IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard set up a challenge for the season-ending 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 16 October. A prize of $5 million would be divided equally between a driver and a randomly selected fan if the driver won from the back of the grid. He was unable to get an international racing driver so he offered the challenge to Wheldon who accepted. He was frustrated about his car being more than slower than others and felt it would be difficult to remain with the pack if the issue was not resolved. Wheldon was also ABC's in-race reporter and spoke in defence of his participation in the event and IndyCar to the network's commentary team during the warm-up laps. On lap 11, a fifteen-car accident occurred between turns one and two in which Wheldon was involved. He was in 24th and travelling on the left-hand side of the track at in an attempt to avoid the pile-up and flying debris. Driver Vitor Meira then spun towards the infield and hit the cars of E. J. Viso and Charlie Kimball. They blocked Wheldon's path, and he decelerated to 10% of throttle usage before he hit the left-rear tyre of Kimball's car at . He was launched semi-airborne for approximately and rotated towards the right-hand side catchfence.