1964 Indianapolis 500

Results of the 1964 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Saturday, May 30 1964.

It is best known for a fiery second-lap accident that resulted in the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald, involving a total of seven cars.

MacDonald was driving a car owned and designed by Mickey Thompson, the #83 "Sears-Allstate Special". It was a rear-engined car that first raced in 1963, updated with a streamlined body for 1964. The car was designed to start with enough fuel to run the full race, housed within a rubber bladder in an enclosed tank that ran between the tires on the left side. The car also featured Sears tires. It was far ahead of its time, but was badly designed, poorly built and difficult to drive. It handled badly, a condition made worse when the body was modified to accommodate the USAC-mandated 15 inch tires. Graham Hill tested the vehicle before Indy, but refused to drive it in 1963. Masten Gregory crashed earlier in the month due to aerodynamic lift. Other drivers took the advice of Gregory, and stayed away from the Thompson cars. Jim Clark told MacDonald on Carb Day, "Get out of that car mate, just walk away." The ride also offered to Mario Andretti, who turned it down due Andretti's concerns over his lack of experience and the fact that the ride was only for Indy. According to long-time motor sports journalist Chris Economaki, MacDonald never practiced with a full load of fuel due to Thompson's focus on high speeds.

In the first lap of his first Indy 500 race in 1964, MacDonald passed at least 5 other cars. As MacDonald passed Johnny Rutherford and Sachs, Rutherford noticed that MacDonald's car was very loose, even throwing grass and dirt up from the edge of the track. Rutherford later said that, watching the behavior of MacDonald's car, he thought, "Whoa, he's either gonna win this thing or crash."

On the second lap, MacDonald lost control coming off the fourth turn. As the car began to slide, he came across the track and hit the inside wall, igniting the gasoline in his fuel tanks (approximately 70-100 gallons) which caused a massive fire. His car then slid back across the track, causing seven more cars to be involved. Ronnie Duman crashed, spun in flames and hit the pit lane wall, and was burned. Bobby Unser hit another car, and Johnny Rutherford's car on its left rear tire, and crashed into the outside wall. Chuck Stevenson and Norm Hall also crashed.

Sachs, blinded by the smoke, hit MacDonald's burning car, and died in the fire before he could be freed. According to eye-witnesses, he was burned alive. His car, including his body, was covered by a tarp before being towed away during the cleanup. A lemon that had been on a string around Sachs's neck was found inside of Rutherford's car after the crash.

MacDonald was pulled from the wreck and taken into the infield hospital, burned beyond recognition. His lungs were seared from flame inhalation, causing acute pulmonary oedema. He died at at 1:20 in the afternoon.

The crash was well-documented in film and still images, and shown world-wide. For the first time in its history, a red flag stopped the Indy 500. Partially in response to media pressure, USAC mandated that cars carry less fuel, a change that also led every team to switch from gasoline to methanol prior to the next year's Indy 500.

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	Laps	Led	Status
1	5	1	A.J. Foyt	154.672	6	200	146	Running
2	3	2	Rodger Ward	156.406	3	200	0	Running
3	7	18	Lloyd Ruby	153.932	8	200	0	Running
4	21	99	Johnny White	150.893	28	200	0	Running
5	13	88	Johnny Boyd	151.835	18	200	0	Running
6	19	15	Bud Tingelstad	151.210	26	198	0	Flagged
7	12	23	Dick Rathmann	151.860	17	197	0	Flagged
8	27	4	Bob Harkey	151.573	19	197	0	Flagged
9	32	68	Bob Wente	149.869	31	197	0	Flagged
10	20	16	Bobby Grim	151.038	27	196	0	Flagged
11	30	3	Art Malone	151.222	25	194	0	Flagged
12	9	5	Don Branson	152.672	12	187	0	Clutch
13	10	53	Walt Hansgen	152.581	13	176	0	Flagged
14	11	56	Jim Hurtubise	152.542	14	141	0	Oil Pressure
15	8	66	Len Sutton	153.813	9	140	0	Magneto
16	33	62	Bill Cheesbourg	148.711	33	131	0	Engine
17	6	12	Dan Gurney	154.487	7	110	0	Tire wear
18	18	14	Troy Ruttman	151.292	24	99	0	Spun T3
19	23	54	Bob Veith	153.381	10	88	0	Piston
20	25	52	Jack Brabham	152.504	15	77	0	Fuel Tank
21	26	28	Jim McElreath	152.381	16	77	0	Filter system
22	28	77	Bob Mathouser	151.451	21	77	0	Brakes
23	4	98	Parnelli Jones	155.099	4	55	7	Pit fire
24	1	6	Jim Clark	158.828	1	47	14	Suspension
25	2	51	Bobby Marshman	157.857	2	39	33	Oil Plug
26	24	84	Eddie Johnson	152.905	11	6	0	Fuel Pump
27	15	86	Johnny Rutherford	151.400	23	2	0	Crash FS
28	29	95	Chuck Stevenson	150.830	29	2	0	Crash FS
29	14	83	Dave MacDonald	151.464	20	1	0	Crash FS (fatal)
30	17	25	Eddie Sachs	151.439	22	1	0	Crash FS (fatal)
31	16	64	Ronnie Duman	149.744	32	1	0	Crash FS
32	22	9	Bobby Unser	154.865	5	1	0	Crash FS
33	31	26	Norm Hall	150.094	30	1	0	Crash T4