His head didn't fly into the stands, it stayed on his body. However, the speed at which his head hit the catch fence did tear his helmet off and scalp him, sending bits of his brain trailing behind him on the track.
In racing sports with some accidents the wreak looks fatal but the driver walks away without a scratch. Despite the speed other smaller accidents seem like nothing but the driver doesn't live. In Smiley's case the results were clear the second his car went airborne. R.I.P. to a awesome diver.
@FaithChick1 well, im going to assume you watch things like Dale Earnhardt and you go, what the hell how do you die from that? stupid ass shit...i wanna slap who ever came up with the idea to change the rules AFTER people die
@supercrapnstuff11 It is a tragic and unfortunate occurrence in racing. I hate that it works that way but the drivers know this and assume the risk. Hopefully someday they will become more proactive with safe guarding but the reality is in that sport and at those speeds they can not avoid all injury and death.
@MultiPERKZ Huh yea einstein they're going to have 200m of runoff on an oval. Its a completely different situation and i dont think you can call turbo ground effect cars in the early 80's safe, and neither were the tracks they raced on.
@saintluke87 turbo ground effect cars have you heard yourself. who wants to watch a car race on an oval track its boring as fuck. oh yeah americans like boring sports.
My Mom and Aunt and Grandpa went to this my aunt was 11 my mom was 5 ans my grandpa was 38 they all said that watching this was like being in a horror movie
@altroval thats the most accepted theory, though there are others with less credible evidence. Supposedly a couple of the big names (Foyt, Andretti) told him NOT to counter-steer when losing the rear end (as is common in road racing, his forte), and he went ahead and did it anyway. Thats why when he corrected, the wheels immediately gripped and went into the direction he was steering.
What people don't understand is that Gordon was a very skilled road racer and performed very well in the 1981 Indy 500. He was one of the faster guys in '82, but didn't understand why his car couldn't go as fast as the Penske cars and became very frustrated. Gordon was a VERY aggresive driver and it suited him well on the road courses.
But unfortunatly, Indy is a much different story. He pressed to hard and made a mistake. Simple as that.
These accidents look fatal, however Dale earndharts accident didn't actually look as bad as it was obviously. Concidering that one accident where Dale rolled and flipped and he survived that one. Rest in peace regardless.
@MMAfighter521 That's what I thought but the speed is very deceiving on that wide track. I think Earnhardt was doing 150when he hit the wall, and he hit it with just enough angle that it was almost like hitting it head on, I guess his head hit the steering wheel real hard.
@MMAfighter521 barrel rolls dissipate energy and minimize the total impact on the driver. dead stops are damn near impossible to survive from 190 - 0 in no time, though as we saw with Elliot Sadler last year, they have certainly figured out how to make NASCARs incredibly safe now. These things were tin foil rockets, basically.
@altroval Are You out of your mind?! Check the history books, open wheel racing has FAR more fatalities. In the 1970s when open wheel racers were dropping like flies, NASCAR didnt have ONE fatality. McDuffie was due to using 3rd rate equipment (and his seat broke, so when he flipped he wasnt restrained), Bonnett was using 2nd rate tires NASCAR banned the next year, and Earnhardt hit the wall doing 180. Come on man you cant possibly believe what you just said.
@altroval I believe open wheel racing has suffered more fatalities - but both were, without a doubt, very gladiatorial with many years of insane safety standards.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
This is what is missing from todays IndyCar racing- fun, exciting accidents. When the danger is taken out of the sport, the result is BORING motorsports. I say the cars should run on highly flammable GASOLINE with magnesium fuel cells. That combination should make awesome, entertaining accidents. Hail SATAN
@waterfordjim so, you'd rather have all of racing's drivers die in huge, terrible accidents, if that happened there would be no more drivers, you are a sick person, watching people die in flaming car wrecks for fun, go burn in hell.
@Antithropocentric #1 Plenty of fuel for whatever anyone wants it for. #2 These men wanted to race and knew the potential dangers involved. #3 Many/most advancements in modern automobiles have been produced/engineered by motorsports . You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but that doesn't make you right.
@PornmanLtd I know you're just trolling, but as a matter of fact, Smiley was a road racer, and a successful one, used to turning right & left. Even road race specialists can mess up at a roundy-round track with serious consequences. Ever heard of F-1 champ Nelson Piquet? Driving all alone on an empty track at Indy? Or F-1 drivers Ralf Schumacher & Mike Spence? Just driving round & round on an oval is easy until something goes wrong. Then you don't have sand & gravel to safely redeem your error.
Read the Wiki on this. The EMT said he could see something dripped all over the track leading up to the car. It was Smiley's brain. The top of his head and helmet had been sheared off by the fence
@DinsdalePiranha67 This crash always kind of ...Hypnotizes me" in a way. To me it does not look like his car is going that fast as it comes around the corner. I guess it is just the way the camera frames it. Then when it hits the wall I am always blown away at how much the car comes apart. It looks like an airplane crash. I have seen this in slow mo and you can see his body just rag dolling it.. He is DOA on impact. I read he absorbed something like 300 G's,.. a buss landing on you.
@roquefortfiles I know what you mean. From the sort of camera angles they typically use at an oval, the speeds don't look that high, especially when it's just one car on track such as this. I've flagged a number of road races, and although the max speeds aren't what cars would see on an oval, when you have a car rushing past you at, say, the entrance to the Corkscrew, it definitely looks fast!
Guys ..you have to forgive em fools leaving stupid comments in here
they will stop their behavior for sure.. as soon as grandma or grandpa ,mommy or daddy or somebody else will die -- they will understand -- and then maybe the´re able to communicate in a proper way...
Not so smiley now huh? Hard to smile when your asshole gets pushed through your face with a G-force like this! Rest in pieces you smiley piece of shit.
@SharkysDeathVids your comments dont bother me,they make me laugh because they tell me that you probably still have to wait at least another 5 years before you lose your virginity!!! LOL
@SharkysDeathVids youre a little jerkoff. Nothing better to do than say horrible things about someone on youtube? You scum bag, i hope someone knocks you the fuck out.
Smiley was instructed by veterans never attempt to try to correct with reverse steering out of a spin at that speed on pavement. Once the chassis settled from your attempt to do so you instantly over correct and buy the wall.
When you lose the back end you just keep the wheel in the direction of the turn and spin... hoping you don't hit anything..but to try to correct out of it at these speeds is impossible........
Smiley does exactly that attempt and it bites back at him...........RIP
@BADBRUIN71 That's good. Imagine enduring that type of pain had he lived. I personally would rather die than be a mangled mass of charred flesh who couldn't take care of myself any longer.
I remember that one - Soon after the Indy 500 there was a Mustang show in the infield every year. For 5 bucks you could cruise the track in your car. I remember coming into the turn and seeing the big black burn spot on the wall where even after the race itself it had not been cleaned.
We were supposed to parade around the track but I was a punk kid and drove my 67 GTA well over 100 mph. I thought - let them throw me out - Looking back I would certainly throw my ass out.
@sanddune1981 Can you give some respect? Would you want to crash like that and everyone laughed on you? The thing that he loved was racing, not turning into a piece of stake. Even he DIDN'T want to die like that. GIVE SOME RESPECT, you violent, demanding kid.
Yes, it's driving in a circle, but it's driving in a circle in excess of 200+mph in a extremely lightweight car where the simplest mistake can end up...well, like the video here. This really puts the risk involved into serious perspective.
While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact...
I was sitting on the pit wall with Mario when this happened. Mario was autographing a photo I had taken of him in victory lane at Springfield, Ill. in 1974. In the photo Mario is wiping his face with a Holiday Inn towel and we were making jokes about if that towel was returned to the hotel. I can't help but think of Gordon every time I look at that pic of Mario wiping his face with that towel.
@douglawhead I was sitting right behind the pits that day, maybe a half dozen rows back. The image that always stays with me is the entire track going silent when the announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen..." and then Mario putting his head down when the announcer said that Gordon had died.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Nice crack up. Good fireball and break up. Would have been nice to see his body fly out or on fire. I love these crash videos because it saves me from having the watch the whole race just to see the crashes.
@MuserJustin look as wrong as that sounds, AS WRONG AS THAT SOUNDS i kinda get it, he likes the fact how a car crashed and blew up but he DID NOT like the fact that a poor soul died ok? So don't bitch ok?
It's such an unusual crash. I've never seen a monocoque-based open-wheel racecar disintegrate in this fashion after striking the wall. I can't really compare it to any other IMS crash. The closest might be Danny Ongais's crash in the race the year before.
The tragic accidents of Jovy Marcelo, Scott Brayton, and Tony Renna look almost benign by comparison...though they had equally-devastating results.
The audio I want to hear is Jacky Stewart's burring description of this event. What i recall is his unforgettable voice saying "The car breaks into a million pieces. Surely man was never meant to survive an impact at this speed." He and David Hobbs were the two best TV racing announcers. Of course, Sid Collins was king of racing on radio, and nobody comes in second. The current guy, Mike King, is not good, and I wonder if his eyesight is what it should be.
I read once that children under the age of four find it impossible to tell the difference between sarcasm and a truly intended meaning. So four year olds have an excuse... what was it that prevented you from catching on to my sarcasm?
Gordon's wife was said to have evacuated the contents of her bowels in the pit area when she saw this on replay. I have no way of confirming it, but there is a rare picture of her being escorted to the infield care center and her slacks are clearly glistening. Sad, horrific, and racing.
@krakenwave It happened cheesedick. She shit all over herself. You go look for the picture yourself, This was almost 30 years ago. It is out there and it was discussed in racing circles. She had a pooping/wetting accident. So what. Go look for it yourself weenie gobble. Until then, you stfu.
3398MAN's troll response to this appalling tragedy is to get his sick fap going on over some fantasy scat scenario based upon Smiley's widow's imagined physiological reaction.
@krakenwave Scat my ass, sicko, perv. It happened. It was one of the stunning and sad aspects of Smiley's death. It was a hard day for everybody. Because she soiled and wet herself in the pits, all but one picture, which somehow has made it into circ, were destroyed, and footage was too. It's out there somewhere, hard to find, but I have seen it. It 's been years. Scat is internet perv. Get real. The fact just bothers you, face it. Hell, it bothers me. But she did shit/piss her pants.
Gordon Smiley is alive and well (albiet without leggys). He is racing in the WTCC (the World Touring Cup Championship and doing quite well!) with his fake legs.
@AceNinja2112 That was Alex Zanardi..........and that was about 15 years later than this.
Gordon Smiley is definately dead. Because he was without Mr. Skully after this accident. The accident ripped his helmet off and the catch fence sheared the top of his head off. Mr. Gray Matter was spread all along the track. He died in a very brutal way.
Just read about his injuries in wikipedia..... horrific.
pe6obutilkata 2 weeks ago
I heard it was really gruesome because his head flew into the stands.
TheSasha555 2 months ago
@TheSasha555
His head didn't fly into the stands, it stayed on his body. However, the speed at which his head hit the catch fence did tear his helmet off and scalp him, sending bits of his brain trailing behind him on the track.
Sparkz49 2 months ago
In racing sports with some accidents the wreak looks fatal but the driver walks away without a scratch. Despite the speed other smaller accidents seem like nothing but the driver doesn't live. In Smiley's case the results were clear the second his car went airborne. R.I.P. to a awesome diver.
FaithChick1 2 months ago
@FaithChick1 well, im going to assume you watch things like Dale Earnhardt and you go, what the hell how do you die from that? stupid ass shit...i wanna slap who ever came up with the idea to change the rules AFTER people die
supercrapnstuff11 1 month ago
@supercrapnstuff11 It is a tragic and unfortunate occurrence in racing. I hate that it works that way but the drivers know this and assume the risk. Hopefully someday they will become more proactive with safe guarding but the reality is in that sport and at those speeds they can not avoid all injury and death.
FaithChick1 1 month ago
damn that just about looks like the coolest way to die
wallsofink 3 months ago
just like that. In less than a second.
skillbill83 3 months ago
Man, that was hard to watch.
rodentcafeteria 5 months ago
Absolutely fucking shocking. Worst I have ever seen.
thehitchrules 5 months ago
concrete walls next to race tracks. not fucking clever really. F1 was getting rid of these barriers by 82. indy car = poor mans F1
MultiPERKZ 5 months ago
@MultiPERKZ Huh yea einstein they're going to have 200m of runoff on an oval. Its a completely different situation and i dont think you can call turbo ground effect cars in the early 80's safe, and neither were the tracks they raced on.
saintluke87 4 months ago
@saintluke87 turbo ground effect cars have you heard yourself. who wants to watch a car race on an oval track its boring as fuck. oh yeah americans like boring sports.
MultiPERKZ 4 months ago
My Mom and Aunt and Grandpa went to this my aunt was 11 my mom was 5 ans my grandpa was 38 they all said that watching this was like being in a horror movie
Invader010 5 months ago
In my 30+ years of watching Indy, I've just never seen a car veer right at the exit of a corner like Smiley's March did.
Did it twitch on exit and Smiley simply overcorrect?
Smiley was very skilled, but he really didn't have many IndyCar (CART or USAC starts) under his belt at the time.
A terrible shame.
altroval 5 months ago
@altroval thats the most accepted theory, though there are others with less credible evidence. Supposedly a couple of the big names (Foyt, Andretti) told him NOT to counter-steer when losing the rear end (as is common in road racing, his forte), and he went ahead and did it anyway. Thats why when he corrected, the wheels immediately gripped and went into the direction he was steering.
snappy452 5 months ago
he aint smilin no more :(
GoDPuMelGoD 6 months ago
my dad was in those stands
cole12318 6 months ago 9
HOLY SHIT
ohbobsaget22 6 months ago
@SupercarAdic haha so true
KidWithShades98 6 months ago
Indy Cars - Death Traps of the 20th century (and 21st).
SupercarAdic 6 months ago
So sad to watch these videos, one simple mistake and all the sudden the world will never see you again :( RIP
Eschatonx 6 months ago
looks like he overcorrected...
bygota 6 months ago
What people don't understand is that Gordon was a very skilled road racer and performed very well in the 1981 Indy 500. He was one of the faster guys in '82, but didn't understand why his car couldn't go as fast as the Penske cars and became very frustrated. Gordon was a VERY aggresive driver and it suited him well on the road courses.
But unfortunatly, Indy is a much different story. He pressed to hard and made a mistake. Simple as that.
We lost a great racer and man. R.I.P. Gordon
00steven18 7 months ago 10
These accidents look fatal, however Dale earndharts accident didn't actually look as bad as it was obviously. Concidering that one accident where Dale rolled and flipped and he survived that one. Rest in peace regardless.
MMAfighter521 7 months ago
@MMAfighter521 That's what I thought but the speed is very deceiving on that wide track. I think Earnhardt was doing 150when he hit the wall, and he hit it with just enough angle that it was almost like hitting it head on, I guess his head hit the steering wheel real hard.
Fenyx6 7 months ago
@Fenyx6 the force of the crash made his spine sperate from his head i think
chingonchingon24 6 months ago
@MMAfighter521 barrel rolls dissipate energy and minimize the total impact on the driver. dead stops are damn near impossible to survive from 190 - 0 in no time, though as we saw with Elliot Sadler last year, they have certainly figured out how to make NASCARs incredibly safe now. These things were tin foil rockets, basically.
snappy452 6 months ago
@snappy452 Cup has had more fatalities - and at nowhere near these speeds.
J.D. McDuffie, Neil Bonnett, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Dale. Earnhardt...
The COT has helped some, though.
altroval 5 months ago
@altroval Are You out of your mind?! Check the history books, open wheel racing has FAR more fatalities. In the 1970s when open wheel racers were dropping like flies, NASCAR didnt have ONE fatality. McDuffie was due to using 3rd rate equipment (and his seat broke, so when he flipped he wasnt restrained), Bonnett was using 2nd rate tires NASCAR banned the next year, and Earnhardt hit the wall doing 180. Come on man you cant possibly believe what you just said.
snappy452 5 months ago
@altroval I believe open wheel racing has suffered more fatalities - but both were, without a doubt, very gladiatorial with many years of insane safety standards.
MissEgasMoniz 5 months ago
@altroval
The COT has helped some? Nobodies died since Feb. 2001 (Earnhardt)
acenace24 5 months ago
@acenace24 And nobody's been seriously injured since Steve Park at Darlington later that year
kingofrunescapepking 1 month ago
The way the narrator words it in the beginning... It almost makes it appropriate to stick a big FAIL sticker on the screen at around 0:08 .
Fredd931 7 months ago
holy shit...
MrFRoDiZle 7 months ago
@ waterfordjim. Your wierd
G14SS3S 8 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This is what is missing from todays IndyCar racing- fun, exciting accidents. When the danger is taken out of the sport, the result is BORING motorsports. I say the cars should run on highly flammable GASOLINE with magnesium fuel cells. That combination should make awesome, entertaining accidents. Hail SATAN
waterfordjim 8 months ago
@waterfordjim you are sick
SFSchumi 7 months ago
@waterfordjim Your fucking lost lol.
BonakiD24 7 months ago
@BonakiD24 xD
Destroyed666Doom 7 months ago
@waterfordjim so, you'd rather have all of racing's drivers die in huge, terrible accidents, if that happened there would be no more drivers, you are a sick person, watching people die in flaming car wrecks for fun, go burn in hell.
randumbvids11 5 months ago
The old cars were made of paper.Every fucking touch broke them.The safety in history was null.The driver was not guarded by anything.
CaptainGolem 8 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Waste of fuel, waste of lives, waste of time.
Antithropocentric 8 months ago
@Antithropocentric #1 Plenty of fuel for whatever anyone wants it for. #2 These men wanted to race and knew the potential dangers involved. #3 Many/most advancements in modern automobiles have been produced/engineered by motorsports . You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but that doesn't make you right.
LightUptheSky000 7 months ago
keep pressing 7
fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
BrownsCleveland16 8 months ago
get sum gordon!!!
ShawnVanAngle 8 months ago
after watching this, Dlae Earnheart, and greg moore, I'm to afraid to drive
noideac 8 months ago
@PornmanLtd I know you're just trolling, but as a matter of fact, Smiley was a road racer, and a successful one, used to turning right & left. Even road race specialists can mess up at a roundy-round track with serious consequences. Ever heard of F-1 champ Nelson Piquet? Driving all alone on an empty track at Indy? Or F-1 drivers Ralf Schumacher & Mike Spence? Just driving round & round on an oval is easy until something goes wrong. Then you don't have sand & gravel to safely redeem your error.
RRaquello 8 months ago
He shouldn't have countersteered...
DinsdalePiranha67 8 months ago
Die in the place...
adamek18 8 months ago
they use horrific crashes in the commercials for the upcoming indy 500!
"It's not a question of if it will happen but when it will happen!"
then they show a car disintegrating after flying through the air!
using someone else's misery to get people to watch for the wrong reasons!
now just imagine up to 75% of the fans wishing and wanting something tragic to happen and it usually will because of that!
RIP for those who gave all for our entertainment!
er1c175 8 months ago
horrible
Irik1984 8 months ago
Read the Wiki on this. The EMT said he could see something dripped all over the track leading up to the car. It was Smiley's brain. The top of his head and helmet had been sheared off by the fence
roquefortfiles 8 months ago
@roquefortfiles The EMT in question was Steve Olvey, who later became chief medic for CART.
DinsdalePiranha67 8 months ago
@DinsdalePiranha67 This crash always kind of ...Hypnotizes me" in a way. To me it does not look like his car is going that fast as it comes around the corner. I guess it is just the way the camera frames it. Then when it hits the wall I am always blown away at how much the car comes apart. It looks like an airplane crash. I have seen this in slow mo and you can see his body just rag dolling it.. He is DOA on impact. I read he absorbed something like 300 G's,.. a buss landing on you.
roquefortfiles 8 months ago
@roquefortfiles I know what you mean. From the sort of camera angles they typically use at an oval, the speeds don't look that high, especially when it's just one car on track such as this. I've flagged a number of road races, and although the max speeds aren't what cars would see on an oval, when you have a car rushing past you at, say, the entrance to the Corkscrew, it definitely looks fast!
DinsdalePiranha67 8 months ago
this-> indeed!
feefish001 8 months ago
Why would you ever show this man ..
Emoidiot187 8 months ago
this->
feefish001 8 months ago
;-)
3173150333 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Guys calm down SharkysDeathVids is just jealous that i fucked his moms asshole so hard last night that his dad gave me a high five!!!
Mrfunnypants5 9 months ago
r.i.p bro..
xKomodoFireWolf 9 months ago
Is he Alive ?
mqmqmwmw 9 months ago
@mqmqmwmw
LMFAO NO.. 1982 READ THE COMMENTS BRO.. stupid question troll
also listen to the damn video..
"ended the life.."
xKomodoFireWolf 9 months ago
@mqmqmwmw lol youre so stupid my friend :)
valaryder 8 months ago
Guys ..you have to forgive em fools leaving stupid comments in here
they will stop their behavior for sure.. as soon as grandma or grandpa ,mommy or daddy or somebody else will die -- they will understand -- and then maybe the´re able to communicate in a proper way...
Spionsilver 9 months ago
I guess he wasn't so "smiley" after this happened.
BarryDennen12 9 months ago
Not so smiley now huh? Hard to smile when your asshole gets pushed through your face with a G-force like this! Rest in pieces you smiley piece of shit.
SharkysDeathVids 10 months ago
@SharkysDeathVids the fuck? your an asshole
IBTC16 10 months ago
@SharkysDeathVids seriously, wow man, i hope you get haunted tonight for that
yourockman222 9 months ago
@SharkysDeathVids your comments dont bother me,they make me laugh because they tell me that you probably still have to wait at least another 5 years before you lose your virginity!!! LOL
ellisqpr86 9 months ago
Comment removed
davo69100 9 months ago
@SharkysDeathVids wat the fuck is ur problem dude?
davo69100 9 months ago
@SharkysDeathVids youre a little jerkoff. Nothing better to do than say horrible things about someone on youtube? You scum bag, i hope someone knocks you the fuck out.
MrBillLumberg 8 months ago
How did he not know he was s8upposed to turn left
HomeWreckerA1 10 months ago
@HomeWreckerA1 his car got loose, he tried to correct but Indycars, especially back then... over-correct very easily.
erasetoimprove 9 months ago
Did he just say bubba the hutt died in the crash?
HomeWreckerA1 10 months ago
@awattan how is that funny?
thenascarguy24 10 months ago
he turned the wrong way :-( it was a left turn but he turned right and when you turn right you will drive into the wall and cause an accident
holden0001 10 months ago
@holden0001 he didnt turn right, the car did, thats what happens in racing
yourockman222 9 months ago
Smiley was instructed by veterans never attempt to try to correct with reverse steering out of a spin at that speed on pavement. Once the chassis settled from your attempt to do so you instantly over correct and buy the wall.
When you lose the back end you just keep the wheel in the direction of the turn and spin... hoping you don't hit anything..but to try to correct out of it at these speeds is impossible........
Smiley does exactly that attempt and it bites back at him...........RIP
jacopman 10 months ago
now gordon smiley takes his turn............ BAM hahaha
awattan 10 months ago
poor bastard, never knew what hit him...........RIP.
BADBRUIN71 10 months ago
@BADBRUIN71 That's good. Imagine enduring that type of pain had he lived. I personally would rather die than be a mangled mass of charred flesh who couldn't take care of myself any longer.
tripleheshy 10 months ago
poor bastard, never knew what hit him...........RIP.
BADBRUIN71 10 months ago
Is.the pic on google who looks lika a man whos head is cut open and very gory smiley? Plz answer me.
Glibzer 11 months ago
Stake....lmaoooo....how about steak???
Bobby6647 11 months ago
YO IDIOTS, LET'S PISS ON THAT CAN MAYBE WE CAN PUT THE FIRE OUT!!
sanddune1981 11 months ago
I remember that one - Soon after the Indy 500 there was a Mustang show in the infield every year. For 5 bucks you could cruise the track in your car. I remember coming into the turn and seeing the big black burn spot on the wall where even after the race itself it had not been cleaned.
We were supposed to parade around the track but I was a punk kid and drove my 67 GTA well over 100 mph. I thought - let them throw me out - Looking back I would certainly throw my ass out.
1967mustanggta 11 months ago
@sanddune1981 FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU You have no respect!! Would you want to end up like that? He died doing what the loved
international153 11 months ago
@international153 HAHAHA HE DIED AND TURNED INTO WHAT HE LOVED - A PIECE OF STAKE!!! HA HA HA
sanddune1981 11 months ago
@sanddune1981 Can you give some respect? Would you want to crash like that and everyone laughed on you? The thing that he loved was racing, not turning into a piece of stake. Even he DIDN'T want to die like that. GIVE SOME RESPECT, you violent, demanding kid.
international153 11 months ago
Yes, it's driving in a circle, but it's driving in a circle in excess of 200+mph in a extremely lightweight car where the simplest mistake can end up...well, like the video here. This really puts the risk involved into serious perspective.
RIP
LucidFlameX 11 months ago
I have been around racing for a long time and this is the worst crash I've ever seen
topmech71 11 months ago
@topmech71 same here...Wow
andie361 10 months ago
The most violent crash I've ever seen.
Category5PHL 11 months ago
From wikipedia
While rushing to the car, I noticed small splotches of a peculiar gray substance marking a trail on the asphalt leading up to the driver. When I reached the car, I was shocked to see that Smiley's helmet was gone, along with the top of his skull. He had essentially been scalped by the debris fence. The material on the race track was most of his brain. His helmet, due to massive centrifugal force, was literally pulled from his head on impact...
roquefortfiles 11 months ago
did he died?
WimpyMcWeaksauce 11 months ago
@WimpyMcWeaksauce Yes he did.
ursuss100 11 months ago
What a crash....never seen one like that until now. R.I.P. Gordon Smiley
tonystewartrocks14 1 year ago
I was sitting on the pit wall with Mario when this happened. Mario was autographing a photo I had taken of him in victory lane at Springfield, Ill. in 1974. In the photo Mario is wiping his face with a Holiday Inn towel and we were making jokes about if that towel was returned to the hotel. I can't help but think of Gordon every time I look at that pic of Mario wiping his face with that towel.
douglawhead 1 year ago
@douglawhead I was sitting right behind the pits that day, maybe a half dozen rows back. The image that always stays with me is the entire track going silent when the announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen..." and then Mario putting his head down when the announcer said that Gordon had died.
SlashGoddess 8 months ago
horrible but the way the video is edited made it a little humorous
forbasketballonly 1 year ago
oval tracks are not safe for drivers
010miaka 1 year ago
These guys are supermen no doubt
MultiSpread 1 year ago
Ubanga33
I hope to you get in a fatal crash and it ends up on YouTube so I can pleasure myself to your destroyed body
It's a matter of when not if
ferrarimike23 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Nice crack up. Good fireball and break up. Would have been nice to see his body fly out or on fire. I love these crash videos because it saves me from having the watch the whole race just to see the crashes.
Ubanga33 1 year ago
saw the vid a time ago but got utube account right wna cment BIG CRASH!!!
sjd11000 1 year ago
Onlyvif time could freeze, take the driver out and put justin bieber in, this crash would be good.
Glibzer 1 year ago
@Glibzer I wish it was Bieber!
Porygonseizureman 1 year ago
@Porygonseizureman Bieber wouldn't have made it off pit road.
NASCARsmNut 11 months ago
@Glibzer I wish it was Bieber! Seriously nightmarish crash unless the Bieber was the driver.
Porygonseizureman 1 year ago
DAAAYYYYYYUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
smooth7414 1 year ago
FUUUUUCKKKK!
NWM11Bravo 1 year ago
@MuserJustin you should have just keep that comment to yourself...
bENgALz7 1 year ago
sukcs he died but that was kinda sweet, i realize that sounds bad but yeah
MuserJustin 1 year ago
@MuserJustin look as wrong as that sounds, AS WRONG AS THAT SOUNDS i kinda get it, he likes the fact how a car crashed and blew up but he DID NOT like the fact that a poor soul died ok? So don't bitch ok?
supercrapnstuff11 1 year ago
That was one accident that made my jaw drop.
skatersRgay1993 1 year ago
@skatersRgay1993 made Smiley's jaw drop too!!!
kmz365 9 months ago
23 fucking ignorants of what we call "moral"
how can you dislike this type of video...
they make me sick
wing3r79 1 year ago
@wing3r79 well certainly liking the video or making it your favourite isn't any better!
mongoosecage 1 year ago
@mongoosecage yeah i know... i should have known that some poeple would dislike this video...
wing3r79 1 year ago
@wing3r79 i dont know how u can do either, if you like it its almost like you are enjoying people dying in wrecks
randumbvids11 5 months ago
@randumbvids11 yeah, you're right...
wing3r79 5 months ago
Looks like gordan smiley wasn't too smiley that day.
spedmonger 1 year ago
@spedmonger have some respect you piece of shit.
21MAY80 1 year ago 3
Unfortunately, he's not so smiley anymore.... R.I.P gordon
BuffleMuffle 1 year ago
Its the only crash that got me to yell, HOLY FUCK.
R.I.P mate, takes balls, the size of boulders to do what they did
TheOneCob22 1 year ago 35
wow he got burnt...
KMan34ified 1 year ago
@KMan34ified bit more than that....
MADMANAARON95 1 year ago
not smiling now.
bustaphatty 1 year ago
It's such an unusual crash. I've never seen a monocoque-based open-wheel racecar disintegrate in this fashion after striking the wall. I can't really compare it to any other IMS crash. The closest might be Danny Ongais's crash in the race the year before.
The tragic accidents of Jovy Marcelo, Scott Brayton, and Tony Renna look almost benign by comparison...though they had equally-devastating results.
altroval 1 year ago
The audio I want to hear is Jacky Stewart's burring description of this event. What i recall is his unforgettable voice saying "The car breaks into a million pieces. Surely man was never meant to survive an impact at this speed." He and David Hobbs were the two best TV racing announcers. Of course, Sid Collins was king of racing on radio, and nobody comes in second. The current guy, Mike King, is not good, and I wonder if his eyesight is what it should be.
musicmandon1 1 year ago
damn
boso5608 1 year ago
"During an attempt to qualify for the Indy 500, Gordon Smiley, a cocky young driver from Texas, was determined to break 200 mph or die trying."
He sure did.
R.I.P. Gordon Smiley
NASCARsmNut 1 year ago 28
@NASCARsmNut
that was dangerous at this time but luckly this days safety of drivers is good but i still think that soon another driver will die
R.I.P G.S
Fickotincek 1 year ago
@NASCARsmNut cocky young driver from nebraska
Patrick12Cool 11 months ago
@Patrick12Cool My bad. It was a copy-and-paste.
NASCARsmNut 11 months ago
@NASCARsmNut i know i saw it on wikipedia
Patrick12Cool 11 months ago
@NASCARsmNut
He was born in Omaha?
LightArcanine59 9 months ago
@LightArcanine59 Yeah, I know. It was a copy and paste from Wikipedia.
NASCARsmNut 9 months ago
He was killed in a practice crash? My god, if people are killed in practice crashes, what happens when they have real crashes?
thebigtfan 1 year ago
@thebigtfan You retard... it was a practice race, not a stunt crash.
MrBlooDudette 1 year ago
@MrBlooDudette
I read once that children under the age of four find it impossible to tell the difference between sarcasm and a truly intended meaning. So four year olds have an excuse... what was it that prevented you from catching on to my sarcasm?
thebigtfan 1 year ago
@thebigtfan Its hard to tell if someone is sarcastic through text, sorry. Im not four.
MrBlooDudette 1 year ago
People should do their research first, he is dead, died instantly, very grusome, I know.
chasgn 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This kids is why you don't drink before a race! Gordon is not Smiling anymore now!
AceNinja2112 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Gordon's wife was said to have evacuated the contents of her bowels in the pit area when she saw this on replay. I have no way of confirming it, but there is a rare picture of her being escorted to the infield care center and her slacks are clearly glistening. Sad, horrific, and racing.
3338MAN 1 year ago
@3338MAN lolwut
sargenaldo 1 year ago
@3338MAN
Pics or stfu
krakenwave 1 year ago
@krakenwave It happened cheesedick. She shit all over herself. You go look for the picture yourself, This was almost 30 years ago. It is out there and it was discussed in racing circles. She had a pooping/wetting accident. So what. Go look for it yourself weenie gobble. Until then, you stfu.
3338MAN 1 year ago
@3338MAN
If, as you said from the get go, there's "no way of confirming it", what's the point of instructing us to go look for the picture ourselves?
@INDY500 FANS:
3398MAN's troll response to this appalling tragedy is to get his sick fap going on over some fantasy scat scenario based upon Smiley's widow's imagined physiological reaction.
You know what to do.
krakenwave 1 year ago
@krakenwave Scat my ass, sicko, perv. It happened. It was one of the stunning and sad aspects of Smiley's death. It was a hard day for everybody. Because she soiled and wet herself in the pits, all but one picture, which somehow has made it into circ, were destroyed, and footage was too. It's out there somewhere, hard to find, but I have seen it. It 's been years. Scat is internet perv. Get real. The fact just bothers you, face it. Hell, it bothers me. But she did shit/piss her pants.
3338MAN 1 year ago
devastating...
MitchStefano67 1 year ago
MY GOD.
fourstar7 1 year ago
OH SHIT.
hothotheat3000 1 year ago
no words
qertasdfgzxcvb 1 year ago
I hope he's all right.
TehSamurai 1 year ago
@TehSamurai read description?
Flothyy90 1 year ago
@Flothyy90 Dude, there's this thing called a "joke." Google it.
TehSamurai 1 year ago
@TehSamurai so you are joking about peoples deaths... cool. you are the king boy
Flothyy90 1 year ago
@TehSamurai
This is the funniest comment here.
unbiasedperson 1 year ago
he walked away from that
dronken 1 year ago
@dronken No, quite the opposite actually...
girlcandream 1 year ago
@dronken he was just cut to pieces and burnt to a crisp.
lemans24fan 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Gordon Smiley is alive and well (albiet without leggys). He is racing in the WTCC (the World Touring Cup Championship and doing quite well!) with his fake legs.
AceNinja2112 1 year ago
@AceNinja2112 No. That is Alex Zanardi who used to race WTCC after coming back from his ChampCar crash in 2001.
raichiotto 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@AceNinja2112 And you lost your brain.
Kw12345ff 1 year ago
@AceNinja2112 You can't be serious. Gordon Smiley is as dead as dead can be.
semperfortisxxi 1 year ago
@AceNinja2112 That was Alex Zanardi..........and that was about 15 years later than this.
Gordon Smiley is definately dead. Because he was without Mr. Skully after this accident. The accident ripped his helmet off and the catch fence sheared the top of his head off. Mr. Gray Matter was spread all along the track. He died in a very brutal way.
gretzkysyotes 1 year ago 5
@gretzkysyotes Where did you find this report
AdamIowa89 1 year ago
Gordon Smiley didn't die....he just lost his legs.
AceNinja2112 1 year ago
Head on against the wall at 200 mph. That would be unsurvivable even for 2010 formuala 1 standards
FU1800 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
He wasnt so smiley after that...
SKYLANDBAK 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@SKYLANDBAK Sarcasm -**He wasnt so smiley after that...** YOU RETARD!!!
odgixxer 1 year ago
@SKYLANDBAK BOOOOOOOOOOOO!
thespawnof66 1 year ago
@SKYLANDBAK Bad choice of words dude.
thespawnof66 1 year ago
No one forces people to ride fuelled rockets. If you drive in circles like an idiot, you die like an idiot.
SignorSid 1 year ago
@SignorSid -- WELL SAID and sad too
MeMrecious 1 year ago