[Norwegian1]

Originally Posted by shoottokill ↗

i wish that vid embedded. oh well. u missed a classic.

Coming from an asshat like you i seriously doubt that. You seem like quite the amateur despite your post count... it is not hard to embed a video.. but you managed to fail big time

[shoottokill]

Originally Posted by AlvinKarpis ↗

Go fuck yourself

Your so fucking stupid that you cant even embed a video you dipshit

Thanks punk. Go post some more cars doing fun things...like crashing, almost crashing...and not crashing....and oh did I mention crashing. Yes. Keep being a good sport and go do this.

[shoottokill]

Originally Posted by Norwegian1 ↗

Coming from an asshat like you i seriously doubt that. You seem like quite the amateur despite your post count... it is not hard to embed a video.. but you managed to fail big time

U can see it now...the handsome video. You being amused, and you enjoying the vehicle in motion. It would have been oh so successful. Don't you enjoy being a thread contributor?

I do, which is why I regret not having posted this video properly.

Now, old man...go scratch your testicles and try to masturbate some more to fun boy cars ramming into walls and stuff.

[Norwegian1]

oh please.... is that all you got? Move along, there is nothing in this thread for you.. you obviously suffer from the misconception that this is a thread that people get off to... newsflash, it is not. You better head on over to the cute dead guys site, sounds like you would fit right in there.

[shoottokill]

Where is this cute dead guys site? You seem to have knowledge of it and you seem to think you know me as well. Please explain your reasoning?

Also, I applaud your crappy effort to disguise your fun boy cars crashing into fun boy walls fantasies. It's no shame to fantasize about hot pieces of metal ramming into things....isn't it old man?

[Norwegian1]

Good try, I am not taking the bait though. This will be my last response to your rambling.

To keep this thread on topic though, thissmallfish, you managed what certain people could not... in other words, your video embedded just right

[thissmallfish]

Hehe it took 3 attempts though! Still, pretty shocking way to go. Especially so given how small those openings used to be. Literally JUST big enough for the wheel to pass through. The odds of that happening AND for poor Gary to be stood in the way must have been astronomical.

This is quite an unusual version of the clip. Often when you see this video, for whatever reason the picture is cropped and you don't see the far right. I don't know if that was something done deliberately by the FOM, the owners of the footage or just a product of broadcasting.

[AnalThunder]

I'll take my hat off to these gentlemen who lost their life.

[windowlicker]

You can’t please everyone….but for those who do get this thread….

David ‘Salt’ Walther certainly had a colourful life, born on November 22nd 1947 in Dayton, Ohio; he raced USAC, then CART, as well as NASCAR and always drove for his father’s USAC team. He also raced Unlimited Hydroplane boats, hence his ‘salt’ tag.

Walther’s father, George Walther was owner of Dayton Steel Foundry, who fielded Indy 500 cars for Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958 and Mike Magill in ‘59. His brother, George ‘Skipp’ Walther III, was killed while attempting to qualify an Unlimited Hydroplane boat at Miami Florida, in 1974.
David was seen as a rich playboy with large amounts of his father’s fortune financing his racing career. He raced USAC/INDY cars from 1970 to 1981, making 55 starts and failing to qualify on nine occasions. After digging around I found that rather than a few 7th place finishes that Wikipedia give him, his best result was a 4th at Trenton in 1977, five laps down in a McLaren/Offy. He also finished sixth in the same year at the 1977 Molson Diamond Indy at the Mosport International Raceway.

He took part in one race in 1970, three in 1971.
His first firm results in USAC were in 1972 when he finished 8th at Pocono (13 laps down) and 6th at Ontario (5 laps down) both in a McLaren/Offy. During his five starts that year he earned $44,000.

In 1973 came what would be his career defining moment, that huge crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when after qualifying 17th only a couple of hundred yards past the flag stand, the blue McLaren-Offy drifted to the right, squeezing Jerry Grant against the wall. Walther’s car clipped Grant's left front tire, and the car jumped violently into the catchfencing, catching its nose and twisting like a propeller a half-dozen times while overturning. 70 gallons of burning fuel sprayed into the grandstand and onto the track as cars scattered down the front stretch. Thankfully most of the fuel was jettisoned from the car, this probably saved his life. Walther has maintained that he was hit from behind; forcing him into Grant’s car, but this is not supported by film of the incident and was not widely accepted by other drivers.

David Hobbs racing Roy Woods Eagle who finished 11th saw the incident, ‘I was down by the pit wall, steering left, and . . . remember very vividly driving through a river of flaming methanol. I pulled up right at the end of pit road and remember telling the radio announcer, 'We’re supposed to have thirty-three of the best drivers in the world and they can't even get down the bloody straightaway’’

Wally Dallenbach jumped from his damaged car to help Salt, ‘I had the gloves on, so I grabbed the hottest thing, the turbocharger, which was one of the corners that was grabable. We flipped it over and I didn't want to see him because I knew I had to race. So I just walked away’

He suffered burns over 40% of his body. Walther's most severe injuries were to his hands, the fingers on his left hand had to be partially amputated, and those on his crushed right hand eventually healed into unnatural angles. He wore a black glove over the left hand to cover the injuries. Walther was in the Michigan Burn Centre for two and a half months, and lost 50 pounds.
Around thirteen spectators were also injured by the burning fuel being sprayed into the grandstands. The Indy 500 was his last race of three races in 1973.

This was Walther’s second Indy 500 start (after DNQ in 1971) and he had not yet managed to complete a lap after also retiring on the first lap of the 1972 race with magneto failure.
In 1974 Walther took part in eight races, his busiest year so far. It would be a disappointing season, his best race being the opening one at Ontario, qualifying 8th and finishing 9th. There would be only one more finish, 15th at Trenton, he retired from the other six.

Another eight races in 1975 brought just one finish, 8th at Ontario, but he did qualify three times in the top ten, a career best 5th at Trenton. Five races in 1976 brought three 9th place finishes including a bit more luck at the Indy 500. The 9th place result earning $23,000, two laps down.

1977 gave him and his father’s team their best finish, that 4th at Trenton as well as a couple of top ten starts (10th at Trenton and Milwaukee). Again Salt failed to qualify for Indy. He led one race, five laps of the 1977 Jimmy Bryan 150 at the Phoenix International Raceway, before retiring with a blown turbocharger.

1978 was the busiest year in USAC for the Walther team, taking part in twelve races. He finished an excellent 6th at Brands Hatch in the UK as well as three 7th places. He retired from half of his races and failed to qualify once.
This year was the teams biggest payday, $69,000. Over his career winnings totalled $284,000, I would guess much less than Walther Senior spent during his time as team owner...

Just one race in 1979, 12th at Indy and failed to qualify for Indy in 1980 and just Pocono in 1981 as his top line single seater career petered out. He had also taken part in four NASCAR races from 1975 to ’77 with a best result of 12th.
He also loved boats, racing the unlimited hydroplane Country Boy U-77, his best finish was 3rd in 1974.

There was an attempt at a come-back not surprisingly it ended in failure, failing to qualify at Indy in 1990 and ’91.

David had always been bank-rolled by his father and had very good equipment; most felt he did not make the most of it. In the December 1999-January 2000 issue of Champ Car magazine, racing journalist Robin Miller named him the third-worst Champ car driver, saying, ‘This wealthy young man had some of the best cars available in the 1970s. But vanity and a horrid attitude kept him from ever reaching the podium.’
As far as the single seaters went, a best result of 4th, fourteen other top ten finishes, a best qualifying effort of fifth, his best Indy result 9th and five laps in the lead. Clearly the guy had skill and talent but never seemed to make the most of this and the excellent McLaren chassis his father bought for him.

Salt became a minor acting celebrity with appearances on the Dukes of Hazzard and the Rockford Files in ’79.

Following the 1973 accident, David battled an addiction with pain killers mainly dilaudid, which is a derivative of morphine. As a result of this addiction Walther has suffered from personal and legal problems, including incarceration in prison. The reasons for this, ranges from drugs offences to failing to pay child support.

From what I understand David is now out of prison and the last photo apparently shows him at a function a couple of weeks ago. I wish him luck….

[windowlicker]

Originally Posted by windowlicker ↗

1997 F1 World Champion, Indycar Champ and Indy 500 winner in '95, Jacques Villeneuve had a huge crash at the 2001 Australian GP, which tragically killed a marshal, Graham Beveridge.

Page 99 my friend, there is a number of photo's to go with your video.