By now you may have heard the news that David “Salt” Walther died on December 27, 2012 at the relatively young age of 65 - whilst I cannot say that I’ve ever really known much about the ex-Indy 500 racer other than his horrendous injuries suffered during the first lap crash of the 1973 Indianapolis 500 race where he sustained burns to 40% of his body.
Yet, ironically I’ve never ever been even remotely interested in viewing the wicked crash, with Walther’s car pinballing down the front straightaway, feet & legs exposed before being engulfed in a burning racecar... Nor having never really known anything about the ex-racer - who apparently had a most controversial career; finding it funny to only learn now, nearly forty years later that his nickname came appropriately from his stint as a Hydroplane driver...
