Wheldon, a 33-year-old English driver who won the famed Indianapolis 500 twice, died on Monday when he was caught up in a chain-reaction crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Fifteen cars were involved in the fiery melee on the 12th lap, after which the race was cancelled.
"The entire IndyCar family is saddened by Dan Wheldon's tragic death, and our thoughts continue to be, first and foremost, with Dan's wife Susie and his entire family at this incredibly difficult time," the US open-wheel racing series said in a statement yesterday.
"As part of our standard safety protocol, a full investigation has been launched by IndyCar, with assistance from individual members of various motorsports bodies."
The note said neither the International Motoring Federation (FIA) nor the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (ACCUS) was officially involved. "We hope to have preliminary findings to report within the next several weeks. In the meantime, it would be inappropriate to comment further," the statement said.
IndyCar vowed the probe would seek to discover if speeds at the Las Vegas track were too high or if the field was too crowded.
Some drivers had predicted a chaotic race on the oval circuit at Las Vegas. It had been reconfigured to add "progressive banking" designed to increase side-by-side racing, which can be particularly dangerous in open-wheel races.
However Sam Schmidt, who runs the team for which Wheldon ran his final two races, said the accident could have happened almost anywhere.
"It's similar to what we do at Texas - with a little more speed, a few more cars - but I don't think the track's to blame," Schmidt said.
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