All three of the Lotus cars were running in the top 10. On lap 19, Power was able to get under Sato to take the lead, and the Ganassi cars followed. Scott Dixon and Franchitti both were able to follow Power, putting Sato back into fourth.

It was a rough start for two of the three Canadian drivers, and Graham Rahal. Surprisingly, all 26 cars made it through turn one without any contact, but soon after, Alex Tagliani pressed hard going into turn five, and locked up his wheels. He slid into the back of Rahal, cutting his left-rear tire. Rahal eventually spun off the track, and came back on directly into the path of Paul Tracy.

Both Rahal and Tracy were out of the race on the first lap, and Tagliani had to serve a drive through penalty, although he was already set to restart in the back of the field after changing his damaged wing.

On lap 25, Oriol Servia got put into the tire barrier after Mike Conway attempted to make a pass. Conway got under him, but there really wasn’t much room to make a pass. Servia had just made his first pit stop of the race. Conway was given a drive-through penalty.

On the restart, Dixon had problems when he and EJ Viso got together. Dixon’s car was smoking, and he brought his car into pit lane. The team discovered the problem was with the radiator, and he had to go behind the wall for the repair. He finished the race in 23rd, and is now more than 100 points behind in the championship.

Once again turn five was the center of attention on lap 39, when Ryan Hunter-Reay got into pole sitter Takuma Sato. Both drivers were running in the top five, but Sato fell back into 19th position. Ryan was given a drive through penalty, which put him back into 13th position.

Alex Tagliani came into pit on lap 49, which gave the top three positions in the race to team Penske. The team has had quite an up and down season, but they all looked good in Edmonton.

Dario got by Briscoe as the final pit stops cycled through, and both he and Castroneves closed the gap on race leader Power. These three separated themselves from the rest of the field, and it was a three-car shootout from there on.

Power was able to fend off his teammate to win the race, and Franchitti settled for third. Tony Kanaan finished in fourth after Briscoe had to come in on the final lap for fuel. Justin Wilson had a solid day as he rounded out the top five.

Will led 58 of the 80 laps on Sunday, which was his fourth win of the 2011 season.

Power was able to make up a few points on Dario in the championship as they head to Mid-Ohio for the next race on August 7. The gap between the two now is just 38 points, with seven races remaining.

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