Dan Wheldon Tribute 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup at Talladega

[phillies4100]

R.I.P Dan

[111820nascar]

They should'nt of had Nicole do it. Im pretty sure she knew him.

[TheMrtgamer]

@111820nascar they all did

[penske13]

@111820nascar no no. it has been suggested that the brickyard race at indy (that nascar runs) be renamed the wheldon memorial od something like that. i TOTALLY disagree with that. horrible fucking idea to try to commecialize his death.

[1960twilight]

@111820nascar She knew him quite well. They used to date somewhere around 2005. Then she married Brisco and he married Susie.

[mak1838]

@person@penske13...Nicole was not married to Dan.

[nascar88218]

All of my favorite drivers keep dying! Dale Earnhardt Sr, Scott Kalitta, Adam Petty, and now Dan Wheldon. All of which are greatly missed!!! Dale Jr. is my favorite and always will be. I really hope he doesn't die as well. But may all of the drivers that have died just doing what they do best, Rest In Piece! I really miss him! IRL will NEVER be the same!

[penske13]

nicole manske is obliterated here. much like the rest of us when we heard it. respect for the video but don't use him to sponsor a race. it is tasteless and tacky.

[jperson56]

@penske13 she was married to him but now she is married to Ryan Briscoe

[wdnewberry]

@penske13 How was he used to sponsor a race? That race had its own sponsor, but the pre-race show had to talk about the biggest story of the week - Dan's death.

[sethcorn]

Auto racing is an entire family whether you race on ovals, road courses, drag strips, two wheels, four wheels....NASCAR lost a great man on February 18, 2001....I think we were all reminded of not losing a great racer, but a great man! Loved by many who never met him, and remembered by all!! RIP DAN!!!!

[iPreferItInMono]

That girl is a champ. How did she get through that?

[AndresAQ18]

Never forget this pilot

[KingCuervo88]

huh...never made the connection of her last name being Briscoe... and Ryan Briscoe... (retard clap)

[ENGLANDNEWENGLAND007]

you can hear the emotion in Nicloe's voice

[NotreDameBaseball12]

still sad watching this RIP Dan..

[KJT922010T]

Nicole is married to Ryan Briscoe is why she so upset her husband was on the track that day,

[AaronEnglandVideo]

Amazing Dan Wheldon Tribute. #GodBlessDan

[gordi1011]

watching this gives you chills. r.i.p. Dan Wheldon.

[jmed412]

I thought NASCAR did a very commendable thing by paying tribute to a driver who did not compete in that style of racing.

[lewisr993]

She dated him? really?

[DocGorilla]

@lewisr993 heh, Dan dated them all.....

[PhilipTheBigOne]

@lewisr993: Guess before she met Ryan, she was dating Dan... But then she met Ryan, he met Susie and...

[WWE1119]

wow what a touching tribute, I started tearing when Nicole Briscoe couldn't keep it together, she used to date Dan too and obviously her husband was in the race that killed him.

[EviLMonkeYUndermyBed]

I've been thinking and I noticed if jr hilldebrand didn't fail at Indy Dan would still be alive

[JokaPlaya]

Thx 4 this. Really touching.

[9999faill]

respect for nascar for giving a tribute to Wheldon

[Iceman2692]

That was beautiful.

[ElwooduTube]

@demonflayme6 if thats all u have to say u better shut up idiot. show some respect!

[demonflayme6]

@ElwooduTube no u

[EviLMonkeYUndermyBed]

It's amazing how she was able to hold the tears back!!

[pennst24]

@demonflayme6 I hope you die, troll.

[demonflayme6]

@pennst24 no u

[DavidMason093]

Thank you America for welcoming Dan into your hearts!

[1960twilight]

@DavidMason093 We loved him and always will.

[Sweetheart12922]

Miss you, Dan. :(

[ShreddyLee]

Nicole did one of the best tributes ever. Awesome job by her in a difficult situation. I am proud of her. No one could have done a better job.

[TPMJ5997]

Dan Wheldon died doing what he wanted and loved to do. He doesn't want us being sad about him. He wants us to laugh and think about great things we've experienced in our and his life. R.I.P. Dan Wheldon 1978-2011.

[fitzzy81]

@RealRacer2442 oh ive heard. regardless, im not a fan of the espn crew esp. the females. krista voda, jeanne zelasko, Wendy Venturini they're the best!

[acenace24]

Anyone else think that the commentator should probably have been left out of the tribute? Just because of her feelings

[nadeau1064]

I don't know how she was able to pull that off so soon after that accident. Tremendous professionalism right there.

[xJohnx228x]

Nicole's voice made me cry...... It's still so hard! To hear Danica getting choked up and now Nicole Briscoe... It's hard for me to hear them choked up...

[fitzzy81]

not that my opinion has anything to do with this video though, RIP dan wheldon.

[fitzzy81]

sometimes i wonder where ESPN gets these people. between jamie little & the girl who does the prerace show it couldnt be any more obvious they dont know shit about nascar

[RealRacer2442]

@fitzzy81 The girl who does the pre-race show, is the wife of Ryan Briscoe, who happened to be in the very race Dan Wheldon was in. And most importantly, she and Dan Wheldon used to date each other several years back before Wheldon married Susie. I thought it's something you would like to know.

[MrCavalier82]

@RealRacer2442 Most of us did not know that they once dated. Thanks for sharing.

[RealRacer2442]

@MrCavalier82 No problem. If I would've known about all of this prior and watched this live, I think I would've cried watching this. Announcing a death on live national television is one thing. Doing a segment on someone you once dated, and knowing your husband could've been dead, is by far, the toughest thing I've seen any broadcaster do in my whole life.

[BrianHudsonPro]

@fitzzy81 Why don't you keep your comments to yourself! What you said has nothing to do with this tribute! As someone who works directly with both Jamie and Nicole I can assure you they know what their talking about and both have had a very difficult week!

[LNK886]

Tony and Dario made me cry watching the Memorial Tribute.

R.I.P Dan Champion For All Years To Come!!

[DavidMason093]

I miss you Dan! :'(

[hoosierjayhawk]

What is it exactly you don't believe? Yes she was involved with Dan Wheldon at one time, this was no big secret . This isn't some big scandal - She's a very attractive and pleasant woman and he was an engaging guy. The only way it is relevant is that regardless of why that relationship ended and given the fact that her husband was in the race at Vegas it made her job even harder - and she did two wonderful things - she showed appropriate emotion and handled it like a professional

[RySenkari]

Nicole knew it could have been her husband in that wreck, she's probably had nightmares about it all this past week. She was fighting to hold it together but she did an outstanding job.

[WWJDBibleStudyTime]

very touching nice speech we miss dan rip you will always be remembered

[eddiemunster46254]

Very touching. Excellent job with a tough story Nicole!

[hoosierjayhawk]

Yes they were involved so this had to make it even harder - she is a very fine person

[dementedb43]

A terrible week in motorsport, and a truly touching tribute there RIP.

[TheSpiralZeroTheory]

Been a bad year for motorsports. Wheldon, Huseman, Simoncelli, Bakkerud, and I'm sure I missed some. R.I.P, gone but never forgotten

[Colddeed]

This was the 4th time I've witnessed a fatality in auto racing. The other 3 were Jeff Krosnoff, Greg Moore and Dale Earnhardt.

[MannyZtheWolfWarrior]

This was the second time that I've seen a racer die doing what he loved. The last time I saw the death of a driver was in 2001 with Dale Earnhardt, and I was only ten years old back then. Watching this today made me remember those feelings back then, back when I was naive, and watching Dan's death as well as hearing about Marco Simoncelli's death just makes me realize that these guys truly love what they do. NASCAR, IndyCar, MotoGP, F1, V8s, it doesn't matter. They're all human.

R.I.P.

[JPedroCQ]

I couldn't hold my tears seeing this. I still can't accept that I saw an accident that killed a racing driver live. And the death of Marco Simoncelli doesn't help at nothing. RIP Dan Wheldon & Marco Simoncelli.

[raveninohio]

Without any shame I can tell that I DID cry big time when I watched this video. There is absolutely no shame in the tears.

[pacmancucumber1783]

R.I.P. Dan Wheldon, i will never forget 10/16/11

[alonsospeed]

Great tribute. Dan will be missed.

[raulp34]

RIP Dan Wheldon

RIP Marco Simoncelli

[dart1285]

@raulp34 RIP to any driver who died doing what they loved. So goddamn sad, but so fitting to these guys who went flying by the seat of their pants, doing what they loved. My heart is heavy for their families.

[raulp34]

@dart1285 :) :)

[nr2003kid]

I was almost in tears wathcing this, RIP Dan Wheldon...

[ma55aracin9]

that was pretty emotional right there Mattzel......it almost broke me down to tears

-in fact, hearing or even watching a woman cry for whatever reason breaks every single man, even the toughest, and not just myself you know......-

[VitaAmare31]

Her husband is a race car driver and was driving in the race that killed Dan Wheldon

[PopSong1]

@VitaAmare31 She also used to date Dan.

[vitaphone97]

@VitaAmare31 what do you mean with that?

[gamrguy101]

@VitaAmare31 and he just so happens to be my favorite driver and was almost involved in an incident earlier in the race when hit touched wheels with another driver. fortunately there was no damage and they continued racing... I guess unfortunately.

[gamrguy101]

@gamrguy101 he*

[cubbies16]

@barneynward yes. her and dan used to date around 2005 or so

[DaddyMOFObanks]

BTW 350,000 saw in person his last win and captured even more with his Celebration and Love for his family and Racing.

[IronStackz]

I hate IndyCar fans who say NASCAR is nothing but driving left. OH ANOTHER LEFT TURN. Fuck you, we are all a fan of Motorsports. NASCAR, Indycar, MOTOGP, V8, anything. We are all fans of racing no matter what. We aren't all redneck hicks who live in a trailer. NASCAR is everywhere.

Sorry for my rant, I hate it when people diss NASCAR, they do so much for the people, sponsers, fans. God bless Dan. RIP.

[EarnhardtsYear08]

@IronStackz Wrong place to rant buddy, thanks for making us nascar fans look like idiots. 

[IronStackz]

@EarnhardtsYear08 Was I making "fans" look like idiots? No. I was actually proving a point that we are all in this, racing is racing, from it being in a straight line for a mile, or 500 laps in an oval, or on a huge road course. It's the same deal, it's racing. You know what NASCAR fans are idiots? JR fans. They stick with a driver who is god awful :)

[EarnhardtsYear08]

@IronStackz So sticking with your driver through a bad drought is being an idiot? So using your logic Im only allowed to root for a driver who wins all the time? I guess all the Gordon Edwards Stewart and Kenseth fans were idiots for sticking by their driver while they were in a win less streaks. I really don't see how sticking with your driver through good times and bad makes me an idiot? Actually that makes me a real fan sir You're the idiot for cussing out Indy car fans in a tribute video.

[IronStackz]

@EarnhardtsYear08 Are you a dumbass? I said "I hate Indycar fans who say" WHO SAY. Can you read? I didn't say "I hate all Indycar fans" . JR is just famous for his name. Just like Steven Wallace, Kyle Petty, so on and so forth. For good times and bad I'm pretty sure Jr has been in a "bad time" for the past several years. Hell these new comers in the sport have more wins than Jr over the past few years.

[EarnhardtsYear08]

@IronStackz ummmm excuse me? Can you read? I didnt say you said ALL did I? And yes you can compare Jr to them, but only because they are all sons of legends other than that there is no comparison. Jr actually has had great success in his career and Kyle and Steven can't say that. And weather he has been sucking or not, you said it makes me an idiot for still being his fan. I think the idiots, are the ones who only go for the winners, true fans stick with their drivers no matter what.

[IronStackz]

@EarnhardtsYear08 Well then why bitch at me telling me to not curse at Indycar fans. I said INDYCAR FANS WHO SAY... etc etc etc. Not all of them do that derp. 

[EarnhardtsYear08]

@IronStackz Because this video wasn't really the place to bring it up. I do agree with you that some are ignorant to the fact about nascar, but this video isn't really a good place to bring it up. Just honor Dan as a racer and person and move on. And saying "fuck you", isn't really going to leave a good taste in peoples mouths weather you were only talking about a few or not. Get what Im trying to say?

[barneynward]

Was Nicole crying at the end?

[sesselfurzer2000]

@barneynward sure. just listen how her voice is breaking up.

[barneynward]

@sesselfurzer2000 yeah. To be honest, I would've cried if I did it.

[sesselfurzer2000]

@barneynward Me, too. I mean as she said she's the wife of Ryan Briscoe. Ryan competed in last week's race and she knows that it also could have hit her husband. Me personally think that I would have cried because I'm caught in the act.

[sedna90377]

@barneynward Nicole used to date Dan Wheldon

[barneynward]

@sedna90377 I don't believe you.

[sedna90377]

@barneynward Nicole used to be a pit reporter for the Indycar radio coverage. She dated Dan around that time.

[barneynward]

@sedna90377 weren't she in her early 20's at the time?

[DaddyMOFObanks]

Amazing tribute. I teared up right with her the whole way. I myself living in Indianapolis this has hit hard to our city and throughout the Racing World. We love you Dan. I was at this years Indy 500and I just want Thank you for letting me and my friends see such an incredible ending to a great race.

Thank You Dan.

[WilVincent88]

Emotional and beautiful.....