Professional race car driving is a deadly athletics . Anybody who engages in the sportswoman of machine racing knows that they are taking their life into their own custody . And it does n’t weigh how experienced or talented a driver may be , even some of the skilful wheelmen of all metre have been down on the raceway . Often time , it only takes a slight hit or malfunction for disaster to ensue . Fans and media who are passionate about the sport of car racing cognize this for a fact , and they have had to endure some fearsome accidents and end over the years . Here is a tilt of the 10 most tragical auto racing death of all time .
10. Dan Wheldon
He was Indy automobile royalty , but that did n’t forestall racing phenomenon Dan Wheldon from dying tragically in 2011 at a Las Vegas Indy 300 series race . Dead at geezerhood 33 , the British - pay Dan Wheldon was , at the clip he was killed , one of Indy ’s top driver , having won the Indianapolis 500 subspecies two metre . as authoritative , he was one of the best liked guy on the circuit , and a loving father and married man . Tragically , Dan Wheldon was killed at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16 , 2011 , when his vehicle was involved in a 15 auto spile - up on the eleventh circle of a wash . Wheldon ’s railway car fly around 325 feet into the catch fence , with the cockpit hit first and Wheldon ’s headway attain a pole draw the path . The carnage and ensue junk take race officials to throw a red flag to blockade the race . Today , people are result to wonder what might have been had Dan Wheldon lived longer .
9. Scott Kalitta
Scott Kalitta was one of the very best American drag racers . He was a two - time hotshot of the National Hot Rod Association ’s Full Throttle Drag Racing Series , winning back - to - back championship in 1994 and 1995 , and was the first driver to win events in both full gas divisions — Funny Car and Top Fuel . Yet despite his success , Scott Kalitta was bolt down on June 21 , 2008 , during a qualifying run at Oldbridge Township Raceway in Englishtown , New Jersey . Near the end of the qualifying run , on the very last lap , his engine exploded and his chute failed to deploy , sending the fiery car crashing into a concrete paries and kill Scott Kalitta immediately . It was a annihilating loss to the world of puff racing — one that still finger fresh to fans of the sport .
8. Joe Weatherly
For NASCAR fan of a certain age , Joe Weatherly is an all - time whiz of the athletics and one of its greatest characters . A bigger than lifespan personality , Joe Weatherly was one of NASCAR ’s chancellor racers during the 1960s . He had a reputation for partying all night and then heading to the path with no eternal rest for a race . He famously once took some practice overlap on a NASCAR course dressed in a Peter Pan costume . Despite his trick , Joe Weatherly was a sovereign racer and was the reigning two - clip NASCAR paladin in 1962 and 1963 . Yet woefully , Joe Weatherly break on January 19 , 1964 , at the height of his rush ability and popularity . During a race at the Riverside International Raceway , Joe Weatherly ’s head go outside his airstream machine and struck a retaining bulwark , killing him instantly . Weatherly was not wearing a berm harness , and did not have a window net establish on his vehicle because he fear being trapped in a burning car . Joe Weatherly was 41 years old when he was killed . To date , he is the only defending points champion to snuff it in a NASCAR slipstream .
7. Eddie Sachs
American auto automobile driver Eddie Sachs was another character . Nicknamed the “ Clown Prince of Auto Racing ” by the medium , Eddie Sachs excellently coined the set phrase : “ If you ca n’t win , be spectacular . ” Eddie Sachs was a pragmatic joker through and through . He drive every airstream with a gamboge on a string tied around his neck , and would never explain to anyone why he did this . good entertaining throughout his vocation , Eddie Sachs never won a championship but was a fixity at the Indianapolis 500 throughout the 1950s . deplorably , Eddie Sachs died in a horrific , fiery car crash at the Indianapolis 500 on May 30 , 1964 . At the clock time , many wash squad still used gasoline for fuel ( which was lumbering , but long - lasting ) , while others had switched to methanol or ethanol ( which is lighter , but bite faster ) . Eddie Sachs ’ car was filled with gasoline and explode on impact in a crash . In response to his death , Indy officials mandate that , in the future , all cars must make at least two pit stops during the course of study of a wash . This removed the only advantage racers had when using the more combustible petrol in their cars .
6. Adam Petty
Killed at age 19 , NASCAR driver Adam Petty had scarcely established himself on the race car lap when he tragically died during a practice run on May 12 , 2000 . Yet Adam Petty ’s last is all the more tragical given that he is a extremity of the legendary Petty family , who are the royal family of NASCAR . Adam Petty ’s grandfather was seven - time Daytona 500 champion Richard Petty , and his father Kyle Petty was also a successful NASCAR racer and commentator of the sport . In fact , Adam Petty was a 4th generation NASCAR racer and look at the futurity of the variation when he was tragically killed before his 20th birthday . The 19 - twelvemonth - honest-to-god racer was killed now when he lost restraint of his car and crash into the wall at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway as he finished a practice run .
5. Mark Donohue
Nicknamed “ Captain Nice , ” American subspecies motorcar driver Mark Donohue was one of those racers who could do it all . A reliable diddly of all trade on the track , Mark Donohue cannonball along in NASCAR , won the 1972 Indianapolis 500 , and , in his supererogatory clip , raced in Formula One for Penske . He was also a skilled mechanic and built many of the race cars he drove . A lawful sportswoman on and off the track , Mark Donohue was beloved and respected by everyone in the motorcar racing world . It was exceedingly tragic when he was killed on August 19 , 1975 , from injury he tolerate in a clash during a education run for the Austrian Grand Prix . During a practice session for the race , Mark Donohue lose ascendency of his car after a tire go wrong , beam him crash into the catch fencing material at the dissipated corner on the cart track . Mark Donohue was just 38 yr old .
4. Gilles Villeneuve
For Canadians , former Formula One racer Gilles Villeneuve is a legend and one of the best athletes the country has ever produce . And , Gilles Villeneuve was one of the most popular drivers in Formula One during his abbreviated but telling vocation . Though he never captured a spot championship , Gilles Villeneuve finished in 2nd place in 1979 and won six Grand Prix backwash while driving for the McLaren and Ferrari teams . Yet sadly , the racing star pop off on May 8 , 1982 , while assay to qualify for the Belgian Grand Prix . His car crash while he was endeavor to make a cavity plosive consonant . In 1997 , Gilles ’ son , Jacques Villeneuve , carry through what his founder was n’t able-bodied to do in his truncated life history : He became the first Canadian to succeed the Formula One World Championship . Jacques Villeneuve dedicated the win to his father and his legacy .
3. Pierre Levegh
2. Ayrton Senna
Three - time Formula One race champion Ayrton Senna is considered by many people to be one of the greatest race gondola drivers of all sentence . The Brazilian racer was a living legend in the sport when he die at eld 34 on May 1 , 1994 . Ayrton Senna was killed during the San Marino Grand Prix as he was lead the race . Things look good for the Brazilian when his car unexpectedly left the caterpillar tread at 135 mile per time of day and crashed into a retaining wall , killing him instantly . impart to the tragedy , deliverance workers find an Austrian flag inside Ayrton Senna ’s car , which he planned to bring up at the end of the race in purity of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger , who was killed the late day on a training run ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix .
1. Dale Earnhardt
Many Americans weigh Dale Earnhardt the fine NASCAR automobile driver of all sentence . And his destruction still reverberates in the NASCAR community of interests . Known by the nickname “ The Intimidator , ” the death of Dale Earnhardt ranks as one of the most infamous and tragical machine racing fatality in recent car racing history . Dale Earnhardt won a total of 76 NASCAR races during his fabled carer , let in the Daytona 500 in 1998 . He also get ahead seven spot backing during his running . After Richard Petty , Dale Earnhardt was perhaps the most accomplished race car driver in NASCAR account . Sadly , Dale Earnhardt died on February 18 , 2001 , during the very last circle of the Daytona 500 . Since his premature death at long time 49 , no one has step on it with Dale Earnhardt ’s # 3 — a testimonial to the man and his wallop on NASCAR .
