Black Label Society "Suicide Messiah" Indy Car Wrecks

fantastic footage. thank you

pre safer barier lol!!! KANAAN FOR LIFE

whoa... thanks for posting this classic footage! amazing stuff. Cannot believe how far racing safety has come since those days. No seatbelts even...

Seat Belts were not mandated since many drivers believed their chances at survival were better if they were thrown clear. The alternative was to be left in a car that usually burst into flames. Fire suits were pretty useless, fuel cells were primitive and had up to 100 gallons of fuel.

that right Jim at approx 1:09 in you see Pat O'conner flipping over to his death. The start of the race was crazy.

That is Pat O'Connor flipping in 1958. He landed upside down and died instantly of a skull fracture. However, the car caught fire with him in it, and safety workers were unable to get him out for quite a while (50 gallons of fuel?). Meaningful roll bars and helmets were mandated as a result. Ed Elisian was faulted for starting that wreck, and Ed died is a similar wreck at Milwaukee the next year. The story was that the other drivers hindered rescue attempts by refusing to slow down.

Yes. That was Jerry's Car being thrown over the fence. Jerry was pronounced dead due to severe head and chest trauma.

jerry was killed in practice when his car caught on fire

solid collection. old footage is great.

its nice to see how safe racing used to be...