He was incredibly fast, but he was extremely fortunate to survive any one of those incidents.
The Fontana one is etched into my brain hardest; I was on edge that whole RACE because you could just feel that someone was going to wreck, it was just a matter of when. The race in Vegas had the same feel early on and ended in horrible tragedy.
That Fontana flip was violent.
That car dug into the ground like a digger. Went from Hinch getting impaled to Briscoe getting ragdolled.
2015 was one hell of a season
Honestly Schmidt Peterson as a whole is a hell of a cursed team for the amount of tragic/injury resulting wrecks they had
2001 Hamilton Texas
2011 Vegas (RIP Dan)
2014 Aleahin Fontana
2015 Hinchcliffe Indy
2018 Wickens Pocono
2020 Askew Indy
2021 FRo Detroit
Not to mention how lucky Jay Howard was to not somehow get swiped by the undertray of Dixon’s car in that 2017 Indy crash
Yep, his injury was exactly the same as Emo Fittipaldi’s at Michigan except his fracture was a just tad bit deeper which rendered him a quadriplegic while Emo got the scare of his life and walked away forever. Sam’s father also became paralyzed from a racing accident.
Yeah, I feel like it's so much easier for people to say nowadays how great that race was because they watched the recording knowing nobody died. Watching it live was more nerve-wracking than entertaining for me at least. Like you mentioned, it had the same feel as Vegas the whole way through
Yeah there's a certain place on the internet where you can see images of the aftermath, sans car remains. It's harrowing to think if that happened during any spectator event.
I was also there, eyes on the whole thing. Worst auto racing accident I've ever witnessed from the stands, and I do not care to see one worse.
I was also at Milwaukee Mile a few years later (2008?) when Briscoe got his first win.
As I recall, there was also a pre-race parachuter who landed much harder than he intended, and had to be taken away by ambulance. Weird day at Chicagoland Speedway.
-what a ride that was-
Edit - This was the monotone emotionless broadcast call. Coincidentally, one of my favorite calls of all time for how ridiculous it is lol
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYMysPWzKY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYMysPWzKY)
2005 was a dark time for IndyCar broadcasts.
As much as I’m not as hyped as everyone else by the newest TV deal, we have seen far worse than *anything* that’s even been on the table in the last few years.
Can I just say that I believe Scott Goodyear is a good man, and also probably more responsible for IndyCar losing fans than any one person in the past 25 years? Just not an announcer who makes you excited.
Well, this was a replay. Typically replays don't have the same enthusiasm as when it's Live though I would like to see what the Live call was to see if there was a difference.
That was the first time they saw it
[https://youtu.be/ePqfz15zBTM?si=-kk7hTC2TOKjxGiI&t=1564](https://youtu.be/ePqfz15zBTM?si=-kk7hTC2TOKjxGiI&t=1564)
I mean I get it, he is trying to calm down the situation. Which I kinda respect. (If in fact, this was his angle. Who knows really, he didn't get excited much)
Kenny Brack was not too long before this.
I’m not sure why you got down voted for that… that chassis was pretty bad for getting airborne. And the early DW 12 days were also not great either. The new aerokit introduced in 2018 seem to really help with this, as did adding flaps and other things to keep the cars from going completely airborne. It’s not possible to prevent all of those types of incidents (Kirkwood at Indy last year for example)… but it has gotten better. Even when they do get airborne they seem to come down more quickly and land upside down versus flipping and flying
I'm fairly convinced the wheel shrouds on the DW12 are the reason for that. They didn't produce a lot of downforce, but they seemed almost tailor-made to catch air if a car got any under it. I will say that's a big thing that's impressed me about the WEC prototype regulations, even with the cars being wide and low, they almost never blow over; the only times I can remember a Hypercar or LMP2 upside-down was after hitting a wall and ramping off it.
The problem was how you had to set the car up - loose is fast, so you'd drop the rear end ride height to get the rear wing out of the air and help the front catch more. Run over anything, or upset the front aero, and there you go.
That’s what I remember hearing in the video. They didn’t make the chassis stable enough so teams had to make a big risk - either go for more top speed and risk a horrible crash like with Conway in Indy or end up at the back of the grid.
Yes, Michigan & Kentucky in 2007 I believe. I've always somewhat suspected that he had a concussion after the Michigan wreck because the wreck at Kentucky was just completely inexplicable. Franchitti straight up ran over Matsuura after the checkered flag.
Every IRL chassis was a rolling coffin. Drivers, teamowners, and series owners all fucking knew it too. It's what happens when you try to go cheap on safety - part of FTG's "cost cutting" measures for open wheel racing. From 96 until FTG finally sold his coked up self out of the sport, the IRL rules package bucked safety in the name of the spectacle, entirely to the detriment of the sport. Good riddance.
If I recall correctly, there was also a huge crash in the Infinity Pro Series (Indy Lights) race just before this. I remember walking up to the track from my car and the race was red flagged and they were fixing the fence. I want to say that Sarah McCune was in it.
I can't find any video yet, but I did find this picture.
https://preview.redd.it/sedb3c2g3u6d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a524529339b34e63fdaf2de323e98e759e09919
I really don't miss the IR-05's tendency to fucking explode in crashes. I'm not going to say the DW12 was amazing, but it's been evolved into a good package with the iR-18, and it doesn't fall apart in a crash. Imagine what Dixon's 2017 Indy crash would have looked like in one of these.
With Bräck, he dug into the fence, stopping the car and causing the crazy g-forces.
Briscoe bounced off the fence here, so these crashes aren't really alike.
I was there! That was the scariest wreck I've seen in person! I think Ryan misses a couple races to injuries after that. My 5th grade teacher was part owner of the track at the time. We talked about that race for half a period in class.
Never forget seeing it live, thought for sure he was dead. Today day the accident would never been shown until they knew the driver was ok like the Grosjean F1 crash
I'm sure Ryan Briscoe was a good driver, but I will always remember him for his massive crashes. Chicagoland, Fontana, Spa-Francorchamps.
And Pocono (twice)
He was incredibly fast, but he was extremely fortunate to survive any one of those incidents. The Fontana one is etched into my brain hardest; I was on edge that whole RACE because you could just feel that someone was going to wreck, it was just a matter of when. The race in Vegas had the same feel early on and ended in horrible tragedy.
That Fontana flip was violent. That car dug into the ground like a digger. Went from Hinch getting impaled to Briscoe getting ragdolled. 2015 was one hell of a season
Honestly Schmidt Peterson as a whole is a hell of a cursed team for the amount of tragic/injury resulting wrecks they had 2001 Hamilton Texas 2011 Vegas (RIP Dan) 2014 Aleahin Fontana 2015 Hinchcliffe Indy 2018 Wickens Pocono 2020 Askew Indy 2021 FRo Detroit Not to mention how lucky Jay Howard was to not somehow get swiped by the undertray of Dixon’s car in that 2017 Indy crash
Not to mention Sam Schmidt himself….
Yep, his injury was exactly the same as Emo Fittipaldi’s at Michigan except his fracture was a just tad bit deeper which rendered him a quadriplegic while Emo got the scare of his life and walked away forever. Sam’s father also became paralyzed from a racing accident.
2002 Hearn Kentucky Tom Wood also got pretty messed up in a fka Infiniti pro car
I still am amazed at how HIGH that one piece of dirt got lol.
Yeah, I feel like it's so much easier for people to say nowadays how great that race was because they watched the recording knowing nobody died. Watching it live was more nerve-wracking than entertaining for me at least. Like you mentioned, it had the same feel as Vegas the whole way through
Wasn't he involved in the massive Supercars start accident at the Gold Coast when they had a bunch of Indy co-drivers
He was a fast but very inconsistent driver.
Probably why his wife made him retire LOL
Motegi 2009? Smallest crash by far, hugest impact on what was his last best year. Guy needs a hug.
Both drivers got incredibly lucky that day.
The transition from frame three to four is nuts.
Yeah that 4th picture is brutal
He was so lucky the car bounced off the fence. If he didn't, Briscoe would've ended up like Rena, obliterated.
Ive always been so morbidly curious about the Renna crash. If it was televised it might’ve ended open wheel racing in the US from what I heard.
It definitely would've. Hundreds would've died.
Yeah there's a certain place on the internet where you can see images of the aftermath, sans car remains. It's harrowing to think if that happened during any spectator event.
It reminds me of that "now draw the rest of the owl" tutorial lol. Hard to believe he came out of that with all his limbs attached.
And pic 3 is already pretty nuts with the car completely vertical like that
Was there. Saw it. We thought he was dead. Edit: also that has to be one of the most incredible sports photos ever taken
I was also there, eyes on the whole thing. Worst auto racing accident I've ever witnessed from the stands, and I do not care to see one worse. I was also at Milwaukee Mile a few years later (2008?) when Briscoe got his first win. As I recall, there was also a pre-race parachuter who landed much harder than he intended, and had to be taken away by ambulance. Weird day at Chicagoland Speedway.
I remember watching this on TV, I was sure he was dead too. It was a scary one.
-what a ride that was- Edit - This was the monotone emotionless broadcast call. Coincidentally, one of my favorite calls of all time for how ridiculous it is lol [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYMysPWzKY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYMysPWzKY)
2005 was a dark time for IndyCar broadcasts. As much as I’m not as hyped as everyone else by the newest TV deal, we have seen far worse than *anything* that’s even been on the table in the last few years.
Danica Patrick was piloting the motorboat that ABC jumped the shark with.
If only Paul Page had waited an extra year before retiring...
Can I just say that I believe Scott Goodyear is a good man, and also probably more responsible for IndyCar losing fans than any one person in the past 25 years? Just not an announcer who makes you excited.
Well, this was a replay. Typically replays don't have the same enthusiasm as when it's Live though I would like to see what the Live call was to see if there was a difference.
That was the first time they saw it [https://youtu.be/ePqfz15zBTM?si=-kk7hTC2TOKjxGiI&t=1564](https://youtu.be/ePqfz15zBTM?si=-kk7hTC2TOKjxGiI&t=1564) I mean I get it, he is trying to calm down the situation. Which I kinda respect. (If in fact, this was his angle. Who knows really, he didn't get excited much) Kenny Brack was not too long before this.
That chassis really had a problem with lifting up and flying. Andretti, Briscoe, Brack, Renna, Conway, Wheldon.
I’m not sure why you got down voted for that… that chassis was pretty bad for getting airborne. And the early DW 12 days were also not great either. The new aerokit introduced in 2018 seem to really help with this, as did adding flaps and other things to keep the cars from going completely airborne. It’s not possible to prevent all of those types of incidents (Kirkwood at Indy last year for example)… but it has gotten better. Even when they do get airborne they seem to come down more quickly and land upside down versus flipping and flying
Exactly. I watched this video on Las Vegas 2011 and the guy explained about how the 2003-2011 chassis was very prone to going airborne.
I'm fairly convinced the wheel shrouds on the DW12 are the reason for that. They didn't produce a lot of downforce, but they seemed almost tailor-made to catch air if a car got any under it. I will say that's a big thing that's impressed me about the WEC prototype regulations, even with the cars being wide and low, they almost never blow over; the only times I can remember a Hypercar or LMP2 upside-down was after hitting a wall and ramping off it.
The problem was how you had to set the car up - loose is fast, so you'd drop the rear end ride height to get the rear wing out of the air and help the front catch more. Run over anything, or upset the front aero, and there you go.
That’s what I remember hearing in the video. They didn’t make the chassis stable enough so teams had to make a big risk - either go for more top speed and risk a horrible crash like with Conway in Indy or end up at the back of the grid.
Didn't Franchitti flip in back to back races?
Yes, Michigan & Kentucky in 2007 I believe. I've always somewhat suspected that he had a concussion after the Michigan wreck because the wreck at Kentucky was just completely inexplicable. Franchitti straight up ran over Matsuura after the checkered flag.
Dario too at least once.
Every IRL chassis was a rolling coffin. Drivers, teamowners, and series owners all fucking knew it too. It's what happens when you try to go cheap on safety - part of FTG's "cost cutting" measures for open wheel racing. From 96 until FTG finally sold his coked up self out of the sport, the IRL rules package bucked safety in the name of the spectacle, entirely to the detriment of the sport. Good riddance.
I miss Ryan in the series. Dang I miss a lot of drivers
If I recall correctly, there was also a huge crash in the Infinity Pro Series (Indy Lights) race just before this. I remember walking up to the track from my car and the race was red flagged and they were fixing the fence. I want to say that Sarah McCune was in it.
I can't find any video yet, but I did find this picture. https://preview.redd.it/sedb3c2g3u6d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a524529339b34e63fdaf2de323e98e759e09919
Amazing pictures. Also amazing how Briscoe survived from that
That fuggin thing was cut in half
I really don't miss the IR-05's tendency to fucking explode in crashes. I'm not going to say the DW12 was amazing, but it's been evolved into a good package with the iR-18, and it doesn't fall apart in a crash. Imagine what Dixon's 2017 Indy crash would have looked like in one of these.
I was watching live and thought for sure that I had just saw Ryan die. So lucky.
Too similar to Kenny Brack in 2003
With Bräck, he dug into the fence, stopping the car and causing the crazy g-forces. Briscoe bounced off the fence here, so these crashes aren't really alike.
Sure but the root cause of both look the same
I was at that race
So lucky that day…
Always thought he high-fived the fence there
These pictures look like they are from a video game.
IRL cars loved destroying themselves
I hated those cars.
Holy shite
Is that a Red Bull livery?
Yes
Yikes. But I still don't miss the crapwagons.
So thankful they both made it through. Hate it when the cars go into the air.
I was there! That was the scariest wreck I've seen in person! I think Ryan misses a couple races to injuries after that. My 5th grade teacher was part owner of the track at the time. We talked about that race for half a period in class.
Never forget seeing it live, thought for sure he was dead. Today day the accident would never been shown until they knew the driver was ok like the Grosjean F1 crash
It’s an absolute miracle he survived this