Watch: Worst Indy 500 Crashes of all time

The Indianapolis 500 is considered as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing", famously known as Indy 500. It is organized every year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana (U.S.) drawing a massive crowd from across the world to witness this motor racing spectacle. It is conducted as a part of Verizon IndyCar Series which is a top-notch American Championship for open-wheel formula cars also known as "Indy Car Racing". It has always been a zealous show to look upon but it is not always the bright side up and hence deadly crashes are an intrinsic part of the race.

Here are the frightful Indy 500 crashes that left the fans in shock.

#5 Patrick's scary second chance- 1984 Indianapolis

Patrick Bedard a racing driver and a journalist who is known for writing in the magazine "car and driver" decided to have a second thought over the Indy 500. During the race Bedard was making the exit out of turn-3 where his car smashed into the walls, fragmented into pieces while he was still struggling in the cockpit. The car flipped several times finally landing in the infield. The track marshalls and the medics reached him in no time and rushed him to hospital. He was lucky to get away with a broken Jaw and suffered a concussion and later made the statement that he didn't remember the incident at all. He never drove again at Indianapolis 500 ever again.

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#4 Swede Savage never returned- 1973 Indianapolis

This was one of the most dreadful accidents in the history of Indy 500 race. Many tragedies came hand in hand at a single event. Driver Pollard lost his life in the qualifying while Walther and Jerry's car touched wheels putting the former into the catch fence. Walther's car pinwheeled and fuel started leaking on the track due to which he suffered severe burns. As the rain prolonged, swede savage was severely burnt as his car made a sharp turn and bumped into the side wall, leaving no chance of survival. A pit crew member Armando Teran also lost his life in the process as he came in to rescue Savage and got hit by the fire truck.

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Bill Vukovich in Burning Car- 1955 Indianapolis

#3 Vukovich's Fatal crash- Indianapolis 1955

The two times racing champion was all set to clinch another win at 1955 Indy 500 but something unimaginable happened. Roger Ward lost control over his car due to a broken axle and Keller pulled handbrake to avoid the crash but he bumped into Boyd's car who had a furious skid between walls and Ward's car and ultimately landed on the path of Vukovich. The skilled driver could not avoid the crash and his car tumbled outside the wall and toppled end over end before it came to an abrupt stop. The 36-year-old racing sensation died on the spot.

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#2 Invincible Brayton's last race- Indianapolis 1996

After bagging his 2nd Indy 500 championship title in a row, Brayton seemed to be a future star but a blown tire smashed his all dreams at once. During the practice, the right rear tire blew and sent his car into the outside wall where the car skidded back to the track before coming to a halt. Exactly 33 minutes later, he was declared dead. Series officials eliminated turbochargers in 1997 and various amendments were made in the rules after this tragic incident.

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#1 Sach and MacDonald's terrifying end- Indianapolis 1964

This year is known to be the darkest year ever in the history of Indianapolis 500. This was the 48th running of the event since its inception and something absolutely terrible happened. MacDonald's car spun after coming out of 2nd lap and hit the inside wall causing a massive explosion and pushing his car into the path of Sachs. Sachs hit his car causing another furious explosion, a frightful sound, screeching brakes were heard as drivers tried to aviod the crashed cars in the dense smoke. Both were killed and the race was stopped for over an hour. New safety measures were imposed after this traumatic incident.

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