It seems as if we’ve been speaking a lot about Tom Sneva recently on this countdown, b with a hard charging race style as well as the multitude of compliments held over the years it’s easy to understand why the Spokane native was held in such a high regard by the Indycar community in the 1970s. But for many fans the moment that launched Sneva into the public limelight wasn’t a race win or battle through the field, but rather his involvement in one of the most frightening racing accidents ever seen at The Brickyard.

After being raised in a racing family that included older brother and fellow Indy 500 competitor Jerry, Sneva made his debut at the Brickyard in 1974 driving the #24 machine owned by Grant King Racing. Despite the outfit being substantially under-funded Sneva impressed many with in the paddock with his high speed and bravery right out of the box, qualifying in eighth place for the 500 before rounding out the season with top ten finishes at Michigan and Trenton to finish the season 17th in the standings. Sneva’s impressive performance throughout the season soon began to attract the attention of the sport’s power-house owners, and after Gary Bettenhausen was severely injured in a sprint car accident at Syracuse Sneva was approached by owner Roger Penske to drive for his outfit during the 1975 season.

Looking to repay the faith shown in him by the Captain Sneva started his Sophomore campaign in encouraging fashion, picking up top ten finishes in the first 4 races of the season and leading to some pundits to suggest the 27 year old as a dark horse pick for that season’s memorial day classic at Indianapolis. After qualifying his #68 Sunoco sponsored machine in fourth place Sneva ran somewhat conservatively during the race’s early stages, holding onto a top five position for the majority of the race as the cars of AJ Foyt, Bobby Unser and Wally Dallenbach all took turns up front during the first half of the event. By the second half of the race Sneva had managed to work his way up to fourth place on the road, just ahead of the hard charging AJ Foyt when the two came up behind the lapped car of Eldon Rasmussen. The Canadian was competing in his first 500 event after squeezing into the field on bump day, and was already running several laps down in the race by the time the fourth placed battle came up behind him.

As the race entered lap 120 Sneva dove to the inside of Rasmussen going into turn two, running side by side through the corner at speeds of over 160 miles an hour and with no room for error between either driver. At the apex of the turn however the two collided, causing Sneva’s car to roll over the front of Rasmussen’s car before somersaulting into the catch fencing upside down. Upon impact the engine and rear of the car were ripped from the chassis, causing the car to burst into flames as it landed upright on the inside of the corner. Former Formula One champion Jackie Stewart, who was covering the race for ABC Sports, described the accident as one of the most horrific accidents he had ever seen in motor racing, and coming just two years after a similar accident to Salt Walther safety crews rushed to the scene of accident. Although he required assistance in leaving his mangled machine Sneva emerged from his car largely unscathed, prompting cheers from the crowd as the 27 year old was taken to a nearby marshal’s truck.

Following the race Sneva was thrust into the public limelight, his accident was featured in news broadcasts across the country, with features looking at just how the Spokane native was able to walk away from such a spectacular and fiery accident. Even to this day Sneva’s crash is a regular feature of 500 clip shows and documentaries, a testament to the strength of motor racing safety and the bravery of the men and women who compete in this great race. Sneva would later earn further kudos at the speedway which we have looked at in further detail previously, but his first impact at the Speedway proved to be a memorable one, even if for the Gas Man it wasn’t entirely for the right reasons.

In today’s video we relive the crash itself. Keep an ear out for football broadcasting legend Keith Jackson making the call in the commentary booth:

In tomorrow’s update we see how a crash-prone Texan evolved into an Indy 500 legend.