2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 18th round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season | |
The layout of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the race was held
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| Date | October 16, 2011 |
| Official name | IZOD IndyCar World Championship |
| Location |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Clark County, Nevada, U.S. |
| Course | Oval 1.544 mi / 2.485 km |
| Distance | 12 laps 18.528 mi / 29.817 km |
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps 308.800 mi / 496.965 km |
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 93.9 °F (34.4 °C); wind speeds up to 17.1 miles per hour (27.5 km/h) |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Tony Kanaan (KV Racing Technology) |
| Time | 50.0582, 222.078 mph (357.400 km/h) |
| Podium | |
| First | None, race was abandoned after 12 completed laps and 5 tribute laps to Dan Wheldon |
| Second | N/A |
| Third | N/A |
The 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship was the final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar series schedule. The event took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Clark County, Nevada on October 16, 2011. The race was stopped following a major accident triggered by drivers trying to avoid light contact between Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe. 15 cars were involved in the wreck, which resulted in the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon. After a several hour delay, IndyCar decided to abandon the remaining 188 laps after word of Wheldon's death was relayed to the drivers.
The Las Vegas race was added to the schedule for the 2011 season and replaced the event at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the final race of the IndyCar season. The races at Homestead and the International Speedway Corporation tracks were removed from the schedule following the previous year's season. Las Vegas Motor Speedway was returning to the IndyCar schedule for the first time since 2000 – and the first open-wheel race at the circuit since the Hurricane Relief 400 Champ Car event in 2005 – and none of the drivers in the race had raced at the circuit since it was reconfigured in 2006, which saw a greater degree of banking added to the circuit to encourage side-by-side racing. The race was scheduled for 200 laps around the 1.544 mi (2.485 km) oval, totaling 308.800 mi (496.965 km).
On May 3, 2011, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced that a $5,000,000 (USD) purse would be awarded to any driver who was not a regular on the IndyCar circuit to enter the race at Las Vegas and win while starting from the tail end of the field, hoping to attract interest from Formula 1 or NASCAR. The challenge was accepted by 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who had run only one additional race that season; he agreed to split the purse with a fan if he went on to win.
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