The 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship was the scheduled final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar series. It was to be run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada USA on October 16, 2011, and was scheduled for 200 laps around the facility's 1.544 mile oval. The race, however, was cancelled after twelve laps had been run. Contact between drivers Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe triggered a massive chain reaction crash that involved fifteen of the thirty-three entrants in the event and resulted in the death of former IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon. Open wheel racing has not returned to the circuit since the incident. Report Background The Las Vegas race was added to the schedule for the 2011 season, replacing the event at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the final race of the IndyCar season. The races at Homestead and the International Speedway Corporation tracks were removed from the schedule following the previous year's season. Las Vegas Motor Speedway was returning to the IndyCar schedule for the first time since 2000, and the event marked the first open-wheel race at the circuit since the Hurricane Relief 400 Champ Car event in 2005. The circuit since was reconfigured in 2006, which saw a greater degree of banking added to the circuit to encourage side-by-side racing. The race was scheduled for 200 laps around the oval, totaling . This was the final entry for Vítor Meira, Paul Tracy, Tomas Scheckter, Buddy Rice, and Davey Hamilton, and Dan Wheldon. This would also be the final entry for Danica Patrick until 2018, where she would participate in the Indy 500 to conclude her racing career. Media coverage ABC broadcast the race on American television. Marty Reid was the lead commentator with Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever as analysts. Vince Welch, Jamie Little, and Rick DeBruhl were the pit reporters. The IMS Radio Network provided the radio coverage with Mike King on lead. Josef Newgarden, who had run the Indy Lights series event earlier in the day and had been crowned that series’ champion for 2011, was the booth analyst; Davey Hamilton, who normally occupied that role, entered the event in a car fielded by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Mark Jaynes reported from Turn 3, and Jake Query and Kevin Lee served as the pit reporters. The $5 Million Challenge On May 3, 2011, IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced that a $5,000,000 (USD) purse