You'd think it took place in the 1960s...

[-Fred-]

I thought this was fairly interesting, and at the same time quite representative. Below is a list, taken from a German motorsports paper, of every single Indy Racing League crash that resulted in driver hospitalization, since it's in introduction in 1996.

The list includes both racing and testing sessions. 127 injuries in 86 races.

1996 - Walt Disney Speedway:
Butch Brickell - partially fractured cervical spine
Eliseo Salazar - fractured leg
Roberto Guerrero - whiplash injury, brain concussion

1996 - Phoenix Speedway:
Eddie Cheever - whiplash injury, brain concussion
Stan Wattles - whiplash injury
Buddy Lazier - fractured backbone

1996 - Indianapolis:
Scott Brayton - fatal accident
Billy Boat - fractured scapula
Dan Drinan - fractured pelvis
Lyn St. James - fractured wrist
Alessandro Zampredi - fractured ankles and feet

1996 - Las Vegas:
Brad Murphey - fractured hip
Tony Stewart - fractured scapula
Mark Dismore - fractured pelvis

1997 - Walt Disney Speedway:
Eliseo Salazar - fractured backbone
Davy Jones - whiplash injury, brain concussion

1997 - Phoenix Speedway:
Kenny Bräck - brain concussion
Sam Schmidt - partially fractured backbone
Jeret Schroeder - whiplash injury, brain concussion

1997 - Indianapolis:
Scott Sharp - head injuries, cerebral hemorrhage
John Paul Jr. - fractured leg
Johnny O'Connel - fractured foot
Robby Gordon - 2nd and 3rd degree burns
Paul Durant - fractured pelvis

1997 - Texas:
Mike Groff - fractured leg

1997 - Colorado:
Bobbie Buhl - brain concussion
Jim Guthrie - fractured backbone
Scott Sharp - cerebral hemorrhage

1997 - Loudon:
Buzz Caulkins - fracture at the base of the skull, fractured ankle
Mike Groff - whiplash injury

1997 - Las Vegas:
Davey Hamilton - whiplash injury, brain concussion
John Paul Jr. - whiplash injury
Jimmy Kite - whiplash injury

1998 - Phoenix:
Mike Groff - whiplash injury, brain concussion

1998 - Indianapolis:
Danny Ongais - whiplash injury
Jim Guthrie - fractured elbow

1998 - Texas:
Mark Dismore - whiplash injury, brain concussion

1998 - Loudon:
Billy Boat - fractured pelvis and leg

1998 - Dover:
Eliseo Salazar - fractured pelvis, hip, arm and leg

1999 - Atlanta:
Stan Wattles - fractured pelvis

1999 - Charlotte:
3 spectators were killed

1999 - Texas:
3 heavily injured mechanics
Sam Schmidt - smashed foot
Robby Unser - back injury

2000 - Walt Disney Speedway:
Sam Schmidt - paraplegia
Davey Hamilton - partially fractured back
Jacques Lazier - fractured backbone

2000 - Indianapolis:
Tyce Carlson - brain concussion
Hideshi Matsuda - fractured wrist, knee injury. whiplash injury

2000 - Kentucky:
Al Unser Jr. - bruised hip and leg

2001 - Homestead:
Greg Ray - whiplash injury, brain concussion

2001 - Indianapolis:
Nicholas Minassian - brain concussion
Casey Mears - brain concussion
Scott Goodyear - partially fractured dorsal
Sam Hornish - whiplash injury, brain concussion

2001 - Atlanta:
Jack Miler - whiplash injury

2001 - Texas:
Davy Hamilton - fractuered legs and feet
Robby McGhee - fractured leg, brain concussion

2001 - Colorado:
Shigeaki Hattori - brain concussion

2001 - Richmond:
Greg Ray - brain conussion

2002 - Homestead:
Donnie Beechler - brain concussion

2002 - Phoenix:
Anthony Lazzaro - partially fractured cervical spine

2002 - Fontana:
Robbie Bhl whiplash injury

2002 - Indianapolis:
Eliseo Salazar - fractured backbone, heart-artery torn apart
Robby McGhee - fractured leg
P.J. Jones - partially fractured cervical spine
Mark Dismore - brain concussion
Paul Tracy - injured knee
Laurent Redon - whiplash injury, brain concussion

2002 - Nazareth:
Jacques Lazier - fractured backbone
Tomas Scheckter - lung injuries, whiplash injury

2002 - Richmond:
Laurent Redon - fractured finger

2002 - Kentucky:
Richie Hearn - fractured ankle

2002 - Chcagoland:
Gil DeFerran - fractured wrist, whiplash injury, brain concussion

2003 - Phoenix:
Gil DeFerran - partially fractured dorsal, whiplash injury
Roger Yasukawa - bruised back

2003 - Motegi:
Tony Kanaan - fractured wrist and arm
Scott Dixon - fractured wrist and arm

2003 - Indianapolis:
Craig Dollansky - fractured backbone
Arie Luyendiek - back injuries

2003 - Texas:
Airton Daré - fractured hip, pelvis, arm and leg

2003 - Kansas:
Felipe giaffone - fractured pelvis and thumb

2003 - Kentucky:
Vitor Meira - fractured wrist

2003 - Nazareth:
Sarah Fisher - bruised back

2003 - Texas:
Kenny Bräck - fractured backbone, breastbone, leg and ankle

2003 - Indianapolis:
Tony Renna - fatal accident


That's 127 injuries in 7 years. I think if you combine CART, WRC, NASCAR, Formula 1 and MotoGP together on a similar period of time, you're not even close to that!

 

[LoudMusic]

That's really amazing. Vat Man is going to want photographs (:

I see three killed spectators and three killed mechanics but no drivers. Who is the sport more dangerous for? The nearly 200 injuries in the drivers or the six people who died watching / supporting them?

Also, it goes to show how well they take care of their drivers. The cars are completely destroyed and the drivers are just banged up. There was something else I noticed, but I already forgot what it was (:

 

[Klostrophobic]

Wow, Indianapolis is not the place to race. Do they coat the track with ice before each race?

 

[LoudMusic]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Wow, Indianapolis is not the place to race. Do they coat the track with ice before each race?

I would assume it's percieved as the most prestigious place to race in the Indy circut (for obvious reasons) and the drivers perhaps push their cars too hard. The extra crashes only add to the entertainment, I'm sure.

 

[-Fred-]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Wow, Indianapolis is not the place to race. Do they coat the track with ice before each race?

Nah, it's just super fast. Think 230 mph+ average through a lap, and then imagine losing it and hitting a wall. Add the fact it used to be a prestigious race (it's just the shadow of its own self nowadays) and you can rise the stakes dramatically. The accidents are vicious, there's no other words for it. Indy's always been a deathtrap, whether it was CART, IRL or NASCAR racing there.


NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. Stan Fox, Indy 1995. He lost his 2 legs, and went on to live again, until he was killed in a car crash a few years ago...

Also, it goes to show how well they take care of their drivers. The cars are completely destroyed and the drivers are just banged up. There was something else I noticed, but I already forgot what it was (:

The problem is they don't take care of their drivers that much. The original IRL cars' transmission stuck out of the back of the car and wouldn't deform in the event of a crash, meaning it was the driver, and not the car, who'd suffer the most during a crash. They tried an "attenuator" made of carbon fiber, and working a bit like a crumple zone, but that didn't really help either. Wrist and leg injuries are almost a given in open wheel racing when there's a crash involving a wall and high speeds (the suspensions arms can travel through the carbon fiber tub, and straight to the driver's legs, even though the tubs are super strong) but spine and back injuries usually result in a bad design of the rear of the car. The governing body doesn't seem to care much about safety, it's more about spectacle...

 

[LoudMusic]

Wow, that picture is amazing.

I don't think it's all that difficult to look at though. Nothing gory quite yet (:

Here it is cropped down. The original from the link above is really large and shows more of the track.

 

[Darin]

Dude! Look at the guy dance while he is in a crash thats ****ing amazing!

 

[millencolin]

also another thing about the IRL cars is that when they get a bit of wind under them, they take off and flip around like a piece of plywood (i.e kenny brack). they are just like that mercedes lemans car that took off when going over the hill and did a couple of backflips before landing safely in the outfield. the problem with the IRL cars is that there is no outfield. theres a fence to hit while you still have the force behind you, increasing the risk of injury to the driver, other drivers, officials and spectators

 

[-Fred-]

Originally posted by Darin
Dude! Look at the guy dance while he is in a crash thats ****ing amazing!

He's inconscious, and on the verge of death. Nothing amazing there.

He came besides another car, and his front wheel banged against the rear wheel of another car. He got up in the air, caught the catch fence, caught another car, got spun around another time, and came to a rest after that... It's pretty much a miracle he got away alive.

 

[Roo]

I see three killed spectators and three killed mechanics but no drivers.

I count 2 fatally injured drivers - Scott Brayton in 1996, Tony Renna in 2003, both at Indianapolis.

 

[Wastegate]

Rusty Wallace one IRL race, and was asked how he'd like to take part. His response was to the point: "I wouldn't get out of the electric chair to get in one of those things..."

 

[Chaos Fire]

Now that i jsut a crazy amount of crashes and injuries.

 

[Cano]

impressive, and an absolute nonsense. hell, I knew the IRL was a ****ty league, but like this??? incredible that it is still going, and that it is a "step up" to CART.

Cano

 

[Sleek Stratos]

An open-wheel series with an oval here and there in their schedule is fine with me, but a complete season of left turns and 210+ mph racing as a racing series just doesn't quite make sense.
Open-wheel racing will turn into a charity case if the IRL and CART don't merge.