Speedway boss defends track after IndyCar death

Dan Wheldon car Las Vegas Speedway president Chris Powell said his track met every IndyCar Series regulation and that he heard no concerns expressed by drivers before British pilot Dan Wheldon died in a crash .
Powell spoke to several media outlets late Monday, a day after Wheldon was killed due to severe head injuries in a fiery 15-car crash at the 1.5-mile banked oval, a facility that had not hosted an IndyCar race in 11 years.
"We provide the venue," Powell told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The sanctioning body... whatever sanctioning body it is, comes in and governs its own competition. That was the case this weekend."
Drivers from around the auto racing world have questioned the wisdom of having a 34-car field, the largest IndyCar lineup outside the Indianapolis 500 where drivers have weeks of practice, racing at speeds above 220 mph.
"I wouldn't run them on ovals. There's just no need to," five-time defending US stock car champion Jimmie Johnson said. "The ovals, when something happens, you just can't keep those cars on the ground.
"I hate that this tragedy took place but hopefully they can learn from it and make those cars safer on ovals somehow. I would just rather see them on street circuits and road courses. No more ovals."
While several IndyCar racers said they expressed safety concerns about the Las Vegas track before the race, Powell said he heard none of the worries.
"When drivers have concerns, I think 99 percent of the time those concerns are expressed to the sanctioning body," Powell said. "If those concerns were expressed in this instance, certainly it was not to me."
Powell told ABC News that IndyCar was in charge of making sure conditions were proper to race at the facility.
"We as a speedway make sure we provide a venue that they come in and make an assessment when they're ready to race, and they did that exact thing," Powell said.
"We heard no qualms whatsoever from anyone at IndyCar that there were any concerns," Powell told television station KVVU.
"Our speedway conforms to every regulation that any sanctioning body has ever held it to, and we're very proud of that."