List of Goldman 5000 fatalities

The full list of Goldman 5000, Goldman 2500, and international Goldman 5000/2500 divisions in Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Spain, and Japan. Keep in mind G5000 cars have 100-400 more horsepower than Piston Cup cars and are twice as likely to die in a severe accident.

## List

### National series

#### Goldman 5000

1. Kerry McLean in 1947 - The younger brother of 1940 winner Ernest. Kerry was killed in the Grand Florida 500 when he went loose on lap 3 and flipped 7 times and slid into a barrier giving him severe cranial injuries. Kerry died 4 days later.
2. Lewis Gibbs in 1955 - While in qualifying for the Motor City 500, Lewis was killed after he spun into a barrier and was split in half.
3. Norm Karlington in 1961 - In the Goldman 500 at Rustbelt Raceway, Norm was killed after 1959 winner J.R. Newman lost control and hit him hard in the gas tank. He won the title posthumously afterward. J.R. survived the accident but was in a coma and the accident shortened his lifespan and he died in 1989 at the age of 51.
4. Garrett Kellsthorpe IV in 1964 - Garrett was killed in the Alabama 500 at Calladega where he was lodged into the catch fence by Truman Brush and died a day later.
5. Joshua Daniels in 1966 - The uncle of infamous racer Pocono, Joshua was killed when he was spun in the Safety Horn 500 at Pyrex Superspeedway and flew off the track.
6. Bromin Barium in 1969 - Bromin was killed after he was hit by Lars Fuelins and flipped 17 times on fire. He died two years later
7. Bobby Oglov in 1972 - 2 time winner Timothy Elson was looking to win his third title when in the practice for the 8th race he found himself into the catch fence, caught fire and flipped 17 times and landed upside down at 14 g-force. Elson flew into the air and landed on Bobby Oglov, who also caught fire. Miraculously Elson survived but Oglov was killed instantly. Ignacio Diaz won the title afterward.
8. Brad Nightpits, Larry Roads, Kett Travis in 1977 - The 2 rivals were battling for the lead for the final few laps at Pyrex Superspeedway when out of nowhere Larry Roads went way into the infield grass in turn 3, then went back up and smashed right into the side of Travis nearly splitting him in half and killing him instantly, then Nightpits came and smashed into Roads and Travis causing a massive explosion that saw his engine fall out and his hood and wing fall off with half of his windshield cracked cause of it. The series would never return to Pyrex Superspeedway until 2003.
9. Matt Simmons in 1978 - Matt was killed during qualifying at Florida where he flipped 21 times and his gas tank exploded setting him on flames.
10. Rod Kysellkeiv Cosk in 1983 - Cosk was practicing for the Kovakia Falls 500G which was his home race until he lost control and hit the turn 2 wall hard. It landed him in a coma for 32 years but never recovered and died.
11. Blake Kovakia in 1983 - Just a day after Cosk, Kovakia was qualifying for the same race before his engine blew up in flames after pushing too hard which caused him to flip as high as the control tower and landed very hard to cause a massive explosion.
12. Vix Cricksikov in 1983 - Vix also died during the Kovkia Falls 500G but it was on race day. Vix was in 47th place until a multi-car wreck on lap 28 landed him in 8th. But as the caution came out Vix ignored it just so that he could beat his rival Thomas Drivecar. Sometime after the cars in front of him slowed down Vix was going way too fast to stop and smashed right into the pace car injuring him. Vix then flipped 15 times before coming down to rest in flames. The Kovakia Falls 500G was considered so bad that the entire race was cancelled and the series never raced there ever again.
13. Mike Drive in 1992 - Drive lost his life during the Motor City 500 while in 13th place after Plough Whel's wing fell off and blinded him causing him to cause a crash that blocked the whole track and delayed the race for a day. So many cars Ploughed into him that he ended up going over the grandstands nearly injuring nearby spectators in flames.
14. C.J. Dripline in 1993 - Dripline, father of current Piston Cup Truck Series racer C.J. Jr. was qualifying at Hollywood until all of his tires gave out and blew along with his engine on fire. He then made a "Dripline mistake" by continuing to race when his crew chief told him not to as his engine was in flames so bad and that if he moves he'll make things worse. Things apparently did get worse as it went straight into Driplines windshield and burned him so bad that his gas tank blew up as well.
15. Oleg Cecic in 2000 - The nephew of 3-time Piston Cup European Series champion Olga and 1998 Goldman 2500 champion was looking forward to winning the 2000 championship until he died from heat exhaustion mid-way through the 9th race of the season. John Paul Wilson would go on to win the 2000 season.
16. Luke Piedmont in 2004 - 2003 Goldman 2500 champion Piedmont died at Pyrex after smashing right into the catch fence while airborne and went out of the speedway. He was knocked in a concussion after hitting the ground roof-first.

#### Goldman 3750

1. John Wachsberger in 2016 - Wachsberger was killed at Roy Piston Memorial Speedway after crashing off of turn 3 after going to low and went airborne after spinning.

#### Goldman 2500

1. Lonnie Long in 1982 - Long was practicing at Pocono before he flipped on lap 177 and was knocked in a concussion after Ike Salt slammed into him.
2. Jack Pitstop in 1984 - Pitstop was 2nd place in the standings and was looking forward to winning the championship until he went into the infield grass at Heartland and flipped 8 times into the catch fence.
3. John Butcher in 1999 - Butcher had survived many crashes in his life. However he would be involved in a crash that took away his life at Rustbelt when his engine blew, lost control, flipped 10 times and was pushed into the catch fence.
4. Connor Stewart in 2009 - Stewart died after he pushed himself too hard in turn 2 at Los Angeles and slammed the wall hard and went airborne. He then landed about 11 feet into the air and landed very hard flipping 7 times.