After the season, Wheldon left Panther Racing because of a lack of sponsorship and the No. 4 car was driven by rookie J. R. Hildebrand. He filed a $383,400 lawsuit against John Barnes in Marion County Superior Court on 18 August for late payment of his salary and of his share of earnings from his on-track achievements as well as taxation issues. The two reached a settlement on 1 October. Wheldon did not have a full-time seat for the 2011 season, and he missed the season's first four races as he sought employment with another team to compete in the Indianapolis 500. Talks with several teams, including signing a contract with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing co-owner Robbie Buhl to share a car with Mike Conway fell through. He then spoke to his friend and former AGR teammate Bryan Herta who offered to assemble a car from his own low-budget operation, Bryan Herta Autosport, for Wheldon and he agreed. He drove a 2003-specification Dallara chassis leased to Herta by the team's technical partner Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Curb-Agajanian Motorsports. He qualified in sixth place; in the race, Wheldon was in second place on the final lap when Hildebrand crashed leaving turn four. He took the lead to become the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 leading only the final lap.