[AlvinKarpis]

Lyle Kurtenbach Spectator: 1987 Indy 500


Lyle Kurtenbach Rothschild, Wisconsin: Tony Bettenhausen lost a wheel in the third turn. Moments later, Roberto Guerrero hit the tire with his nose cone, and the tire was launched into the air. The tire went over the catch fence, and into the top row of the "K" grandstand, striking and killing Kurtenbach instantly.


A couple of rare photos of the fatal incident


RIP Lyle

[AlvinKarpis]

Dont know why the last pic showed up as a smaller size

Wish I had the edit button to change it

[Davinche14]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

A few pictures of Danny Ongais horrible Indy 500 crash in 1981 that I don't think have been posted before.

Wow. Amazing detail. Assuming fatal?

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by Davinche14 ↗

Wow. Amazing detail. Assuming fatal?

Nope he survived

2 broken legs, two broken arms, broken jaw, knocked out front upper and lower teeth, broken ribs and internal injuries

[Davinche14]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Nope he survived

2 broken legs, two broken arms, broken jaw, knocked out front upper and lower teeth, broken ribs and internal injuries

Amazing what the human body can survive. Looking at that compared to an 'innocuous' looking smash like Earnhardt's, assume the latter would be the sole survivor every time!

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by Davinche14 ↗

Amazing what the human body can survive. Looking at that compared to an 'innocuous' looking smash like Earnhardt's, assume the latter would be the sole survivor every time!

Watching the rare video of the impact from WRTV and hearing it as well makes this crash one of the worst ever that was not fatal

[jeremycrpntr]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Blaise Alexander: 2001 Lowes Motor Speedway

Fatal

Super hard head first crash into the wall

Similar to Dale Earnhardts crash only this one you can tell right away is going to be bad news

RIP to a young talent taken way to soon

It was a classic Earnhardt move, done by an Earhardt that killed this young man too... Just run through the guy instead of trying to pass him clean!

[cortdb]

Originally Posted by jeremycrpntr ↗

It was a classic Earnhardt move, done by an Earhardt that killed this young man too... Just run through the guy instead of trying to pass him clean!

i dunno man. it looked to me like earnhardt just held his line into the corner. guess other guy expected him to lift throttle....earnhardt shouldve probably given a little room since he was 100% passed at that point but then again blaise( if i remember his name correctly) should have made damn sure he was clear to move over. you have to take into consideration it was 4 laps left in the race and you know how that goes

[The Dark]

Little harsh there Jeremy I feel, from what I've read & seen it appears Earnhardt got a little loose - possibly from the aerodynamic effect of Alexander being alongside - and as they were so close as the rear came round it took him down into the side of the car.

I certainly wasn't intentional a la Carl Edwards or Jeff Gordon's recent "removals" so I think it's important to try and separate the tragic element from the racing element and see what we think.

However, as we have differing views on the Indy 500 finish last year, we may well disagree on this one as well! Such is the way opinions get formed

[AlvinKarpis]

Gordon Smiley frame by frame study of the turn 3 camera angle that I did 10 maybe 15 years ago

I thought I had lost this, but found it and ran it as a slide show for easy viewing