Dan Wheldon Quotes (64 Quotes)

I think California is going to be a really good race because obviously the championship has been decided, but second, third and fourth are up for grabs. There's going to have to be some big things happen for those positions to change. Then I think you have the fifth through 10th pretty close. I think everybody's going to be going for broke.

The one thing I do disagree on is the fact that they are pushing Danica solely that's a big mistake. With the momentum they've created, they shouldn't be pushing one person. If Danica disappears and does something else, you lose that momentum and the chan

The St. Pete race was very, very good from that standpoint. Certainly, living there you can feel the buzz about people wanting the race to come back. That's what you have to have at each track we go to. With Danica Patrick, and the fact that she's generated so much interest, I think the races are going to get bigger and better.

It's difficult to race under such circumstances. It's a job and it can be pretty vicious at times. But there can be a lot of highs as well.

I seem to win a lot of Honda's special races, ... I hope (Honda) is going to sponsor the Indy 500 next year because I love that race.

It is their (the management company's) job to be looking into all of the options for my future and making sure they are right. They certainly did have contact with different teams in different series. That's just part of business, though, ... I'm working on a deal with Andretti Green right now. I'm working on getting something that is fair for both sides. At the same time, if somebody approaches you, you can't just tell them no. You're going to listen to what they say. For me, the most important thing is to be happy and win races.

To tell you the truth, I'm surprised Honda paid so much to get Jenson out of his Williams deal because I personally think that if you give me the right time, I can certainly be as good, if not better. I'm sure every driver thinks that, but I certainly believe I can be as good.

Let's hope this is just the start of a lot of good things for this team.

I anticipate a really good race because, even though the championship is decided in my favor, second, third and fourth places are still up for grabs,

I thought I could do it sometime in my career, but certainly not this soon.

On a difficult day like today, everybody came together and I think put on a great show.

The one thing I do disagree with the IRL is the fact that they are pushing Danica solely. I think that's a big mistake on their part.

The one thing I've learned about this league is don't get excited too soon, ... It's going to be a difficult race. My teammates are going to push me really hard. Last year, I struggled a little bit on the short ovals. The boys have been a big help to me. It's nice to have your first pole. I'm still a rookie until Japan so I have a lot to learn.

It was Herta's day. It's very good to see him in Victory Lane.

They like the wine. I didn't see a sober (sponsor).

We didn't get everything we wanted to out of our qualifying run. The Klein ToolsJim Beam car definitely had a little bit too much understeer and that cost us. It's so competitive out here that you've got to gamble a little bit, but we have a relatively good race car, so hopefully we'll get a good result.

I know it certainly didn't fare well for Scott Dixon, but I don't think that was through any fault of his own, ... That year, things didn't go their way. They had some bad luck. I don't think that was down to Scott.

It wasn't as good a throw as the one I did at Shea Stadium it was a little high, ... This was more of an English cricket throw than a pitch. I was throwing it a little high on purpose to show them I had a different pitch than the one I did at Shea Stadium. It just dropped about 10 feet too late.

It was just one of those things. The qualifying effort didn't seem that bad. I don't know where the speed was. It was kind of a disappointing run, really. It kills you to lose time from the practice sessions. Maybe it was me, maybe it was the car. We just weren't particularly quick today.

I had a Sonoma race where I was disappointed in the result, ... I wanted to make amends for that. That was the longest period of time I've ever had between races. From the last race of the year to the first race of the next season is a long time. It felt a lot longer than that.

We push each other hard, ... We never give an inch. For instance, at the open test at Phoenix International Raceway last winter, I set a fast time and then Dario, Tony and Bryan all went out to better it and did. We always work on improvement and, as competitive as we've been, the friendships between us make it all work.

It's just practice, it doesn't matter, ... You can feel brilliant, but if you don't perform tomorrow and Sunday, you're going to be nowhere.

They teach you not only at the track but away from the track how to handle yourself, how to handle yourself in a situation like I'm in now, with a big lead. There's a lot that you can learn from these guys.

There are rivalries out there. There's people that want to beat one another. There are people with points to prove. But on a difficult day like today, everybody came together and put on a great show.

To tell you the truth, it looked very, very bad.

I felt a lot of pressure with the championship and my contract situation, ... To have one of them off my shoulders is a good feeling.

Those guys, particularly Scott, did just a great job. It's another good win to add to the Indy 500. It's amazing.

can contend for points.

The one thing I do disagree with the IRL on is the fact that they are pushing Danica solely. ... Do you hear about Buddy Rice, who is the 2004 Indy 500 champion Do you hear about my teammate, Tony Kanaan, who is the 2004 IndyCar Series champion You really

We had an aggressive setup and were very quick in traffic. Once underway, the car was very, very good. This is a fun place to race and win and to take Sam's record is truly special.

I look back to when I was a rookie. You're up against guys that have been around, for not just a year or two, but you're talking 10 years.

To win both in the same year I think is an unbelievable achievement. I thought I would be able to do it in my career, but not so early. You think you're asking for too much for a championship. It's taken all the energy out of me.

I don't think it's going to be as close as people are making out. I honestly think it's going to be between five or six cars, and they are going to be some ways ahead of everybody else.

This team has a great history it wins the big races. And that's what I love to do.

I didn't expect the race to go like that, and I didn't think I'd forget to push the pit lane speed button coming into the pits. When you make an error, as long as you make up for it, it's a good day.

Today was a very disappointing day. We had some serious fueling problems throughout the race. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the finish we needed and that is very frustrating. We obviously lost some ground toward the championship, which makes Chicago a very important race. I'm hoping we can get back in the swing of things.

I'm glad we started off right because I think Chip will be more motivated now to help us develop some stuff.

When you think Danica grabbed the headlines, you wait until he starts. She'll be jealous of him.

Obviously, Wrigley Field is similar to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in that it has that same mystique to it, ... I don't follow baseball too much, but I know how cool that stadium is and the history and heritage behind it.

They will never give me equal treatment because I'm the baby of the team, ... My rental car has probably lost its tires by now.

My car over the long runs handles pretty good. It's just that for the one lap qualifying, I wasn't able to get the time out of it. I make no excuses. I just didn't get a good lap out of it.

This has been a dream come true for me. The best drivers in the world and the best teams in the world are here and I'm just so proud...Thank you everybody.

Now when we get to Watkins Glen, that's going to be the slowest lap in history. I'm going to tell the team not to expect me to set a flyer on that first one.

What's very important is our thoughts and prayers are with the Dana family. It's a sad day. Just a very, very sad day. It's difficult under such difficult circumstances. It's a job that can be pretty vicious at times. Hopefully we put on a good race.

I'll definitely be in the IndyCar Series, but Michael Andretti has got to keep paying me some more, ... I think we're getting pretty close. It's just stuff between lawyers right now.

In England, if you win the championship, that enables you to run the 1 the following year, and you do it because it somewhat takes the value of winning the championship away if you're not going to use the 1, ... That's how it's perceived certainly with the people I know in Europe. My intention would be to run it if I'm allowed. Certainly that's what I'm going to push for.

I'm disappointed that we weren't quicker, to be honest. The Target car is really good on the long runs but I just couldn't get it up to speed quickly enough in qualifying trim.

The biggest thing for me is the self-satisfaction of winning the race. I don't care about who gets the most attention. I've achieved something that's very special to me.

This track is a challenge, that's best thing I can say about it, and drivers like challenges. I think I speak for all the drivers (in the IRL) when I say we can't wait to come out here. It's a great racetrack and the fans have also been great.

Last year, and I'm praising Honda here at the expense of Andretti Green Racing, we perhaps didn't work as hard on the car as we perhaps needed to, because we had the traction control. Now, everybody's got the same, so you've got to make sure your car is very good.