With the lights down and the big screen out, Dan Wheldon watched an action film like no other Monday morning.
It was far from a studio film, because Hollywood probably would have rejected the script that the driver follwed to his second Indianapolis 500 championship.
"I knew that situation, and I was looking at the lights the whole time," said Wheldon, who managed to pass a wrecked JR Hildebrand in the final 400 yards of the straightaway on the last lap to take home the race win on Sunday.
Wheldon's win came on the 100th anniversary of the event, in the process delievering one of the most unusual and thrilling finishes in memory.
"Its one that down the road, is certainly going to mean an immense amount," said Wheldon of winning on the centennial-the second Indianapolis 500 win of his career.
But when the milk and champaign are stored away, Wheldon has to go ahead and find himself a job.
While a series veteran, he was without a ride for the first four races of the 2011 Izod IndyCar Season, and signed just a one-race deal with Bryan Herta Motorsports for the month of May.
Wheldon's contract with the team expired at Midnight after the race.
"I'm unemployed," blurted Wheldon with a bit of a smile, but he knows where he like to keep searching for a job.
A regular on the series 2002, the driver says that he's enjoyed being in the Izod IndyCar Series since he joined with Panther Racing. He's had five stops on teams since beginning eight years ago, including a three-year stop with Andretti Green, three years with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, another stint at Panther which came to an end in 2010.
Wheldon won the IndyCar championship in 2005-the same year he won the Indianapolis 500-and has finished in the top ten three other times.
"I think its a little bit of the economy," said Wheldon when asked why he is without a full time ride despite a solid past. "Its about choosing the right thing. I'm not sure where I came in the championship in 2009 and 2010 but it wasn't as good as it should have been and you get forgotten quickly.
"So it was a case of making sure that I got back to something that, you know, I really felt that I could win in."
Could Brian Herta Autosport be that team? Wheldon praised the team for its efforts in trying to build a solid race car throught the Indianapolis 500 practices and believes a deal could be worked out to put him back on track for some-if not all-of the remaining races for the 2011 season.
"Bryan I'm sure is going to do everything in his power to keep me in the race car," said Wheldon. "At the end of the day the way Bryan works, he's an astute business person, if he's not going to do it right, than he's not going to do it at all."
