Emotional farewell for Wheldon

Amid the tributes to Dan Wheldon on Saturday, the intimate remembrances of his widow, Susie, were a reminder that his death meant the loss of a family man as well as a talented racer. "My sweet Dan, my whole body is aching, down to the deepest part of my soul," Susie wrote in a letter read by family friend Michael Johnson. "I keep thinking this is a bad dream." Wheldon, a two-time winner of the famed Indianapolis 500, died last Sunday in a multi-car crash that brought the IndyCar series season finale at Las Vegas to a halt. Pallbearers at his funeral on Saturday in Florida, the Englishman's adopted home, included felow drivers Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Wheldon's father carried his racing helmet and country music star Wynonna Judd sang a moving version of "Amazing Grace". But in the very public outpouring of sympathy and support, family tributes painted an affectionate portrait of the popular driver, who was the father of two small sons. "My heart is scattered in a million pieces," Susie Wheldon wrote. "I just want to wake up and hear your reassuring voice." Dixon read a letter from Wheldon's younger sister, Holly. "I know a lot of sisters would describe their brothers as amazing," Holly wrote. "But mine was truly one of a kind." Saying she shared her brother's "compulsive disorder" in a passion for neatness, she recalled spending late nights with him cleaning the floor and drinking tea. "My brother was born to race," she wrote. "Dan without racing is like a cup of tea without milk, and Dan loved tea." The Wheldon's children, two-year-old Sebastian and seven-month-old Oliver, attended the church service followed by a burial in a nearby cemetery. IndyCar team owners Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske attended the service, along with almost every IndyCar driver as well as pilots from other series. "The past week's been a tough one," driver Graham Rahal said. "When it's someone like Dan, it really puts it all in perspective. "He was a guy that was certainly friendly with everybody on the circuit and everybody close. There's just something about him. It's certainly a tough loss." A public memorial service was also planned for Sunday in Indianapolis. "It's almost indescribable," driver Ryan Hunter-Reay said. "I just really looked up to him in many ways. He's a champion of our sport, he's everything you would want to be on and off the track."