2000 Brickyard 400

The 2000 Brickyard 400, race number 18 at Brickyard Motor Speedway, is widely considered one of the most historic Brickyard 400's of all time. The reason why is because of an 21 car crash caused by Jacob Dave on lap 159 which involves Ralph Carlow getting into the catch fence at more than 285 kmh and badly hurt. The fact 21 cars crashed in the big one on lap 159, plus three racers retiring earlier and two racers crashing later means only 17 of the 43 racers finished.The crash even involves Johnny Blamer in it as this was one of his many, many DNFs in his career.

The amount of g force in Carlow's crash was a terrifying 52g!!.

Carlow would miss the next 6 races being replaced by Lee Jr before returning briefly for the Boston 350 and does not attend the next couple of races until he made a proper return in the Fei 400 (race 26).

Rusty Cornfuel and James Cleanair (who has serious injuries) were also BADLY damaged and were replaced by Clarkson and Aikens for one race. James was hit in the underside by Todd Marcus.

The 17 that finished were winner Chuck Armstrong, Claude Scruggs in 2nd, Eugene Carbureski in 3rd, Jacob Dave (the one who caused the accident) in 4th, rookie Davey Apex SOMEHOW in 5th, Ponchy Wipeout in 6th, rookie Slider Petrolski in 7th, Murray Clutchburn in 8th, Misti Motorkrass in 9th, Aiken Axler in 10th, Ernie Gearson in 11th, Ryan Shields in 12th, Winford Rutherford in 13th, Ruby Nightcar in 14th, Chick Hicks in 15th, Zack Oilchanger in 16th and Mac iCar 17th.

The reason the accident happened is Jacob bumped Landon Mitchtire and sent him into the other cars.

Sadly The King was involved. The race was red-flagged and restarted normally.

Not to mention W.J. Lights was also in the crash and HIS CAREER ENDED but all eyes were on Ralph Carlow and in a interview before the 2022 Frostar Air Filters 400, he said that "Nobody, not even the racers except the medical crew cared for me at all that day, they didn’t ask me if I was ok, I yelled to them that I’m critically injured as well, and the only help I had was from the medical crew!!!".

## Television Biography

Network: RSN

Announcers: Bob Cutlass and Darrell Cartrip

## Transcript

### The Big One

Jacob: Get out mother-(Seal Bark)!

(Pushes Landon Mitchtire)

Landon Mitchtire: STUPID DAVE!

Darrell: OH NO! MULTIPLE CARS INVOLVED!

Bob: THE KING INVOLVED! AND WHAT THE (Dolphin Censor)!? HOW DARE THE GODLY RUBY EASY OAKS IS IN IT! ALL THE GODLY LEGENDS ARE INVOLVED! THE KING, DALE JR, LANDON, AND NONE OTHER THAN RUBY FREAKIN **DIFFICULT** OAKS!!!

(Bob bawls and hugs Darrell)

Darrell: OH NO NO! **THE GODLIEST RACER EVER! CARLOW IN THE CATCH FENCE! SEVERE DAMAGE! JAMES CLEANAIR SIDEWAYS IN THE OUTSIDE WALL AND TODD MARCUS HIT HIM ON THE UNDERSIDE! AND W.J. LIGHTS IS CRASHING HEAVILY**

Bob (stopped crying): HORRIFIC STUFF HAPPENED HERE TODAY AT INDIANAPOLIS! RUSTY CORNFUEL IN THE AIR ONCE AND HITS THE GROUND RIGHT ON HIS ROOF AND FLIPS ONCE AND THEN LANDS ON HIS WHEELS! (cries again and worse) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

(on the track)

The King: Is everyone ok?

Greg: I'm ok.

Johnny Blamer: Yeah me too.

The King: Surprising coming out of you Johnny.

Johnny Blamer: Do I crash that bad all the time... I'm fine for real!

Kevin Shiftright: GUYS COME HERE!

The King: Okay Kevin.

Kevin Shiftright: Oil! Oil is leaking out of Ralph Carlow! Rusty Cornfuel is damaged too and so is James Cleanair.

James: I can't see a thing, guys! Have I gone blind?

The King: No you haven't James. You are on your side facing the outside wall.

James: Aikens will replace me for sure. I feel like my engine is malfunctioning and my oil is leaking a bit.

Rusty: Clarkson will replace me for sure. My roof is badly hurt while I flipped as well.

The King: I guess settles you two but now moving on to the important part. Ralph Carlow.

Kevin Shiftright: OH NO HE SEEMS TO BE ***DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!***

The King: What?

Dirkson: King, how the hell did you and Ruby stay calm all the time during these situations!

The King: Well my father helped me during my first big crash and he was very calm during the times his fellow racers crashed back in the early '50s, obviously including the Hudson Hornet's crash in 1954.

Dirkson: Now I get it. Not bad for a rookie like Dale Jr.

Dale Jr: You're right, Dirk.

### Roger and Luke see King is involved

Roger: OH NO OUR KING IS INVOLVED (cries) I JUST SAW MANNY FLYWHEEL HIT HIS SIDE! NOOOOO!

Luke (Cries): NO NO NO!

(Dinoco Team Radio)

The King: Don't panic guys! I'm alright. We should worry about Ralph Carlow. He hit the catch fence hard just now.

Roger: Oh.

Luke: He's okay!

Claude: OMG, MISTI!!

Misti: Yes?

Claude: THE KING SURVIVED!!

Misti: HELL YEAH!

Claude: SOME GOOD NEWS, RIGHT!?

Misti: YEAH!

Ponchy: But RALPH CARLOW! HE IS MOST CERTAINLY D.E.A.D or DEAD! JAMES BRUSH BETTER BE ON THE SCENE!

The King: He will be. It's James, so obviously he will help him. I wish it was Fred Watcar though. He could fix up Carlow into a race-worthy condition in seconds.

Roger: SECONDS!?

Luke: FREAKING SECONDS!? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

The King: Yeah. Remember back in 1973 when I crashed? Fred Watcar and his wife Anne helped me get back into shape quickly even though I missed eight races. They may very well be the only reason I got 7 world championship titles. I could have very well died that day but I did not, and it's all thanks to them.

(Roger starts to cry)

Roger: I SALUTE YOU MR WATCAR! YOU SAVED MY RACER'S LIFE!

(Back to Bob and Darrell)

Bob: James Brush on the scene. HE IS SHAKING HIS HEAD!

Darrell: This-This means. CARLOW IS GONE! (cries) NO NO NO!

Bob (crying): But Carlow is in the ambulance! I guess he MIGHT survive but most likely not.

(back to the track)

James: Those (Yee) idiots... I shook my head because we knew Ralph was beaten up pretty badly. But he will live.

River: Thanks for explaining James.

James: Ralph will miss some races, but he will live fine.

River: Thank you. Anyway, we're with James who said "Those (Triggered) idiots" as well as Indy 500 and CARCA legend Johnny Rutherford. What do you feel about Ralph as well as all you racers?

James: Bad.

Johnny Rutherford: Surely worse than what I have seen in my career. I remember seeing Al Unser Sr. flipping badly back in 1978, he was in critical condition and he missed the 1979 Indy 500.

The King: Yeah, very bad.

Roger: NOOOO! HE IS GOING TO (2x Seal Bark) DIE!

Luke (cries): Ralph's gone.

Murray: Oh no.

Ryan: WHY WOULD HE HAVE A BAD CRASH!?

Johnny (cries): WAAAAAAAIIIIIII!? THIS IS NOT FEEEEEERRRRR!!!!

River: It's okay, Johnny- I mean, back to you Bob and Darrell! Sorry.

Darrell: Well, thanks, River. We'll be back with more flag to flag racing footage in just a moment while we are stopping the Brickyard 400 of 2000.

### Conditions on Carlow (3 days later on RSN News)

River: We're here with Fred Watcar. And conditions on Ralph Carlow are updated. Fred?

Fred: He is alive. But he is seriously hurt and thankfully he did not end up in a coma, like Robert Johnson in 1959.

River: Okay back to Bob and Darrell in the news.

NOTE: While Watcar retired in 1993 he still checked seriously injured racers until his death in 2001.

## Results

1. Chuck Armstrong - 400 Laps
2. Strip Weathers - 400 Laps
3. Eugene Carbureski - 400 Laps
4. Jacob Dave - 400 Laps
5. Davey Apex - 400 Laps
6. Ponchy Wipeout - 400 Laps
7. Slider Petrolski - 400 Laps
8. Murray Clutchburn - 400 Laps
9. Misti Motorkrass - 400 Laps
10. Aiken Axler - 400 Laps
11. Ernie Gearson - 400 Laps
12. Ryan Shields - 400 Laps
13. Winford Rutherford - 400 Laps
14. Ruby Nightcar - 400 Laps
15. Chick Hicks - 400 Laps
16. Zack Oilchanger - 400 Laps
17. Mac iCar - 400 Laps
18. Jeff Gorvette - 167 Laps (Crash)
19. Tike Plow - 167 Laps (Crash)
20. Lee Revkins - 159 Laps (Crash)
21. Sky Lewis - 159 Laps (Crash)
22. Jess Mike Lavera - 159 Laps (Crash)
23. Joe Collins - 159 Laps (Crash)
24. Ruby Storm - 159 Laps (Crash)
25. Mike Yankee - 159 Laps (Crash)
26. David Sweet - 159 Laps (Crash)
27. Ruby Oaks - 159 Crash (Crash)
28. Steve Myers - 159 Laps (Crash)
29. Todd Marcus - 159 Laps (Crash)
30. Ralph Carlow - 159 Laps (Serious Crash)
31. Stace Cyper - 159 Laps (Crash)
32. W.J. Lights - 159 Laps (Career Ending Crash)
33. Landon Mitchtire - 159 Laps (Crash)
34. Dale Earnhardt Sr - 159 Laps (Crash)
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr - 159 Laps (Crash)
36. Rusty Wheelhouse - 159 Laps (Crash)
37. Jinn Steeringson - 159 Laps (Crash)
38. Avery Ron Monika Jones - 159 Laps (Crash)
39. Dirk Revfender - 159 Laps (Crash)
40. Kelly Moonwater Junior - 159 Laps (Crash)
41. Murray Clutchburn - 140 Laps (Crash)
42. Davey Apex - 140 Laps (crash)
43. Clipper Tirecar - 140 Laps (Crash)

## Gallery

The Accident (Cars behind Mac iCar, Jacob Dave and Zack Oilchanger were all involved in the accident)