IndyCar - Indy 500 Champ Dan Wheldon Dies in Las Vegas Race Crash +VIDEO

LAS VEGAS - October 16, 2011: Dan Wheldon, the popular IndyCar driver who won this year's Indianapolis 500 race, was killed earlier today in a horrific crash that many drivers described as "the worst they had ever seen."

Watch video footage of the crash

Wheldon was participating in a special program sponsored by GoDaddy that would have allowed him to share in a $5 million award if he won today's race. Part of the requirements was that he had to start the race at the back of the field.

There had been reports that drivers were concerned about the high speeds on LVMS' 1.5-mile oval after they reached nearly 225 mph during practice runs of the season finale. Obviously their concerns became reality when contact on Turn 2 sent cars flying through the air, crashing into each other and into the outside wall and catch fence.

Earlier this week Wheldon wrote an article for USA Today in which he described himself and the $5 million event. He wrote, "I was born in 1978 in Emberton, England, and my interest in motorsports began very early. My father was a go-kart racer and my mother was the timer at the local go-kart track, so naturally I started racing, too...When I was 20 years old, I moved to the U.S. and began competing in USF2000...This year, I won the 500 for the second time. It was a magical time in my life, and it led directly to the challenge you'll be watching this weekend...I'll start at the back of the 34-car field for Sunday's 300-mile race. If I win, I'll split $5 million with Ann Babenco of High Bridge, N.J., who was chosen in a random drawing."

Aerial view video of crash