64 replies to this topic

[7MGTEsup]

Emile Levassor started racing at the age of 51 and was 54 when he became the first (and perhaps oldest?) victim of racing

 

I assume by victim you mean died? In that case Denis Hulme was 56 when he died at the wheel of a racing car in 1992 (heart attack).

[Collombin]

I assume by victim you mean died? In that case Denis Hulme was 56 when he died at the wheel of a racing car in 1992 (heart attack).

If that counts then there are many much older than that.

Calling Cal Niday a racing victim is what finally tipped the balance towards the oft repeated statement that "over half the 1955 Indy 500 field died in racing accidents". He was the 17th (or not).

[Bob Riebe]

Five years later Steve has quit but Sammy seems to be having a play on occasion.

From what I can find -- Steve Kinser won his last sprint car race at age 61 at I 96 Speedway on Aug. 21, 2015..

Sammy Swindell won his last one on June 26, 2016 at age 60.at the Knoxville Speedway.

Edited by Bob Riebe, 25 January 2018 - 19:19.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by MGTEsup
I assume by victim you mean died? In that case Denis Hulme was 56 when he died at the wheel of a racing car in 1992 (heart attack).

I always hate to see Denny mentioned as one dying in a racing car...

Sure he did. But he died of a heart attack, having pulled the car to the side of the road at the onset of that attack.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards further on and 22 years earlier, Tom Sulman crashed fatally in his Lotus 11 when he was 69.




.

Edited by Ray Bell, 25 January 2018 - 20:19.

[7MGTEsup]

I always hate to see Denny mentioned as one dying in a racing car...

Sure he did. But he died of a heart attack, having pulled the car to the side of the road at the onset of that attack.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards further on and 22 years earlier, Tom Sulman crashed fatally in his Lotus 11 when he was 69.




.

 

I just picked Denny off the top of my head as knew he was older than 54 when he died (surly dying in a racing car be it from a heart attack or injuries sustained in an accident count the same?) I knew there would be someone much older than 56 as there must be plenty of older club racers who have died behind the wheel.

[2F-001]

That's interesting - I never think of Denis Hulme's death as a racing fatality in the same way as that of many others. But that's really down to my having a (limited) knowledge of the event and forming an instinctive, and largely personal, opinion of it. There are doubtless other instances that I do not know the detailed circumstances of.

It must be a moot point as to whether a heart attack (for example) at the wheel was precipitated at that time by the activity of racing, and I doubt if anyone could ever be certain.

A recent, fairly high-profile fatality of an 'older' driver would be that of long-time racer Denis Welch (2014?) who, like Tom Sulman, was 69.

Edited by 2F-001, 26 January 2018 - 13:23.

[Jim Thurman]

So, the thread has evolved (?) from a query about older drivers in F1, to non-F1 drivers, to who is the oldest driver to die at the wheel of a racing car?

 

In that case, Tom Sulman doesn't count (and wouldn't anyway as there have been older in the U.S.), while Cal Niday technically would, though he reportedly died from a series of heart attacks following an on track accident in a vintage car at a vintage meet (He was being transported to the hospital by ambulance, with what was reported as non-life threatening injuries). Which is why E.B. remarked: "He was the 17th (or not)." For some bizarre reason, many like to conflate the fatality figures and add as many as possible to the toll. Heart attacks on track, heart attacks post-track, heart attacks or accidents while going to or from the track, airplane crashes, cancer...I've seen them all listed as "racing fatalities."

Edited by Jim Thurman, 26 January 2018 - 19:51.

[Adrian Beese]

Not a circuit driver but Reg Phillips must have been one of the oldest to compete well into his  late 80's

[2F-001]

I saw Reg hillclimbing many a time; a rapid 205-based special saloon in later years.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Jim Thurman
.....In that case, Tom Sulman doesn't count (and wouldn't anyway as there have been older in the U.S.).....

I've been wondering about old Tom ever since I posted his age...

I remember Geoff Sykes talking about him at Goodwood in 1955 with the Kangaroo Stable. "I thought to myself, surely they're not going to let that old man race!" he told me, "and here I am a dozen years later letting him race."

Summoning resources regarding his age seems difficult. I have just come across a mention of him in Denis Gregory's Gnoo Blas book which says he was 65 when he won a bunch of races at that circuit in 1953. That would make him 82 when he died.

He's also referred to being the 'racing grandfather' in David McKay's book as he describes plans being made in 1954.

What I have found are mere snippets. His father did have a son by his first marriage and his second marriage was in 1893, he had three sons by that marriage. His wife had died either during or in the forties. He had been competing for decades.

[GMACKIE]

Tom was a bit 'weather-beaten' looking, but nowhere near 82. Somewhere around 70, perhaps.

[Porsche718]

Tom was a bit 'weather-beaten' looking, but nowhere near 82. Somewhere around 70, perhaps.

 

Sometimes, it's not the age, it's the mileage

[Catalina Park]

Tom Sulman was born on Christmas Day in 1899 at Wentworth Falls.

[Ray Bell]

That means that he was just 55 when Geoff Sykes thought he was an old man!

Evidence that both Greg and Steve are right.

[Eric Dunsdon]

I remember seeing Tom Sulman drive at Goodwood in 1955. Do I qualify for a possible oldest spectator thread I wonder?.