WHELDON FEARED GETTING A TATTOO, SKATEBOARDING MORE THAN RACING AT 200 MPH

IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and his wife, Susie, show off the his-and-her wrist tattoos they got Saturday at Huntington Ink at the Palms. Wheldon died Sunday in the IndyCar World Championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after a horrific wreck that involved 15 cars. (Photo courtesy Mark Waters)

IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon told a group of skateboarding fans at a tattoo parlor on Saturday that he was more nervous about getting tattooed than racing.

Wheldon and his wife, Susie, were waiting to get his-and-her tattoos of their initials when Wheldon struck up a conversation with the skateboarding group at Huntington Ink in the Palms.

Wheldon was gun-shy about getting a tattoo, said Mark Waters, a Southern California skateboarding event organizer.

“He kept making a joke over how much was it going to hurt,” said Waters.

“I said, ‘If you can drive a car 200 miles per hour, how can you be afraid of getting a tattoo?’ ” said Waters.

“He said, ‘I’ve seen what skateboarders do; that’s way more dangerous than what I do.' We all scoffed and my sister (Laura) said, ‘that's not an argument you're going to win,' " recalled Waters.

About 15 hours later, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died Sunday after a horrific 15-car wreck in the IndyCar World Championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It’s just so surreal and sad,” said Waters, who was driving back to Southern California on Sunday when he heard Wheldon had been killed.

“He was so super genuine. So nice and friendly. Everybody got pictures with him. Really friendly and full of life.”

--NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential