List of IndyCar fatalities

This article lists the people who have been fatally injured in American Championship car racing during testing, practice, qualifying, or races since 1916, categorized into drivers, riding mechanics, and non-participants. The lists recognize "IndyCar" or "Champ Car" fatalities that have occurred in events making up the National Championship, which has been held by the following sanctioning bodies:

The National Championship, which was split from 1979 to 2007, has featured regular races, non-points paying rounds, competitions sanctioned by entities that did not stage the National Championship in the same year, and the AAA Big car meetings held in the 1946 season.
The most recent driver to be fatally injured in an IndyCar Series event was Justin Wilson at the 2015 ABC Supply 500.

Driver fatalities

Breakdown

Decade	Total
1910s	5
1920s	15
1930s	14
1940s	15
1950s	20
1960s	11
1970s	4
1980s	2
1990s	5
2000s	2
2010s	2
2020s	0
All	95

Fatalities among riding mechanics

✝ indicates that the driver was killed in the same incident.

Mechanician	Driver	Date of incident	Sanction	Track	Event	Team/Owner	Car/Entry	Session
	✝	April 8, 1916	AAA	Grand Boulevard	Corona Grand Prize		Peugeot	Race
	✝	May 13, 1916	AAA	Sheepshead Bay Speedway	Metropolitan Trophy		Delage	Race
		July 15, 1916	AAA	Omaha Speedway	150-mile race		Peugeot – Sunbeam "Peusun"	Race
		August 27, 1916	AAA	Recreation Park	100-mile race		Stutz	Race
		September 4, 1916	AAA	Cincinnati Motor Speedway	International Sweepstakes		Stutz	Race
		October 14, 1916	AAA	Speedway Park	Grand American Auto Race		Crawford – Duesenberg	Race
		November 10, 1916	AAA/ACA	Santa Monica Road Race Course			Mercer	Practice
	✝	December 2, 1916	AAA	Uniontown Speedway	Universal Trophy		Premier	Race
	✝	November 25, 1920	AAA	Beverly Hills Speedway	250-mile race		Duesenberg	Race
	✝	October 1, 1921	AAA	Fresno Speedway	San Joaquin Valley Classic		Frontenac	Race
		May 30, 1930	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		Duesenberg	Race
		June 8, 1930	AAA	Michigan State Fairgrounds	100-mile race	Ambler	Ambler – Buick	Qualifying
	✝	May 26, 1931	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		Duesenberg "Jones & Maley"	Practice
		May 25, 1932	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		Duesenberg "Jones & Maley"	Qualifying
	✝	May 28, 1933	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		? – Studebaker "Brady & Nardi"	Qualifying
	✝	May 30, 1933	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		Miller	Race
	✝	May 25, 1934	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		– Miller "Miller-Hartz"	Practice
	✝	May 21, 1935	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		? – Buick "Victor Gasket"	Qualifying
	✝	January 26, 1936	AAA	Ascot Speedway	125-mile race		Wetteroth – Offenhauser	Race
		May 28, 1937	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500		Stevens – Miller "Belanger-Miller"	Qualifying
		September 20, 1939		Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Firestone tire test		– Miller	Testing

Fatalities among non-participants

This section lists people who have been fatally injured in close connection to the racing taking place at an event while not occupying a race car including participants being on the sidelines.

Name	Date of incident	Sanction	Track	Event	Session	Role	Course of events
	April 8, 1916	AAA	Grand Boulevard	Corona Grand Prize	Race	Police officer	Due to tire damage, Bob Burman's racer skidded, turned over and dashed into a crowd of people, several of whom were injured. Burman, his mechanician Erick Schrader, and a police officer died.
	November 18, 1916	ACA	Santa Monica Road Race Course	American Grand Prize	Race	Spectator	With his left front wheel buckling, Lewis Jackson missed a slight turn. His car slid along the roadside and struck several people, three of them fatally. Jackson died being pinned against a tree.
	November 18, 1916	ACA	Santa Monica Road Race Course	American Grand Prize	Race	Camera operator	With his left front wheel buckling, Lewis Jackson missed a slight turn. His car slid along the roadside and struck several people, three of them fatally. Jackson died being pinned against a tree.
	November 18, 1916	ACA	Santa Monica Road Race Course	American Grand Prize	Race	Street vendor	With his left front wheel buckling, Lewis Jackson missed a slight turn. His car slid along the roadside and struck several people, three of them fatally. Jackson died being pinned against a tree.
	December 2, 1916	AAA	Uniontown Speedway	Universal Trophy	Race	Driver	Frank Galvin lost control of his racer, smashed through the guard rail and slammed into the press stand, injuring several of its occupants and crushing to death Hughie Hughes, who had crashed out of the race himself and was standing by the press box. Gaston Weigle, Galvin's mechanician, was also killed. Galvin died two days later.
	May 30, 1923	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Spectator	Tom Alley, who was relief driving for Earl Cooper, slid, rolled over and penetrated a fence, killing a 15-year-old spectator and hurting two other boys and himself.
	November 29, 1923	AAA	Beverly Hills Speedway	250-mile race	Pre-race	Photographer	Attempting a start before the race, Harry Hartz hit a photographer, a team owner, and a mechanic, killing the former two and severely injuring the latter.
	November 29, 1923	AAA	Beverly Hills Speedway	250-mile race	Pre-race	Team owner	Attempting a start before the race, Harry Hartz hit a photographer, a team owner, and a mechanic, killing the former two and severely injuring the latter.
	October 12, 1925	AAA	Rockingham Speedway	Autumn Classic	Practice	Mechanic	The car driven by Vic Spooner veered into the pits where it fatally struck his mechanic before hitting the steel railing, being sent into the air, landing besides the track and catching fire. Spooner survived a concussion.
	May 30, 1931	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Bystander	Billy Arnold's racer lost a wheel, which cleared the retaining wall and killed an 11-year-old boy who was off the speedway's property.
	May 28, 1937	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Practice	Pit attendant	Overton Phillips lost control of his burning car, the gas tank of which had been pierced. Spinning into the pit area, it collided with another machine and inflicted fatal injuries on two attendants, one of whom died four days later, with three other people being hurt including Phillips.
	May 28, 1937	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Practice	Pit attendant	Overton Phillips lost control of his burning car, the gas tank of which had been pierced. Spinning into the pit area, it collided with another machine and inflicted fatal injuries on two attendants, one of whom died four days later, with three other people being hurt including Phillips.
	May 30, 1938	AAA	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Spectator	The tire and rim came off a wheel of the racer driven by Emil Andres, traveled through the air and fatally struck a spectator who was seated on a truck in the infield.
	April 14, 1946	AAA	Williams Grove Speedway	30-lap Big car race	Feature race	Spectator	A spectator who had been hit by a car while he was crossing the track near completion of the race died of his injuries two days later.
	October 15, 1950	AAA	California State Fairgrounds	100-mile race	Race	Spectator	Tony Bettenhausen ran into and climbed up the rear of Walt Faulkner's racer, flipped over and smashed through a fence, hurting four spectators, one of whom died the next day.
	September 12, 1953	AAA	New York State Fairgrounds	100-mile race	Race	Spectator	Trying to thread his way through Jimmy Bryan's spinning car and the fence, Chuck Stevenson hopped the outside wall, killing one spectator and injuring another 14.
	September 6, 1954	AAA	DuQuoin State Fairgrounds	Ted Horn Memorial	Race	Mechanic	Rodger Ward lost a tire, locked wheels with Chuck Stevenson and spun into the pit area where he overturned, killing a mechanic and hurting eight other people.
	May 30, 1960	USAC	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Spectator	A makeshift scaffold, which had privately been erected in the infield, toppled from the flatbed truck it was attached to during the parade lap before the start of the race, when the people occupying the structure leaned forward to watch the field drive by. They either fell or jumped to the ground where other attendants were hit by tumbling bodies or debris. Two spectators were killed, 82 sustained injuries.
	May 30, 1960	USAC	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Spectator	A makeshift scaffold, which had privately been erected in the infield, toppled from the flatbed truck it was attached to during the parade lap before the start of the race, when the people occupying the structure leaned forward to watch the field drive by. They either fell or jumped to the ground where other attendants were hit by tumbling bodies or debris. Two spectators were killed, 82 sustained injuries.
	May 30, 1961	USAC	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Safety worker	After a fire on Eddie Johnson's racer had been put out, a fire truck which was retreating from the scene backed over and killed a safety worker who was clearing a path for the vehicle.
	August 20, 1966	USAC	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Qualifying	Stage manager	A scheduled performance by the Green Berets required a rope to be stretched from a platform mounted on the roof of the grandstand to the infield across the track. Shortly after a tow truck had tautened the rope, the structure came loose and plunged into the reviewing stand, crushing to death a stage manager. Two photographers who had occupied the platform fell to their deaths, 38 people were injured by debris.
	August 20, 1966	USAC	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Qualifying	Photographer	A scheduled performance by the Green Berets required a rope to be stretched from a platform mounted on the roof of the grandstand to the infield across the track. Shortly after a tow truck had tautened the rope, the structure came loose and plunged into the reviewing stand, crushing to death a stage manager. Two photographers who had occupied the platform fell to their deaths, 38 people were injured by debris.
	August 20, 1966	USAC	Illinois State Fairgrounds	Tony Bettenhausen Memorial	Qualifying	Photographer	A scheduled performance by the Green Berets required a rope to be stretched from a platform mounted on the roof of the grandstand to the infield across the track. Shortly after a tow truck had tautened the rope, the structure came loose and plunged into the reviewing stand, crushing to death a stage manager. Two photographers who had occupied the platform fell to their deaths, 38 people were injured by debris.
	April 13, 1969	USAC	Hanford Motor Speedway	California 200	Race	Mechanic	Fuel leaking from Art Pollard's car was ignited during a pit stop, causing burns to two attendants, one of whom leapt back into the path of Mario Andretti's car and was struck. The mechanic died of his injuries two days later.
	May 30, 1973	USAC	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Team member	Rushing to the scene of Swede Savage's crash, a fire truck hit and killed a crewman for Graham McRae on pit lane.
	May 24, 1987	USAC	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indianapolis 500	Race	Spectator	A tire which had come off Tony Bettenhausen Jr.'s racer was catapulted into the stands by Roberto Guerrero's car and fatally struck a spectator in the head.
	September 2, 1990	CART	Vancouver street circuit	Molson Indy Vancouver	Race	Marshal	Having pushed Ross Bentley's stalled racer out of a chicane area, three track workers rushed into the path of Willy T. Ribbs's car, which was coming around the corner. Two of them were hurt when colliding with the car's rear. The third sustained fatal injuries when he was hit and overrun by the left rear wheel.
	July 14, 1996	CART	Toronto street circuit	Molson Indy Toronto	Race	Marshal	After Jeff Krosnoff's racer had touched wheels with that of Stefan Johansson, it was catapulted into the air and fatally struck a track worker who was positioned behind the wall lining the track while on its way into the catch fence where it disintegrated on impact, the cockpit coming to a stop against the opposite wall. Krosnoff was killed, too. Another marshal was slightly hurt.
	July 26, 1998	CART	Michigan Speedway	U.S. 500	Race	Spectator	On lap 175, Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in turn four. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators and injuring six others.
	July 26, 1998	CART	Michigan Speedway	U.S. 500	Race	Spectator	On lap 175, Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in turn four. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators and injuring six others.
	July 26, 1998	CART	Michigan Speedway	U.S. 500	Race	Spectator	On lap 175, Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in turn four. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators and injuring six others.
	May 1, 1999	IRL	Lowe's Motor Speedway	VisionAire 500K	Race	Spectator	On lap 59, Stan Wattles crashed into the outside wall in turn four, shearing off both right-side wheels. John Paul Jr.'s car hit one of them, propelling it over the fence into the stands. As a result, three spectators were killed and eight others, two of whom were children, sustained injuries. The race was abandoned before completing the necessary 104 laps to be official.
	May 1, 1999	IRL	Lowe's Motor Speedway	VisionAire 500K	Race	Spectator	On lap 59, Stan Wattles crashed into the outside wall in turn four, shearing off both right-side wheels. John Paul Jr.'s car hit one of them, propelling it over the fence into the stands. As a result, three spectators were killed and eight others, two of whom were children, sustained injuries. The race was abandoned before completing the necessary 104 laps to be official.
	May 1, 1999	IRL	Lowe's Motor Speedway	VisionAire 500K	Race	Spectator	On lap 59, Stan Wattles crashed into the outside wall in turn four, shearing off both right-side wheels. John Paul Jr.'s car hit one of them, propelling it over the fence into the stands. As a result, three spectators were killed and eight others, two of whom were children, sustained injuries. The race was abandoned before completing the necessary 104 laps to be official.