The outpouring of support for Dan Wheldon's family, after the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was killed in a car race in Las Vegas  Oct. 16, has been overwhelming.

It started with a small gesture by Graham Rahal, who wanted to raise money for Wheldon's family by auctioning off his helmet, gloves and shoes from the IndyCar season finale.

He announced his intentions on Twitter and the response from the motor sports community was immediate.

Big ticket items donated to the auction had by Wednesday already brought almost a quarter million dollars for Dan's wife and two young sons.

"I certainly appreciate everyone's support for Dan's Memorial Auction," said Rahal, who recently completed his first season with Chip Ganassi Racing. "I never thought when I tweeted about auctioning my helmet that we would get this kind of reaction."

Check out the full charity auction on eBay.

(READ the AP story in the Indy Star)