1. Dan Wheldon 2011
Although most of the picks on this list will be centered around wrecks that happened in NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing), it would be an absolute crime not to mention the wreck that took the life of Indycar driver, Dan Wheldon. The saddest part of all this however is the fact that Indycar was warned multiple times about something like this happening and went through with it anyway.
Now, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is one of those racetracks that are known for its dizzying speeds and intense racing, which is part of why Indycar wanted to make it the finale race for the 2011 season. The organization even put together a million-dollar prize for fans if a selected driver won the race and that only raised the stakes further.
With that being said, however, the dirty air, fast speed and pack-like racing that happened at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was nothing short of dangerous. If nothing else, a wreck wouldn t only take out half of the field, it would also most likely leave drivers injured or dead due to speeds reaching over 230 MPH at certain points on the track
Unfortunately for Dan Wheldon, that s exactly what happened to him as he was navigating traffic at the back of the pack. A wreck suddenly happened in front of him and spotters could be overheard begging drivers to go low. The problem with that strategy though was that the track was clogged at that point and cars were literally pinballing off each other.
At some point during the accident, Wheldon s car was launched into the air by an upside-down car and hit the catch fence. While the initial impact isn t believed to have killed him, a wheel from his car came loose and hit him in the head, which killed him instantly. He was 33 years old and left behind a wife and kids.
2. Brian Vickers and Dale Jr 2005
Racing for position can get intense in NASCAR and one little misstep could mean the end of someone s day. In the case of Dale Earnhardt Jr., however, this is where he accidentally spun Brian Vickers going into a corner and got caught up in the wreck himself. Jr. tried to get off the gas as much as he could but was left with nowhere to go and collided with the wall alongside Vickers.
Dale Jr. has had a lot of bad accidents throughout his career. In fact, he has been very vocal about having concussion issues throughout his career, which is believed to have led to his early retirement in 2017.
Interestingly enough, a few other drivers got caught up in the melee as well and also had their day ended. Just imagine how frustrating that would be, to run well at the track, set yourself up for a decent top-15 finish, and then just get clobbered during an accident that s not your fault.
3. Scott Dixon Jay Howard 2017
Believe it or not, there really isn t a lot to this entry at all. Just imagine driving at speeds of around 170 miles per hour and then just have your car snap around out of nowhere. That s pretty much what happened to Scott in this situation and his car promptly nailed the wall at over 100 MPH. The front end of his Toyota was pretty much junked at that point.
This incident stands out since the car managed to spin three or four times after hitting the wall and the impact of the wreck was devastating. In fact, Darrell Waltrip once said that the camera doesn’t do a NASCAR wreck justice, but the cameras did during this special occasion.
4. Austin Theriault and Tyler Reddick 2015
Going back to getting caught up in someone else’s mess, Austin Theriault found himself in this unfortunate position in 2015 when he was clipped by Tyler Reddick. Now, Reddick had just hit the wall himself and was diving low to get his truck straightened out, but he ran straight into Theriault in the process.
This got Theriault sideways and sent him hard into the outside wall on the straightaway. The nose of the car was completely caved in at this point and his front tire was dislodged as well. Interestingly enough, Reddick didn t suffer too much damage from the contact with the wall or Theriault and was able to continue after making repairs. It was still scary to see how fast Austin s car snapped loose though.
5. Jeff Gordon Matt Kenseth 2008
It s early in the 2008 Cup Series season and while wins ultimately pay the most points at the end of the day, every single position matters. In fact, with the implementation of “win and you’re in” not happening for almost another decade, every single position on the track was critical in gaining a spot in that year’s playoffs.
With that being said, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon were battling for position in the final laps when the unthinkable happened. Gordon accidentally sailed his car into the turn on the high side and hit Kenseth s quarter panel as a result. This caused Kenseth to spin right in front of Gordon, which forced the four-time champion to veer out of the way.
Unfortunately for Gordon, he ended up overcorrecting his car, getting loose, and launching himself into the inside wall. Keep in mind that while parts of the outside wall were protected with Styrofoam to minimize the impact of an accident, the inside walls weren t. This meant that Gordon went head-on into the inside retaining wall in what he even describes as one of the worst wrecks of his career.
