Gordon Smiley: Original ABC Broadcast 5/15/82 (HQ Video and Pictures)

[AlvinKarpis]

The pic of the medic tying to find a pulse in Gordons leg is Steve Olvey who was the head medical director at IMS for years, he wrote a book and this is what he said about Gordon Smiley as he ran down the track


"While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact...I rode to the care center with the body. On the way in I performed a cursory examination and realized that nearly every bone in his body was shattered. He had a gaping wound in his side that looked as if he had been attacked by a large shark. I had never seen such trauma." (Rapid Response, pp 98-99).

Makes me cringe all over reading that

[AlvinKarpis]

Also the 2nd pic while horrible shows the kind of force behind the crash

If you look close you can see his helmet and steering wheel flying off

And you can see Smiley as he is about to be rolled down the debris fence

It looks odd because the top of his head still has his racing suit pull over that covers his hair but you see a side view of him

This is like 1/2 a second after impact and the doctor who signed the death certificate said death was so instantaneous that it cant be meassured in time

So by this picture he is already dead before the debris fence took off the top of his skull

Horrible

[AlvinKarpis]

More crash pics

[Wendell]

Holy cannoli! That's probably the worst crash I've ever seen!

I wonder how fast he was going just before the impact?

Because his car just exploded when he hit the side wall. I'm surprised his body was still in one piece after that. It was probably his suit that held him together, otherwise he would've just shredded to bits.

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by The Sentinel

Holy cannoli! That's probably the worst crash I've ever seen!

I wonder how fast he was going just before the impact?

Because his car just exploded when he hit the side wall. I'm surprised his body was still in one piece after that. It was probably his suit that held him together, otherwise he would've just shredded to bits.

Right before that he was clocked at between 200 and 205mph

He didnt lose any speed going into the wall and his car whipped around so fast because of the stupid "Ground Effects" cars of the early 1980s that used the wings to suck the car down onto the pavement so the driver didnt lose as much speed on the turns

But this kind of modified March with Ground Effects worked against Smiley as you see when he turns the other way to correct the slide his tires grip and send the car straight into the wall

Here is a pic of him and his Ground Effects March burning up the track during practice the day before

[deeroozle]

I played around with your video on Adobe Premiere and Virtualdub along with Audacity to stabilize the video and enhance the audio. I hope you don't mind, just trying to give a clear view of the crash.

[PinkFG2_K20]

His body popped around like a ping pong ball

[AlvinKarpis]

Originally Posted by deeroozle

I played around with your video on Adobe Premiere and Virtualdub along with Audacity to stabilize the video and enhance the audio. I hope you don't mind, just trying to give a clear view of the crash.

Of course I dont mind! I just wanted to post the original VHS copy ripped to my computer for historic purposes

That looks awesome, you need to do that with the 2nd angle

[Muertaluna]

Damn, what a way to go- fucking quick! Thanks for the post!

[Karma]

Amazing video. But as a racing driver you take that gamble every day. He died doing what he loved. Thanks for posting. I love the close up stills of the crash and the slo mo.