"Salt" Walther black-flagged in court

As reported by the L.A. TIMES:

Jurisprudence

'Former Indianapolis 500 driver David D. "Salt" Walther was sentenced to 3 years in prison for leading police on a chase at speeds of up to 100 mph. Judge Stephen Wolaver sentenced the 59-year-old Walther after a jury convicted him of failing to comply with an order or signal of a police officer after a two-day trial in Xenia, Ohio.'


For those who may be unaware of "Salt" Walther, he was involved in one of the two terrible crashes that took place at the 1973 Indianapolis 500. He suffered severe burns from this particular incident, while another popular driver, Swede Savage perished in a seperate crash.

He would eventually recover and race again for several years, with limited success however. Unfortunately, over time he managed to fall prey to pain killers and problems with the law.

I remember Salt well. I grew up in Dayton where he was from. He was just another spoiled rich kid who was in the ride because of his daddy's money. Dayton Foundry I believe was where the family fortune came from and sponsored his car. He did have a little success boat racing though.

David

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Originally Posted by DavePI2

...Dayton Foundry I believe was where the family fortune came from and sponsored his car...

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I believe they also owned the car.

I just watched the "Indy 500, the 70's" DVD last night and told my wife about how grizzly that race was. Now I look in here and there is a thread about Salt Walther! I wished we could have seen how great Swede Savage may have been. He was the real deal.

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Originally Posted by bblocker68

I wished we could have seen how great Swede Savage may have been. He was the real deal.

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After having seen Scott Speed being prematurely dismissed from Grand Prix racing this season (though I do realize it is business after all... unfortunately), his departure reminded me of other drivers who were cut short of their prime. Both tragically and financially.

In this particular subject that has been addressed, 'potential lost' (due to tragedy), Swede Savage has stuck in my mind for some time, not only because of the world-wide recognition of his fatal accident at Indy, but his involvement with Gurney in the now defunct Trams-Am Series, driving AAR Cudas.

Not to mention what one dedicated fan online, shared on a web-site that he created about him, in which I was able to learn a great deal about his career more than what I was accustomed to from various publications. From what was described about him (on the website as well as limited mags & books), it definetly appeared to me that he showed significant promise of a solid future behind the wheel.




... having reflected on S. Savage and his career being cut too short, Bobby Marshman (1936 - 1964) springs to mind as well. In regards to drivers who were cut too short before their prime.

With some incredibly bad luck, he may not have accomplished much statistic-wise, however from film footage I saw, as well as material I read... once he took advantage of Jim Clark being temporarily blocked by a back-marker in the early stages of the 1964 Indianapolis 500, he not only held that lead for some time, but he managed to pull away from the rest of the field as well... including Clark and Foyt.

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Originally Posted by bblocker68

I wished we could have seen how great Swede Savage may have been. He was the real deal.

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Read Bobby Unser's book.

He thought otherwise - BIG-TIME.

Bobby Unser lives in a parallel universe. :vader:

The article about Salt Walther's trouble caught my eye... so I looked into it. But I was not prepared for the responses from all you people! How you traversed from slamming his being a spoiled rich kid to Bobby Unser's 'unique' perspective on life made my head swim! Who are you people?!?!

Does nobody have any respect for the general human condition anymore?! Let alone the fact that no matter what you thought of him, HE WAS THERE - HE RACED AT INDY.... I didn't! Did you?!

And he was severely injured, resulting in we-have-NO-idea-what kind of problems. Who knows what kind of mental crap he dealt with being in that sort of horrendous crash.

And for that matter, whoever it was that said he was a spoiled rich kid - how do you know that didn't screw up his LIFE?!

The point is NONE of us know why his life spiralled out of control to the point that he ended up where he is - but a guy named Jesus once said in a situation like this, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"!!

To me - and mind you, I'm just a third generation racer whose uncle raced Indy in the early 50's and has a race in his honor to this day - I find it a SHAME when any racer ends up in this kind of place in life - and then supposed racing 'fans' are doing anything but PRAYING for his recovery and well-being!!!!!

Shame on you!

OK, I'm done now! Now I remember why I don't go on these forums and board things!!

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Originally Posted by speedloxpromo

Does nobody have any respect... Let alone the fact that no matter what you thought of him, HE WAS THERE - HE RACED AT INDY.... I didn't! Did you?!

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Well said.

I can't believe what I am reading, there were field filling rich kids in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing even before Tony George ruined racing!

Say it aint so!!