- [Race Announcer] Looks like a repeat of last year's start,
no it's a good one.
And here they come.
Bobby Unser going for the lead.
Johnny Rutherford right alongside him.
Rutherford down low but Bobby...
There's a terrible crash on the home stretch.
There are several cars involved.
We can't see the numbers
but it's been a bad crash from the start.
It was in the middle of the field somewhere.
(car engines revving down)
This is what everyone has feared.
Waving, he might be on fire, that man the way he was waving.
You can't see an alcohol fire.
There is a report already that there may be spectators hurt
not confirmed.
The wire fence right here on the straightaway was
ripped apart.
It was very fortunate that a car did not come into the crowd
because one of these standards
holding up the wire screen
has also been broken in half.
Right here...
- You're looking at the remains
of one of the most dramatic crashes
in the history of the Indianapolis 500.
I'm Matt Anderson, Curator of Transportation
at the Henry Ford, and we are here with what remains
of Salt Walther's car driven in that race.
And really all that's left is the tub
where the driver would've sat, right here.
With one of the side pods where one of the radiators
was located and then the rear wing.
And this crash is still remembered
as one of the most dramatic
and spectacular in the original sense of the word.
In terms of the scale of the crash watching it
- [Race Announcer] There are several cars involved.
We can't see the numbers, but it's been a bad crash
from the start.
- It happened very early in the race
as Walther was coming around to turn.
There's still some dispute about what actually happened.
Walther always maintained that he was bumped
by a car behind him.
Others have suggested
that he may have initiated the contact,
but in any event he crashed into a car ahead of him
driven by Jerry Grant.
Walther's car was driven up on one of Grant's wheels
which acted like a catapult
and basically sent the Walther car
slingshotting through the air.
It caught on the catch fence where the audience was.
The car spun around, the fuel tanks were ripped open
so it was spewing fuel all over the track,
flipped upside down
came down onto the track
and basically burst into flame.
And tremendously dramatic to look
at the film footage of that crash, how intense it was
and to see Walther after that crash.
The nose of the car was ripped off.
If you look at some of the photos
his legs are sticking out of the front of the car.
But he did survive though with severe injuries.
He was burned over 40% of his body.
His hands were badly injured,
in fact that the story is that they were very close
to amputating both of his hands when the doctors
decided to make the one last try
to save as much as they could.
(upbeat rock music)
We have this car in our collection is not only
a reminder of that dark moment in Indy 500 history
but as a reminder of the importance of safety in racing.
Certainly I think Walther's survival
can be partly attributed to some
of the safety features in this car.
Things like the roll bar behind him there that protected him
in the flipping of the car.
Also, the fire resistant suit that he was wearing
certainly helped.
Frankly, the fact that so much of the fuel spilled
out of his car in the accident helped too.
So it pretty much burned itself out
before it could injure him more severely than it did.
But also there were a number
of safety changes implemented after Walther's crash
to try and prevent that sort of thing from happening again.
Fuel tanks were reduced in capacity
from 75 gallons to 40 gallons, so basically cut in half.
Turbo boost pressure was reduced on the engines
and the the rear wings were also reduced in size
from 64 inches to 55 inches,
which both of those that and the turbo boost adjustments
were meant to kind of slow down the speeds of these cars.
They were starting to go very fast.
Walther qualified in this car at something
over 190 miles an hour.
Racing unfortunately is one of those things
we can always make it safer.
We always should work to make it safer,
but it will never be perfectly safe.
There's always inherent risk and this car
is a testament to driver's ability
to deal with that risk.
And Walther in particular, not only wanting to go back
in 1974 one year after this crash
but having the determination to almost will himself
into recovery, working to learn to walk again.
One of his kneecaps was shattered in the accident
learning to use his hands again
and being strong enough frankly
to come back in 1974 and race again.
So a dark chapter in Indy 500 history
but one that I think we can learn from even today.
(upbeat rock music)