DAN WHELDON, RIP

In one of the most dominating performances in the history of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, in 2006 Scott Dixon, Casey Mears and Dan Wheldon teamed to win the twice-around-the-clock event.

Compiling a race-leading 272 laps on the point, the team - born of drivers coming from Chip Ganassi Racing w/ Felix Sabates and Target Chip Ganassi Racing teams - would compile 734 laps in their No. 02 Lexus-powered Riley DP by race end, at the time ranking fifth overall (now sixth overall) in the race's all time completed-laps category - just 28 laps shy of 1992's leading 762 laps.

Wheldon's finish, in the pursuit of which he'd personally lead an individual sixth-best 58 laps, was a considerable improvement over his 33rd-place finish just a year earlier, in which he co-drove the Pontiac-powered No. 2 Howard Boss Motorsports' Crawford DP03 along with Milka Duno, Marino Franchitti and Dario Franchitti.

Though Wheldon and the Franchitti brothers had already long known each other, Wheldon once later said it was in the trenches of that grueling 2005 Rolex 24 race where he gained a keen appreciation for "those two Italians masquerading as Scots" - said with a hearty laugh after dislodging a tongue previously implanted firmly in cheek.

In just a few months' time Wheldon would've returned to Daytona International Speedway to join the many other returning Rolex 24 At Daytona champions, who will help celebrate the race's Jan. 28-29, 2012, 50th anniversary.

Wheldon wasn't exactly the tallest to be found in a paddock, but what he lacked in physical stature easily was overshadowed by his accomplishments in a race car - 16 IndyCar Series wins; a 2005 IndyCar Series championship; and, two Indy 500 wins coming in 2005 and 2011 - as well as his being just a darn nice guy who joked, laughed, smiled and made others feel as perfectly at ease as could anyone.

Perhaps that's the best way, too, for Wheldon to be remembered.

There's a cold certainty found in numbers which are indisputable. The warmth of a meaningful smile, the quick extension of a welcoming hand is something altogether different.

And that's the Dan Wheldon this writer will most remember.

And miss.

Later,

DC