pelley: good evening, drivers in the las vegas 300 are telling us tonight it was an accident waiting to happen and, of course it did. taking the life of one of the superstars of this sport 33- year-old dan wheldon. now many are asking questions about how it happened and whether it could have been averted. today at the indianapolis motor speedway where wheldon twice drove to victory in the indy 500 fans paid their respects. he leaves behind a wife and two small children. wheldon s father spoke to reporters earlier today. daniel was born to be a racer and left us doing what he loved to do. pelley: we asked bill whitaker to look into the crash and tonight he is at the las vegas motor speedway. bill? reporter: scott, in the days before yesterday s race, some drivers had expressed concerns about the track speed here at the las vegas motor speedway and especially the high banks that allow drivers to maintain speeds above 200 miles per hour. looking for dan wheldon. rep
above 200 miles per hour. looking for dan wheldon. reporter: just 11 laps into the race with cars packed four deep at speeds approaching 225 miles per hour, one car bumps another triggering the 15-car crash. driver dan wheldon was killed when his car went air born and crashed into a fence. what i saw driving through, i thought everyone was going to be okay. reporter: ed carpenter was in the race and was a close friend of wheldon s. i think we all felt like there was a chance for there to be some crashes in the race because we were running close, it was fast, there were a lot of cars, the way the track was we knew we were going to be in a big pack. reporter: this was the indy car season finale. promoters promised excitement and speed. wheldon, a charming, popular british-born driver and two time indianapolis 500 winner called the race a thrill just moments before he was killed. this is a great way to go out. reporter: there s the car. reporter: but many insid
stay hungry, stay foolish. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. pelley: good evening, drivers in the las vegas 300 are telling us tonight it was an accident waiting to happen and, of course it did. taking the life of one of the superstars of this sport 33-year-old dan wheldon. now many are asking questions about how it happened and whether it could have been averted. today at the indianapolis motor speedway where wheldon twice drove to victory in the indy 500 fans paid their respects. he leaves behind a wife and two small children. wheldon s father spoke to reporters earlier today. daniel was born to be a racer and left us doing what he loved to do. pelley: we asked bill whit dore look into the crash and tonight he is at the las vegas motor speedway. bill? reporter: scott, in the days before yesterday s race, some drivers had expressed concerns about the track speed here at the las vegas motor speedway and especially the hig