1964 Indianapolis 500

The 1964 Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1964. It was won by A.J. Foyt, but is best known for a fiery seven-car, second-lap accident that resulted in the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald. It is also the last race won by a front-engined "roadster", as all subsequent races have been won by mid-engined cars.

MacDonald-Sachs crash

MacDonald was driving a car owned and designed by Mickey Thompson, the #83 "Sears-Allstate Special".^[1] It was a rear-engined car that first raced in 1963, updated with a streamlined body for 1964. The fuel was housed within rubber bladders inside of an enclosed tank that ran between the tires on the left side. The car also featured Sears "Allstate" tires, manufactured by Armstrong Tire and Rubber Co.^[2] It was far ahead of its time, but was badly designed, poorly built, and difficult to drive.^[3] It handled badly, a condition made worse when the body was modified to accommodate the USAC-mandated 15-inch (380 mm) tires. Graham Hill tested the vehicle before Indy, but refused to drive it in 1963. Masten Gregory crashed earlier in the month due to aerodynamic lift. Other drivers took the advice of Gregory and stayed away from the Thompson cars. Jim Clark told MacDonald on Carb Day, "Get out of that car mate, just walk away." The car was also offered to Mario Andretti, who turned it down over his lack of experience and the fact that the vehicle was only for Indy. According to long-time motor sports journalist Chris Economaki, MacDonald never practiced with a full load of fuel due to Thompson's focus on high speeds.^[4]

In the first lap of his first Indy 500 race in 1964, MacDonald passed at least 5 other cars. As Sachs passed Johnny Rutherford and Sachs, Rutherford noticed that MacDonald's car was handling poorly, even throwing grass and dirt up from the edge of the track. Rutherford later said that, watching the behavior of MacDonald's car, he thought, "Whoa, he's either gonna win this thing or crash."^[5]

On the second lap, MacDonald's car spun coming off the fourth turn. As the car began to slide he came across the track and hit the inside wall, igniting the gasoline in his fuel tanks (up to 100 US gallons) and resulting in a massive fire. His car then slid back across the track, causing seven more cars to be involved. Ronnie Duman crashed, spun in flames and hit the pit lane wall, and was burned. Bobby Unser hit another car, and Johnny Rutherford's car on its left rear tire, and crashed into the outside wall. Chuck Stevenson and Norm Hall also crashed.

Sachs aimed for an opening along the straight-away wall that was soon closed by MacDonald's burning car. He hit MacDonald's car broadside causing a second explosion and died instantly of blunt force injuries. Despite Sachs' body being trapped in the burning car, his driver's suit was only scorched and he received slight burns on his face and hands. The car was covered with a tarp before being towed to the garage area for removal of his body. A lemon that had been on a string around Sachs' neck was found inside of Rutherford's engine compartment after the crash.^[5]

MacDonald was pulled from the wreck and taken into the infield hospital. Though badly burned, he was conscious and alert. His lungs were seared from flame inhalation, causing acute pulmonary oedema. He died at 1:20 in the afternoon.^[3]

The crash was well documented in film and still images, and shown worldwide. For the first time in its history, the Indianapolis 500 was stopped because of an accident. Partially in response to media pressure, USAC mandated that cars carry less fuel and crafted the rules to effectively eliminate the use of gasoline, effective for the 1965 season. This resulted in a change to methanol, a less volatile fuel.^[6] Another response to the crash was the 1965 introduction of the Firestone "RaceSafe" fuel cell, with technology used in military helicopters.^[7]

References