No footage of Elisian's fatal crash. The car laid upside down burning for over 10 minutes before it was finally extinguished. That was the first race I was at where a driver died. Milwaukeean Bob Wilke was the owner of Ward's winning car. Wilke was a friend of my father.

@I_SuperHiro_I

6 күн бұрын

Thanks for the history. What a tragedy, I’m sure it was awful to see.

My favorite era of US History.

They restarted a race after a driver was killed?! Different times.

@1:58 The car in which Elisian lost his life was restored that season and set new 1 lap and 4 lap records at Indianapolis the following year. Jim Hurtubise drove it in the 1960 Indianapolis 500. Hurtubise was the fastest qualifier at Indianapolis, and narrowly missed becoming the first to break 150 mph (149.601 mph).

It's been a while since I crunched the numbers, but as I recall, Rodger Ward held the record for most wins in AAA/USAC history for a few years until AJ Foyt surpassed him in 1964. I believe Ward topped Rex Mays for that honor. Ward gets overlooked when people talk about the great ones, but he was one of the best during a brutal era of the sport.

@jimeditorial

Ай бұрын

You know Ward was great because he was fast in both front and rear engine cars. The good ones can drive anything and adapt quickly

No roll cages? No fuel cells? These guys were brave!

@cmoore185

3 ай бұрын

Tony B's helmet was even a joke. I wonder if he was wearing that when he got killed?

I was 6 years old in 59 i remember my parents talking about the Indy 500 I think they both attended the race but not together like pre me haha always fascinated me as pup hearing those stories

I wasn’t quite a year old then. Barely caught the tail end of the roadster era….

I bought a book about 50 years ago called Stand on the Gas, by Joe Scalzo. It is one of the best books on racing that I have seen. It mentions Ed Elisian as being one of the worst humans to be involved in racing. He was burned alive and people heard his screams. I was a much more gruesome death than they tell you in this video.

@IanPerez1227_YT2

3 ай бұрын

How bad was Ed?

@iket.9930

Ай бұрын

@@IanPerez1227_YT2 Criminally bad and involved in a few accidents that killed other drivers. He was suspended by USAC for a while. I was at this race.

I think Chris Schenkel is narrating

What life was like prior to mid-engine!

Lap 28 . Racer dies. Lap 29 restart , not a butt left the seats. 😂

@gwcrispi

2 ай бұрын

Winner celebrates like normal. Death was expected. Whereas today, Dan Wheldon killed and most drivers refuse to restart.

@DigbyOdel-et3xx

Ай бұрын

Yes, death was more understood as a possibility. But also these people were all around to witness or fight in WWII which was still rather fresh in mind. The cold war was on and the threat of nuclear war was hanging over head. The people felt sadness and remorse for deaths at car races, but they were understanding enough to accept it.

Fix the aspect ratio. People and cars aren't fat like this!

@IanPerez1227_YT2

3 ай бұрын

Read the description

@MGregoir

3 ай бұрын

2:58 are you sure?