Although most Indycar fans understandably like to place focus on the front end of the field, for a lot of hardcore enthusiasts Indy is also characterised by the stories that come at the back of the field. The desperate and well-intentioned efforts of under-funded teams doing everything they can to make the great race, and in 1990 Indycar racing came just 2 minutes away from seeing one of it’s most unlikely qualifying stories come to fruition.

Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1947, David ‘Salt’ Walther grew up with motor racing firmly within his blood. His father, George Walther Jr, had been one of the prominent steel industry tycoons in the Mid-Ohio area, and after funding Indycar efforts for the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950’s used his considerable wealth to fund David’s motor racing career during the 1970s. Originally starting off as a powerboat racer, David earned the nickname Salt from his fellow drivers as a play on the word ‘saltwater’, whilst also becoming one of very few hydroplane drivers ever to race at Indianapolis.

In the 1973 running of the 500, Salt was involved in one of the most frightening accidents in the history of Indianapolis motor speedway, when he made contact with Jerry Grant shortly after the start of the race, sending him somersaulting into the catch fencing on the start finish straight. The car was engulfed in flames from the crash, skating on it’s roof in a series of spins before coming to a rest on the inside of turn one. Walther received burns to over 40% of his body, spending two and a half month in a burns victim unit and was forced to have the fingers on his left hand partially amputated. Despite this however Walt was able to recover to compete again in the 1974 running, but an addiction to painkillers caused as a result of the crash soon started to take it’s toll on Walther physically and financially. And his last Indycar race in 1981 was seen as the end of a competitive racing career.

In 1990 however, nine years after his last competitive outing of any kind, Walther announced his intention to compete at that year’s Indy 500. The announcement bemused both motor racing fans and members of the motor racing press alike, making a comeback to a physically strenuous sport as motor racing was a hard enough ask in itself, but to do after nearly a decade away from the sport and with the physical ailments of Walther at time was almost unheard of. During his previous racing career, Walther’s high personal wealth and lack of success despite top equipment earned him a negative status around the Indycar paddock, and after running laps in practice well below the expected bubble line for the race his qualifying campaign was quickly dismissed as a joke effort.

Going into that year’s bump day most of the focus had been on Jeff Andretti. The youngest of Mario’s sons was attempting to qualify for the race for the first time, a feat which if achieved would allow the Andretti clan to become the first have four representatives in the legendary race. With 20 minutes remaining in the session Andretti’s car hung on grimly to the race’s final transfer spot with a time of 210.268 mph. Walther meanwhile had barely reached 208mph throughout practice, and not much was expected when the 43 year old wheeled his aging Penske onto the track for his final qualifying attempt. Whether aided by the cooling conditions on the track Walther drove four of the finest laps of his racing career, improving his fastest time of the month by over two miles an hour and in the process bumping Andretti from the field by just .3 of a mile an hour. Fans around the speedway reacted with shock; a relic from the seventies, dismissed as a talent-less pay driver during his career, was suddenly on the verge of making the Indy 500 after a decade away from the sport

Walther grimly held onto the final transfer spot, holding off a challenge from Johnny Rutherford after the Texan waved off his attempt after two laps, but at the last minute his triumph turned to heartache as Rocky Moran took to the track with two minutes to go bumping out Walther’s sponsor less machine with a time of 211.076mph. Walther would make another failed attempt to qualify for the race in 1991, but his 1990 effort should be used as testimony to the determination and effort that goes into every 500 effort, be it those at the front or back of the field.

In today’s video we take a look back at Bump Day in 1990, including Walther bumping Jeff Andretti from the field with 10 minutes remaining.

In tomorrow’s update the biggest purse in Indy 500 history push two drivers into a hard-fought and contentious battle for the win.