List of IndyCar fatalities
This article lists people who have been fatally injured in American Championship car racing during testing, practice, qualifying, or races since 1916, categorized into drivers, riding mechanics, and non-participants. The article recognizes "IndyCar" or "Champ Car" fatalities that have occurred in events making up the National Championship, which has been held by the following sanctioning bodies:
- American Automobile Association (1916, 1920–1941, 1946–1955)
- United States Auto Club (1956–1995)
- Championship Auto Racing Teams (1979–2007)
- Indy Racing League (1996–present)
The National Championship, which was split from 1979 to 2007, consists of regular races, non-points paying (non-championship) rounds, competitions sanctioned by entities that did not stage the National Championship of the year (such as the Automobile Club of America), and the AAA Big car meetings that were held in the 1946 season.
The most recent driver to be killed in an IndyCar Series event was Justin Wilson in 2015.
Contents
Driver fatalities
By track
Fatalities among riding mechanics
✝ indicates that the driver was killed in the same accident.
Fatalities among non-participants
Name | Date of accident | Sanction | Track[note 1] | Event | Session | Role | Course of events |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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April 8, 1916 | AAA | Grand Boulevard | Corona road race[note 2] | Race | Policeman | Due to tire damage Bob Burman's racer skidded, turned over and dashed into a crowd of people, several of whom were injured. Burman, his mechanician Erick Schrader, and a policeman died.[1] |
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November 18, 1916 | ACA | Santa Monica Road Race Course | American Grand Prize | Race | Worker | With the left front wheel having collapsed, Lewis Jackson missed a slight turn. His auto slid along the roadside and struck several people, three of whom fatally. Jackson died when he was pinned against a tree.[6] |
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Spectator | ||||||
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December 2, 1916 | AAA | Uniontown Speedway | Universal Trophy[note 2] | Race | Driver | Frank Galvin lost control of his racer, smashed through the guard rail and slammed into the press stand, injuring several of its occupants and crushing to death Hughie Hughes, who had crashed out of the race himself and was standing by the press box. Galvin, who succumbed two days later, and Gaston Weigle, his mechanician, were also killed.[7] |
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May 30, 1923 | AAA | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Race | Spectator | Tom Alley, relief driving for Earl Cooper, slid, rolled over and penetrated a fence, killing a 16-year-old spectator and hurting two other boys and himself.[120] |
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November 29, 1923 | AAA | Beverly Hills Speedway | 250-mile race | Warm-up lap | Photographer | Attempting a start before the race, Harry Hartz hit a photographer, a team owner, and a mechanic, killing the former two and badly injuring the latter.[121] |
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Team owner | ||||||
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October 12, 1925 | AAA | Rockingham Speedway | Autumn Classic | Practice | Mechanic | A broken steering knuckle caused Vic Spooner's car to overturn and strike his mechanic, who was standing in the pits. Spooner survived a concussion of the brain.[122] |
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May 30, 1931 | AAA | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Race | Stander-by | Billy Arnold's racer lost a wheel, which flew over the retaining wall and fatally hit an 11-year-old boy who was off IMS’s property.[123] |
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May 28, 1937 | AAA | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Qualifying | Spectator | After the gas tank was punctured, Overton Phillips lost control of his burning auto and veered into the pit area where he collided with another machine, killing two attendants, one of whom died five days later, and hurting three other people including himself.[118][124] |
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May 30, 1938 | AAA | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Race | Spectator | Having impacted a retaining wall, Emil Andres's racer rolled over, losing the right front wheel, which shot through the air before fatally striking a spectator standing on a truck.[125] |
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April 14, 1946 | AAA | Williams Grove Speedway | 30-lap Big car race | Feature race | Spectator | A man, who was hit by a car while he was crossing the track near completion of the race, succumbed to his injuries two days later.[42][126] |
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October 15, 1950 | AAA | California State Fairgrounds | 100-mile race | Race | Spectator | Tony Bettenhausen ran into and climbed up the rear of Walt Faulkner's racer, flipped over and smashed through a fence, hurting four spectators, one of whom died the next day.[127] |
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September 12, 1953 | AAA | New York State Fairgrounds | 100-mile race | Race | Spectator | Trying to thread his way through Jimmy Bryan's spinning car and the fence, Chuck Stevenson hopped the outside wall, killing one spectator and injuring another 14.[128] |
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September 6, 1954 | AAA | DuQuoin State Fairgrounds | Ted Horn Memorial | Race | Mechanic | Rodger Ward, after losing a tire and locking wheels with Chuck Stevenson, spun into the pit area where he overturned, killing a mechanic and hurting eight other people.[129] |
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May 30, 1961 | USAC | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Race | Firefighter | A fire truck, while maneuvering in the vicinity of Eddie Johnson's parked racer, which was burning, ran over and killed a firefighter.[130] |
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April 13, 1969 | USAC | Hanford Motor Speedway | California 200 | Race | Mechanic | Fuel leaking from Art Pollard's car was ignited during a pit stop so that two attendants were burned, one of whom leapt back into the path of Mario Andretti's auto. The mechanic sustained head injuries and died two days later.[131][132] |
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May 30, 1973 | USAC | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | International 500-Mile Sweepstakes | Race | Team member | Rushing to the scene of Swede Savage's crash, a fire truck ran into and killed a crewman for Graham McRae.[95] |
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May 24, 1987 | USAC | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Indianapolis 500 | Race | Spectator | A tire which had come off Tony Bettenhausen Jr.'s racer was catapulted into the stands by Roberto Guerrero's car and fatally struck a spectator in the head.[133] |
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September 2, 1990 | CART | Vancouver street circuit | Molson Indy Vancouver | Race | Marshal | Having pushed Ross Bentley's stalled racer out of a chicane area, three track workers jumped into the path of Willy T. Ribbs's car, which was coming around the corner. After colliding with its rear, two of them were flung through the air and sustained minor injuries. The third was hit and overrun by the left rear wheel, succumbing to head injuries several hours after being operated on.[134][135] |
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July 14, 1996 | CART | Toronto street circuit | Molson Indy Toronto | Race | Marshal | Because Jeff Krosnoff's racer had touched wheels with that of Stefan Johansson, it was catapulted into the air and fatally struck a track worker, who was positioned behind the wall lining the track, while on its way into the catch fence where it disintegrated on impact, the cockpit coming to a stop against the opposite wall. Krosnoff was killed, too. Another marshal was slightly hurt.[102] |
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July 26, 1998 | CART | Michigan Speedway | U.S. 500 | Race | Spectator | On lap 175, Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators and injuring six others.[136] |
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May 1, 1999 | IRL | Lowe's Motor Speedway | VisionAire 500K | Race[note 3] | Spectator | On the 59th lap, Stan Wattles crashed into the outside wall in turn four, shearing off both right-side wheels. John Paul Jr.'s car hit one of them, propelling it over the fence into the stands. As a result, three spectators were killed and eight others, two of whom were children, suffered injuries.[137][138] |
See also
Notes
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