This race, and the split between CART and IRL was the beginning of the end of open wheel racing in the US. People forget how huge CART used to be. Great races, big names, big crowds. When IRL and Tony George took their ball and went home, everyone lost - the drivers, the manufacturers, sponsors, and especially fans, and NASCAR hugely benefited from it.
I was at this race. It was a great race, with a winner that deserved to place his name in Indy 500 lore. I believe it's AJ Foyt that said, "This race makes the drivers. The drivers don't make the race." And he's right. Indy survived World Wars, driver deaths, the CART split, Tony George, and it will endure whether the Indy car series lives or not. Drivers will show up at this track every May, no matter what, with just one goal: Win the Indy 500. That is why it is the greatest race in the world.
The last lap crash happend right in front of us. It scared the shit out of everyone in the stands and you could feel the heat. The nose cone came through the fence and flew right below our grandstand. I am glad all the drivers were ok.
Maybe if Tony George wouldn't have created the split, both the Indy 500 and the Michigan race would have been great. Don't you dare insult CART when it's Tony George's IRL that made American open wheel racing go down the toilet.
Whoever put this up would have it, because they showed that accident on the prerace in 1996.
The crash was worse than it looked, because Lazier backed straight in to the wall. This was one of the most ballsy feats in racing. There was only about two months between the wreck and his 3+ hour drive in this race.
@altfactor yep, and we have NFL stars that can't play cuz they stubbed their pinky toe on the astro turf...and Buddy did 800 3-3.5 g turns lasting 4-5 seconds each turn with 26 fractures. Gutsy!!!
That was Zampedri in this crash, not Zanardi! Zanardi never raced at Indy since he was in CART when they left the series. He lost his legs in a CART race in Germany.
I was a rep for a sponsor for Alex Zampedri and was there sitting next to his brother when it happened. Alex had severe injuries to his lower legs and feet, lost a few toes and part of one foot, but was back the next year when he had a mechanical DNF on the first lap.
The sad part was that Guerrero was running in fifth a lap down but thought he was on the lead lap (his radio was out)and pulled that bonehead move.
Alex went on to have success in Touring Car in Europe. Seriously nice guy.
it's cool that lazier won this in stan fox's ride. that 95 crash was unreal. two of my closest friends were on the pit crew and thier dad was chief engineer for those years. nice video
Guerrero shouldn't even be racing, he was never good, he is famous for grabbing to pole and losing the race without getting the green flag. Guy is an idiot.
Wow. I've been hoping and praying for someone to upload SOMETHING from the '96 500. Thank You! I was 9 at the time and it was my first one. I've been back every year since and I'm 20 now. Seems like I was there just yesterday for that one. 30 more days for Indy this year!
Oh, I remember it well too. Happened the split second Lazier won. How 'bout the view from Salazar's cockpit?! And Zampedri's car doing pirouettes at 200+ mph. And they were all fine. Are you kidding me?!
Sure enough. I do think he made a full recovery, though, which is pretty incredible when you view this crash. He returned for the '97 Indy, and last I knew he was still racing (in Europe).
@AJ1964 That's Alex Zanardi you're thinking of. Zampredi suffered severe leg injuries, but made a full recovery and was back at Indy the following year.
@AJ1964 That is not Zampedri, is Alessandro Zanardi! An hero here in Italy, don't You remember the crash with Alex Tagliani in the CART championship? Lauritzring 2001?
@singingkicker Wrong driver. You're thinking of Alex Zanardi. Lost both his legs above the knee. Zampredi did not suffer loss of any part of his legs and in fact was back at Indy one year later(though his engine failed on the formation laps).
This race, and the split between CART and IRL was the beginning of the end of open wheel racing in the US. People forget how huge CART used to be. Great races, big names, big crowds. When IRL and Tony George took their ball and went home, everyone lost - the drivers, the manufacturers, sponsors, and especially fans, and NASCAR hugely benefited from it.
zenmachinefilms 5 days ago
interviewer get outta his face christ
logick0 6 months ago
Can You Believe this is 15 Years ago!? Man. I was 1 At the time, lol.
HisAirness14 8 months ago
I was at this race. It was a great race, with a winner that deserved to place his name in Indy 500 lore. I believe it's AJ Foyt that said, "This race makes the drivers. The drivers don't make the race." And he's right. Indy survived World Wars, driver deaths, the CART split, Tony George, and it will endure whether the Indy car series lives or not. Drivers will show up at this track every May, no matter what, with just one goal: Win the Indy 500. That is why it is the greatest race in the world.
jpdever513 9 months ago
I found myself ducking when watching the in-car from Salazar.
beanthegene 10 months ago
Reminds me of the last lap crash in the 2010 race
LostHighwayFilms 1 year ago
Incredible on board camera on Salazar´s car
mgljimcmgl 1 year ago
jesus, you see the car catch the fence, and the mesh holds, and pulls car into a full 360 in with so much force, thats insane.
equalcharliebrown 1 year ago
i wish the abc reporter would shut up for a second and just let the moment be...
joeyskierdrummer 1 year ago
Grande Eliseo Salazar conchetumare, aperrando como siempre
t0rr3nt3m4n 1 year ago
reminds me of the conway/hunter-reay crash this year
minonkracer 1 year ago
When I saw Mike Conway crash in this years 500 I flashed back to this crash.
Jorge1Jigen 1 year ago
@Jorge1Jigen
I thought the same thing...it was almost the exact same crash
CourtyardPigeon 1 year ago
I thought zampedri died in this wreck. saw this in alot of "fatal" crash compilations.
18sux29rox 1 year ago 3
The last lap crash happend right in front of us. It scared the shit out of everyone in the stands and you could feel the heat. The nose cone came through the fence and flew right below our grandstand. I am glad all the drivers were ok.
mad122780 2 years ago 3
Yes, Guerrero sent Zampedri into the fence and Salazar was also involved in this accident.
18PacWest 1 year ago 4
I was at the US 500 This day, got a much better race.
Ddmatis 2 years ago
Better race? Are you kidding? They didn't even have 33 cars on grid not talking about first lap accident....
AJ1964 2 years ago 8
Maybe if Tony George wouldn't have created the split, both the Indy 500 and the Michigan race would have been great. Don't you dare insult CART when it's Tony George's IRL that made American open wheel racing go down the toilet.
richdeveau24 2 years ago
but it WAS CART who wanted to be snobby cunts. if it were for CART making the michigan 500, that dumb 25/8 rule wouldn't had been created.
xSoccerxCorex 2 years ago
Both series have played dumb: nascar is leading the race now...
therrydicule 2 years ago
@AJ1964 The racing was much much better though. The first lap catastrophe was a disappointment, but the rest of the race was awesome
Grayqboufan 7 months ago
@AJ1964 You mean pace lap crash?
kingofrunescapepking 2 months ago
@Ddmatis the 1995 indy was pretty epic when you think about it, just the sheer fact that Villeneuve came back from 2 laps down. That's a drive!
Projectekon 1 year ago
@Ddmatis It was not a better race. Races that are dominated by money guys (Penske, Ganassi, Newman-Haas) are never better.
STP43FAN1 1 year ago
God DAMN.
e521soediv 2 years ago
it was not live,it is still tape delayed.this 2009
coolerindy 2 years ago
The way Zampedri got up in the fence was a heck of alot like Kenny Brack's incident at Texas in 03
THEkingjaymz 2 years ago
2004
rockypc24 2 years ago
No, it was 2003. It was Gil de Ferran's final race...a race he won. Also, it was 2004 when Buddy Rice took over the seat for Brack (and won Indy)
doctorindy 2 years ago
my bad i got confused
rockypc24 2 years ago
Zampedri was lucky not to be killed in that accident.
CandyTyrrell 2 years ago
are there any videos on laziers crash at pheonix? sounds like a nasty crash
mattgotowned 3 years ago
Whoever put this up would have it, because they showed that accident on the prerace in 1996.
The crash was worse than it looked, because Lazier backed straight in to the wall. This was one of the most ballsy feats in racing. There was only about two months between the wreck and his 3+ hour drive in this race.
steveinSCA 2 years ago
lol
gp3runescape 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This was most likely Taped Delay
AutoRockinRacing94 3 years ago
This was live. Tape delayed broadcasts ended in 1985.
doctorindy 2 years ago 4
Buddy Lazier's courage to not only run but win the 1996 Indianapolis "500" is one of the most inspirational stories in American sports history.
altfactor 3 years ago 11
Anybody who thinks racers aren't athletes should watch this race and shut up. ;)
BSNFabricating 2 years ago 4
@altfactor yep, and we have NFL stars that can't play cuz they stubbed their pinky toe on the astro turf...and Buddy did 800 3-3.5 g turns lasting 4-5 seconds each turn with 26 fractures. Gutsy!!!
jenie0 1 year ago
OMG..
BIGGEORDIE70 3 years ago
That was Zampedri in this crash, not Zanardi! Zanardi never raced at Indy since he was in CART when they left the series. He lost his legs in a CART race in Germany.
Arch1966 3 years ago
they still use this crash on the intros...
intensity74 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
First race since 1978 without the cancer called CART.
poko111 3 years ago
Go away.
bduddy55555 3 years ago 3
God, you're stupid aren't you...
redriverman2006 3 years ago
apparently you can't get more than 6 thunbs down cause it won't allow me to give you one, strange
BuckBMX 3 years ago
"MY BACK HURTS....LEAVE ME ALONE!" lol
silentfrwy 3 years ago
does doctor jack miller still race? he was a dentist with crest as a sponsor!
how many of these guys could have qualified had the IRL and cart had not split?
behemothscotty 3 years ago
about a third
kingofrunescapepking 3 years ago
I was a rep for a sponsor for Alex Zampedri and was there sitting next to his brother when it happened. Alex had severe injuries to his lower legs and feet, lost a few toes and part of one foot, but was back the next year when he had a mechanical DNF on the first lap.
The sad part was that Guerrero was running in fifth a lap down but thought he was on the lead lap (his radio was out)and pulled that bonehead move.
Alex went on to have success in Touring Car in Europe. Seriously nice guy.
MrSpeed13 3 years ago 3
Somebody needs to upload this whole race. I would if I had it.
racermac1988 4 years ago 2
it's cool that lazier won this in stan fox's ride. that 95 crash was unreal. two of my closest friends were on the pit crew and thier dad was chief engineer for those years. nice video
jb814 4 years ago 3
I was SO glad to see Lazier win that year! He really did deserve it!
msufr99 4 years ago 6
Thats fuckin crazy!!! he ducks!
JRracing0116 4 years ago
I was standing right there...It was a Horrible crash alright!!! I was amazed that guy lived! Good Video.
stevo1257 4 years ago
Guerrero shouldn't even be racing, he was never good, he is famous for grabbing to pole and losing the race without getting the green flag. Guy is an idiot.
alexcool79 4 years ago
hahaha mmm well i remember Tony Stewart and Greg Ray too, well... they were champions and stuff but often they went out xD
kyoshiru 4 years ago
hahaha mmm well i remember Tony Stewart and Greg Ray too, well... they were champions and stuff but often they went out xD
kyoshiru 4 years ago
I remember watching this when it happened and thought they were dead. I couldn't believe how bad it was.
CourtyardPigeon 4 years ago
Wow. I've been hoping and praying for someone to upload SOMETHING from the '96 500. Thank You! I was 9 at the time and it was my first one. I've been back every year since and I'm 20 now. Seems like I was there just yesterday for that one. 30 more days for Indy this year!
ryanro24 4 years ago
Zampedri was bloody lucky
CandyTyrrell 5 years ago
Sad that indy series split in separate ways at mid nineties..
NASCAR got almost all attention after that.
Jyllenberg 5 years ago
I can't believe it was 10 years ago.
CourtyardPigeon 5 years ago
Amazing how safe those cars are, really. Also, it's good to see this. I think Lazier has been an underappreciated driver.
rbb9753 5 years ago
Actually, Brayton died right before this, but Lazier is really underated.
TheHolySmurf 4 years ago
When they showed the crash I thought for sure it was a triple fatality. Absolutely unbelievable accident, and yet they all three were back in 1997.
HomeDepot20TS 5 years ago
Oh, I remember it well too. Happened the split second Lazier won. How 'bout the view from Salazar's cockpit?! And Zampedri's car doing pirouettes at 200+ mph. And they were all fine. Are you kidding me?!
pnutbutrncrackers 4 years ago
Zampedri lost parts of his legs. One below the knee and one below the ankle.
singingkicker 4 years ago
I think you're thinking of Alex Zanardi. Zampedri was injured, you're right (my bad), but he returned the next year to race at Indy.
pnutbutrncrackers 4 years ago
OK good call. But Zampedri got seriously injured. I remember reading about it. They had to do some serious reconstructive surgery to save his feet.
singingkicker 4 years ago
Sure enough. I do think he made a full recovery, though, which is pretty incredible when you view this crash. He returned for the '97 Indy, and last I knew he was still racing (in Europe).
pnutbutrncrackers 4 years ago
both of zanardi's legs were lost below the knee
kingofrunescapepking 3 years ago
I believe he is still racing cars in italy. He joked atleast now in a crash I will not lose my legs anymore.
AJ1964 2 years ago
at least HE said it first, not you
kingofrunescapepking 2 years ago
@AJ1964 That's Alex Zanardi you're thinking of. Zampredi suffered severe leg injuries, but made a full recovery and was back at Indy the following year.
DBoy02 1 year ago
@AJ1964 That is not Zampedri, is Alessandro Zanardi! An hero here in Italy, don't You remember the crash with Alex Tagliani in the CART championship? Lauritzring 2001?
Simon957 1 year ago
@singingkicker Wrong driver. You're thinking of Alex Zanardi. Lost both his legs above the knee. Zampredi did not suffer loss of any part of his legs and in fact was back at Indy one year later(though his engine failed on the formation laps).
DBoy02 1 year ago
guerrero put it on his lid at vegas in 97
kingofrunescapepking 3 years ago