Legacy of St. Petersburg’s Dan Wheldon, widow’s courage are focus of HBO film

ST. PETERSBURG — Charismatic, handsome, fearless and talented, Dan Wheldon was one of the IndyCar Series top drivers when he died in a crash at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 16, 2011, months after winning a second Indianapolis 500.

More than a dozen years later, the St. Petersburg resident’s widow remains determined to ensure that his legacy lives on.

“I don’t want the story to die at the end of Dan’s accident,” said Susie Wheldon, who now lives in Miami.

Dan Wheldon’s story, she said, continues through his lasting impact on the sport and two sons, who race in IndyCar developmental divisions with plans to compete professionally one day.

Those themes are explored through the documentary “The Lionheart,” which was Dan Wheldon’s nickname. It will premiere on HBO this month.

Susie Wheldon and her sons, Sebastian, 15, and Oliver, 12, will attend a private advance screening of the film on Thursday in St. Petersburg. That’s the night before the start of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the downtown race Wheldon won in 2005. A portion of the course is named Dan Wheldon Way in his honor.

HBO describes the documentary as a mix of archival footage to follow Dan Wheldon’s career and Susie Wheldon’s current dilemma as a mother watching her sons embrace the high-risk sport.

“I have boys who just will do anything, including jump off cliffs with their skis and extreme mountain biking and rock climbing,” director Laura Brownson said. “So I was really drawn to Susie and how on earth she can allow these kids to do … the same thing that took their father from them.”

The documentary, she said, is not made for race fans only. “The story is for people who are drawn to larger themes of sort of familial legacy, love loss, risk taking, all of those things. You don’t have to like motor sports to relate to Susie as a parent.”

Born in 1978 in England, Dan Wheldon started kart racing at 8, joined the Indy Car Series in 2002 and signed to compete as part of the Andretti Global motorsports team in 2003. He was IndyCar Series champion in 2005, the same year he moved to St. Petersburg.

Dan Wheldon was 33 when he died. He agreed to start at the back of the 34-car Las Vegas field as part of a special challenge that made him eligible for a $5 million payday if he won the race. Half that money would have gone to a fan.

But 11 laps in, he was “caught up toward the tail end of a wreck that started when two cars touched tires,” according to Tampa Bay Times coverage of his death in 2011. “Wheldon’s car sailed through the air … catching fire and slamming into the catch fence outside Turn 2.”

Neither son was old enough to have formed detailed memories of their father. Oliver Wheldon was only a few months old at the time.

“My oldest was about 2½ and he remembers things about maybe the house that we lived in or being with his dad at a certain point, but nothing super specific,” Susie Wheldon said.

By driving, Brownson said, the Wheldon sons are connecting with their father. “When they get behind the wheel, they are the closest to their father that they could possibly feel. That’s how they get to know and understand him.”

In the documentary, as Dan Wheldon’s father discussed his son’s talent at a young age and desire to race professionally, he said, “My job was to get him there.”

Susie Wheldon had the same reaction when her sons asked to compete.

“It was never in my mind that I would deny them that, ever,” she said. “I knew from an early point that if they ever wanted to do that … I would at least give them the opportunity.”

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to watch her sons race. She worries.

“I’m a mom first,” Susie Wheldon said. “I’m human … I’m going to have those feelings about the boys.”

Both boys were around 5 when they began racing karts. They moved on to cars and today race for Andretti Global’s development team. It’s a big opportunity, their mother said, but one that comes with added pressure due to their father’s connection.

“He was a big character, a big personality,” Susie Wheldon said. “They want to make a name for themselves but can’t deny where they came from. That’s always going to be a part of their story. … I want them to know that they are their own people and for them to really be pursuing this path … it’s something that they want to do and not something that’s expected of them. … But they will always have the shadow of Dan around them.”

So far, she said, they are succeeding at carrying on their father’s legacy while forging their own.

“Dan has these two beautiful, amazing boys and they just so happen to have chosen the same path as him,” she said. “And so that’s the start of a new story, too.”