IndyCar Driver Dan Wheldon Dies in Fiery Pileup [PHOTO, VIDEO]

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed on Sunday after his car collided with others during the IndyCar Series season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His death was pronounced approximately two hours after he was airlifted to University Medical Center.

In a statement, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard said, “IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today.” In light of this tragedy, the participating IndyCar drivers and owners decided to end the race after the 13th lap, which was when the crash occurred.

Other drivers were distraught over the crash. “I’ll tell you, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ryan Briscoe said. “The debris we all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and car on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere.”

After receiving the news of Wheldon’s death, drivers circled around the track five times in salute.