Trevor Williams

FRISCO — “As a kid growing up in England, all you know is motor racing and soccer.”

Those are the words of IndyCar driver and English native Dan Wheldon, who was able partake in both of his passions last week at Pizza Hut Park.

Wheldon was in town to promote the upcoming Bombardier Learjet 550k on June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway and spend some time with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.

Fresh off winning the IRL race at Kansas, Wheldon, who drives the No. 10 car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, talked about how competitive from top to bottom the series has become since the merger with Champ Car.

Wheldon, the 2005 series champion, pointed out that only 15 points separated IRL leader Helio Castroneves, Wheldon’s teammate Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and himself.

“You can’t have mechanical problems because there are so many cars now,” Wheldon said. “You used to have problems and still could pick up some points. But now [with the merger] it’s tougher.”

Wheldon spoke about his relationship with Danica Patrick. Last year at Milwaukee they made contact, which resulted in a confrontation in the pits after the race. It soon escalated into a feud that unfolded in front of the press.

The Englishman explained that they played up their rivalry for the media but are in fact cordial. After this year’s race in Japan, they sat near each other on the plane back. Together with Dixon, they celebrated Patrick’s historic victory.

“We made her drink more than she should’ve,” Wheldon said. “But you have to after you win your first race.”

Looking back on his Kansas win, Wheldon and Dixon ran one-two for the majority of the event. Keen on saving fuel, the teammates looked to control the pace by having Wheldon drive close enough to Dixon to create an aerodynamic drafting advantage.

However, Dixon needed to make a green flag pit with 49 laps to go, giving the lead to Wheldon.

Dixon ran into bad luck though, as a crash brought out a yellow as he was pitting, allowing the field to pit as well and pushing him to the back of the field. Wheldon was able to pit, keep the lead for the remaining laps and pull out the victory.

The Englishman explained that while it may look easy from the grandstands, trailing Dixon required an incredible amount of energy to remain mentally focused.

“If Scott went up a touch, I had to go with him. When I crossed the seam, I had to react as the car would get really loose really quickly,” Wheldon said. “And I also had to move out to see if the top lane was clean when we were moving into traffic. I was changing all the controls in the cockpit so I could remain very close to Scott.”

Wheldon finds a link between racing and soccer in the concentration it takes to be successful.

“Nowadays the competition is so tough in soccer that if your defenders lose concentration, you can go down by a goal in a moment,” Wheldon said. “It’s not just that you’ve lost that goal, it’s that the team that scored gets more confidence going and it’s now difficult to come back.”

Wheldon took to the practice field to scrimmage with some members of FC Dallas. Decked out in Dallas’ practice uniform, Wheldon was clearly outmatched, having not played seriously since he was young. Dallas’ players, though, enjoyed having the driver on the pitch, giving him ample opportunities to make the most of it.

Working with the Dallas forwards, Wheldon moved the ball toward the goalkeeper, where after a couple of attempts, the Englishman was given a penalty kick after a phantom foul call. He made the most of it by burying a goal.

“I think whichever way I shot the ball, he [the goalkeeper] was going to go the other way,” Wheldon said afterward.

The driver also decided to race midfielder Marcelo Saragosa using golf carts in the parking lot. Wheldon traded paint with Saragosa as the carts slowly lumbered along.

Wheldon is amazed how soccer has surged in popularity since he came to the United States in 1999. When he first moved here, he found if you started talking about soccer, “people thought you were crazy.” With the growth of the MLS and the arrival of David Beckham, Wheldon finds the sport beginning to catch on.

Living in the States has also led to Wheldon adopting some American habits, like going to the dentist. After recently getting married, his wife convinced him to go after avoiding the dentist for seven years. He spent nearly 30 hours in the chair over the course of a couple days to get his teeth fixed.

“I’m sure there’s some English players [in the MLS] know what I’m talking about because we don’t believe in dental work too much in England,” Wheldon said.

With the day of soccer over, Wheldon’s next move was to head to Indianapolis, where he and the IRL will spend the next month preparing for the Indy 500.

Since winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, Wheldon doesn’t find the track any easier. He believes that discipline and strategy are keys to success, and that if a driver goes into Indy too confident, they will run into trouble.

Texas is also on Wheldon’s radar. While he has three third-place finishes, he feels he hasn’t had the performance he’s wanted.

“I don’t know why they sell seats at Texas because most of the fans stand up. It’s going to be an incredible race. You might see 30 cars,” Wheldon said. “Seeing 30 Indy cars racing at Texas at night at well over 200 miles per hour, it’s going to be a particularly impressive display.”

TREVOR WILLIAMS can be reached at 940-566-6874. His e-mail address is twilliams@dentonrc.com .