Saw that Salt Walther passed away today at the age of 65 due to medical complications. Salt was a former Indy 500 and NASCAR competitor and was involved in the (in)famous '73 Indy 500 first-lap crash. He also caused some controversy in about '77, I guess it was, after failing to qualify for the field but bought a ride.
Didn’t he have some legal troubles in the past? I think his mother lived in St Pete.
Tampa Causway
I remember seeing him race Unlimited Hydroplanes around 1968 here in Tampa. I think he was driving the Pay n Pak entry against the likes of the Miss Budweiser , Atlas Van Lines, and the other heavy hitters.
His dad owned a large company back in Ohio and I believe he was an early version of the “Rich Kid” racing on dad’s dollars .
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that”
Salt at Daytona in 1976 where he finished 12th in the Daytona 500…
Here’s a write up on Salts’ racing career and life afterwards by Robbin Miller. I didn’t know hardly anything about him other then the 1st lap crash at Indy.
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-7-time-indy-500-starter-salt-walther-passes-away
I read an article (about his passing) that stated he was wanted for a 2007 hit-and-run incident, ran and hit, and the cops finally caught up to him in 2010.
After his Indy crash, he became addicted to painkillers and led a rough life. Kind of a sad story, actually.
If you can find it, read up on the story of his father buying Salt a ride into the 500 one year (I wanna say the '76 or '77 race; heck, it may have even been the '73 500 when he crashed). Lot of people weren’t too happy, as he originally missed the show, and his dad offered something like $50,000 to someone to give up their ride so Salt could start in the 500.
Salt made mistakes, but…
Salt made mistakes, but… He will sure be missed if you watch F1. He was one of the color announcers and did a GREAT job on all the races. We are all hear for just a short time. The older you get the closer you get. Be nice it makes a difference on the next page of life. GOD bless everyone. And have a Happy New Year. 2013 will be the best yet.
[SIZE=“4”]Very sorry to hear this news.
In the late 60?s I re-furbed the entire exhaust system on Salt Walther?s mom?s Excalibur Phaeton from the block to the rear bumper. She lived at the time in the exclusive Pinellas Point section of St. Petersburg right on Tampa Bay.
I had been fabricating exhaust systems at my house and out of the back of my old pickup truck through High School on my bud?s street racers then later on roundy-round racers until I started building & driving my own.
My old buddy Terry Allen (of Sunshine Speedway fame in Figure-8?s, Tornados then Late Models) had a Standard Oil station down in Pinellas Point and called me one day with a ?special challenge? on an exhaust system for one of his customers.
My first AND LAST TIME messing with 3? stainless steel flex tubing (through the hood on both sides) and tubing under the frame for exhaust. It took me damned near a month working nights only.
I never met Salt during my exhaust marathon on the car but I spoke with his mom on several occasions and she was a jewel of a person.
RIP Salt.
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