Fencing contributed to Wheldon's death

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Several factors played a role in the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon, I ndyCar announced Thursday; including impact with a fence post.

The safety fencing surrounding the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is constructed differently than the fencing at other tracks including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

There are three main components to racing safety fences:

• Wire mesh designed to stop flying debris
• Wire cables designed to stop flying cars
• And the steel poles to hold everything up

It was a steel fence post that caused Wheldon's fatal head injury.

WISH-TV racing analyst Derek Daly explained the design behind fencing at race tracks.

“We start with the big fence post. The cables run on the outside (closest to the drivers) in Las Vegas and the mesh is on the inside (closest to the fans). The pole is in the middle,” Daly said.

Wheldon hit the cables first.

“The cables shred the carbon fiber. So the preference of IndyCar, which they did not have in Vegas, was to have the cable and the mesh on the outside (closest to the drivers) to contain some of that energy of the racing car before they can hit the pole. We still don't know if that would have changed the outcome of Wheldon's accident.”

The IndyCar report found Wheldon’s car suffered damage that allowed the fence post to come into contact with Wheldon’s head.