Salt Walther

David "Salt" Walther (November 22, 1947 – December 27, 2012) was a driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He also drove NASCAR stock cars, unlimited hydroplane boats, and was a car owner in USAC. Walther is best remembered for surviving a crash at the start of the 1973 Indianapolis 500.

He was the son of George Walther, owner of Dayton Steel Foundry, who fielded Indy 500 cars for Juan Manuel Fangio in 1958 and Mike Magill in 1959. His brother, George "Skipp" Walther III, was fatally injured while trying to qualify as an Unlimited driver at Miami Marine Stadium, in 1974.

David Walther was given the nickname "Salt" during his teen years while racing boats, and is one of only eight unlimited hydroplane drivers to qualify for the Indy 500.

Walther raced in the 1970-1981 seasons, with 64 combined career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 from 1972 to 1976, and 1978 to 1979. He finished in the top ten 16 times, with a best finish, four times, of 7th position.

Walther first raced at Indianapolis in 1972, finishing 33rd and last due to a broken magneto.

In his second appearance in the race in 1973 Walther qualified 17th but again finished last after one of the most spectacular and famous accidents in the history of the race. As the field received the green flag, Steve Krisiloff, on the inside of the third row, developed engine trouble and slowed down, producing a traffic jam on the main straightaway as the rest of the cars accelerated. Walther, forced to his right by drivers taking evasive action in front of him, touched wheels with Jerry Grant and was catapulted over the wall and into the fence above it. Walther maintained that he was hit from behind, forcing him into Grant, but this claim is not supported by films of the crash and is not widely accepted by other drivers.

The impact tore down the fence and snapped off the nose of Walther's car, exposing the driver's legs and breaking open the fuel tanks, which at that time were located beside the driver. The fuel immediately began spraying out of the car, some of it reaching the front rows of the grandstand where several spectators suffered burns. The car crashed back onto the track and spun down the main straightaway upside-down, still spraying fuel which ignited into a huge fireball that enveloped the rest of the field. Blinded by the burning methanol, several other drivers crashed into Walther's car and each other, though none of them suffered serious injuries.

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