2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship
The 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship was the final race of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar series schedule. The event took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Clark County, Nevada on October 16, 2011. The race was stopped following a major accident triggered by drivers trying to avoid light contact between Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe. 15 cars were involved in the wreck, which resulted in the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon. After a delay of over two hours, IndyCar decided to abandon the remaining 188 laps after word of Wheldon's death was relayed to the drivers, though the drivers did complete a five-lap salute in honor of Wheldon.
Izumi Sakai
Sakai's office announced that there will be a nationwide tour to follow the What a Beautiful Memory tour. Announced on November 16, 2007, through Zard's official website, it will consist of 15 concerts at 13 locations in early 2008. The first concert will be at Kobe's International Forum on January 19 and the final one will commemorate the first anniversary of Sakai's death at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Yoyogi on May 27. None of the concerts will take place at the Tokyo International Forum, where the "What a Beautiful Moment" DVD was mainly recorded, or at Nippon Budokan. Additional previously unreleased footage of Sakai will be shown throughout the tour.