I was there. The big screens showed the replay until just after contact with the wall and then went off and the replay was not shown again. The image of Greg's helmet is burned in my mind. Most people around me in the stands on the front stretch feared the worst even though where we were we couldn't see the remains of the car. Later the 1975-1999 picture went up on the big screen. I remember the guy in the row behind me reading that and saying, "He's younger than my kid." We were all pretty subdued. This was the first time I've seen the video since that day.
I was 13 years old and there that day sitting in the turn 4 grandstands. I remember the screen like you mentioned only showed the live accident when it first happened and a replay that was brief that didn’t show everything. I had a scanner on the ESPN frequency that day and you would hear the conversations between paul page, Parker johnstone, and the producer of the show during commercial breaks. They were holding back tears almost every commercial break. You could also hear conversations very early on by the producer that a Tribute video was already being created. It was shocking for me at the time as that was the first race that had tragedy that I was personally at. I remember people nearby us in the stands didn’t have scanners so they would ask what we were hearing from the booth when they would talk during commercials. Such a tragic day.
I was there with my brother. We were about half way between the start finish line and turn 1, about 10 rows up. We saw Moore lose it, but couldn't see much of his the impact with the wall. We didn't really know how bad it was. Word of his death started filtering through the crowd. Then we saw it on the big screen. We were also at Laguna Seca a couple months before when newcomer Gonzalo Rodrigues was killed.
I was at this race and it was my 15th birthday too. My dad and I were about half way between start finish and put exit in the grandstand. I watched Greg after the restart because I knew he’d go all out. He passed about 4 cars on the outside then lost him behind turn 2. I then turned to the big screen and saw his accident. It was horrifying. When the announcement that he passed came the person next to us said that he was done and left. It killed the mood of the entire race. I’m glad they got rid of the grass on the back straight. Prevented a lot of bad accidents going forward. Michigan did the same as well. Had it been all asphalt then he would have been fine. Richie Hearn said he lost control because of the turbulence created by the Hanford device. You’ll notice his car broke in half and his impact was massive. It’s a miracle he was okay from that accident. The same probably happened to Greg, it didn’t help that he was driving with basically one hand too. RIP
I'm glad that the telecast showed no replays from any other angles. That was a decision that was taken almost immediately and it was the correct decision. The frankness mixed with despair from Dr Olvey while delivering the facts about Greg's condition is numbing even now, 24 years after the fact.
Right. To do what he does(did) and see what he's seen...guys you know personally, taking their last breaths. Thats about as heavy as you can get. The man(and folks like him) are just built differently. God bless each and every one of them.
I watched this race live on TV. The very first images of Gregs totally destroyed car still rolling and rolling around, made me feel sick to the stomach, and knew immediately, that no one can survive a crash that magnitude. A future champion gone way too early.
Greg Moore was also interested in NASCAR. He had talked to Cal Wells and Andy Petree about driving for them and had formed friendships with Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte. I have no doubt he would have won an Indy 500 and championship with Penske. And he would have found success in NASCAR as well. He would have joined NASCAR at its peak.
@@ic3man Tony Kannan was quoted as Moore was going run 3-4 seasons then go to NASCAR. That would make around 2003 or 2004. Penske's Cup program was getting near its downward slide around that time. They were still good but the signs were showing. I don't think Penske would have thrown Moore into the deep end without giving him some starts in Xfinity or ARCA (maybe even Trucks).
Greg Moore, one of the great what ifs in Open Wheel history. Had he lived, who knows what heights he could have reached if he'd been able to honour his contract with Penske. One thing's for sure, while it's always sad when a racing driver perishes in an accident, somehow, given his light hearted, practical joker style, it makes it even more sad as the sport lost a personality
I remember watching this live on Eurosport here in the UK. I remember feeling very uneasy after the crash and just waiting for some news. When the announcement finally came, I felt sick!!
In his book, Paul Page hit the talkback button to his producer and director and said "no replays" as soon as he saw Greg hit the wall. You could even tell everyone just wanted the day to be over after the wreck. You can only imagine how many championships and Indy 500s he would have won went Prnske went to the IRL just two years later.
On the Dinner with Racers podcast, Paul Page did not speak highly of how CART handled this one. Admittedly it was overshadowed by him shredding Driven, which was well, well deserved. From the podcast... Paul hit the intercom button and told his producer not to show any replays because in his mind, it was 100% a fatal accident. CART delayed and delayed, in Paul's words despite the ABC crew knowing it was fatal just by looking at it and cameramen reporting in. Then, CART decided hey, we're going to throw a yellow, we're going to throw a yellow and lower the flags. Somehow, CART bungled both, they backtracked on throwing the yellow, then somehow (Paul doesn't say how or why) they somehow, somehow, botched taking the flags at the speedway to half mast. It took the ABC/ESPN crew pestering CART to finally acknowledge what had happened. Paul Page, for reference, monotone as hell during this segment of the podcast, a contrast from the rest of it where he's hilarious, riffing on the late Bobby Unser. I never knew any of this before 2018 when the episode dropped. Knowing how CART handled it makes me seriously question how they handled Gonzalo's death and Jeff Krosnoff's death as well since from 96-99 it was the same core group of people in race control, your Dennis Swan, your Wally Dallenbach, your Chris Kneifel (who somehow got a promotion in 2003 when CCWS was a thing), your Kurt Russell and so forth. I'm honestly disgusted with how CART handled Greg's death. Yes, the actual on track racing was your usual late 90s Hanford Device Mk3 era wild race, but Greg's death sucked all the enjoyment and fun out of it. And to think, Greg was going to Penske in 2000, him in that Renske would, IMO, have meant he'd have won the 2000/2001 CART titles and had a good shot at Indy too. EDIT: And going on more in the podcast ep, CART tried pulling the same shit with Krosnof in Toronto in 1996, they wanted to fuck around with making the announcement due to in Paul's words, not wanting to admit to a fatality. If you've ever seen a video or stills of Krosnoff's crash, then.... Se the point up there about the same core group in race control
Very interesting I have to check that episode out. The Krosnof incident was a really big deal because I live in Toronto. It was all over every local news channel here. Even with that it was a horrible track design flaw with street light poles exposed to the track with no catch fence. Pretty wild that Adrian Fernandez won that race as well.
@@Demise90Racing Marshall Pruitt had a great series about Krosnoff and goes in depth on that horrific day and the fallout from it. It's scary that both the Canadian street tracks (Montreal gets a pass) have had fatal incidents, albeit Vancouver 1990 is a weird one EDIT: On that note, the entire series on Krosnofff is amazing, I didn't know how good he was or he ran junior ormulae. I knew Toyota kept his name on he Le Mans car however
You have to wonder, even if the split never happened, would CART have survived while continuing to promote the absolute worst people into high positions?
Crazy that the exact same wall was hit prior in that race. Also a safety truck parked right behind it, as it was an obvious known danger area. This is a wreck that should have never taken place IMO.
i still know how to watch it here in Germany ! i was a big Fan of the Champcar series! I saw it live. I love the time from 1996 to 1999! after the death of Greg i don`t want to watch it anymore. But now i like Indycars! Thanks Demise90 for your content! i love it. Greetings from Germany! Marco
I remember this. I actually had a friend named Greg Moore at the time too. The ONLY good thing about the Fontana reconfiguration: that part of the wall will FINALLY be gone!!!!! They've had plenty of other cars in other series hit that extremely hard in ways that the drivers were fortunate not to be hurt, or worse....
One aspect you missed. Greg started the race in last place because he did not qualify. This was because, before quali, he was riding his scooter in the parking area when a car/truck struck him, knocking him off the bike. His left hand/wrist was injured and needed to be stitched and taped. The morning of the race, Indycar allowed Greg a session to see if he was fit to race. He had some discomfort, but was adament about racing, which they finally cleared him to do so. I bring this up not because it was the reason for the crash, but just how twisted fate can be. Had Roger Penske weighed in to say "Sit this one out. I want my star of tomorrow ready to go next season. There's nothing on the line for him in the championshipthat year..." had someone convinced him of that... I cried. For hours I cried. I am still crying to this day. I didn't know him and yes others have lost their lives in the sport I love, but Greg was special. Had this not happened, I am certain we'd be celebrating one of the best racers in Indycar and Formula One ever to put on a helmet.
Man. During his active years in NASCAR, I did not appreciate Montoya as I do now. Looking back, it would have been so incredible if he could have won the Daytona 500. He already had Monaco and the Indy 500.
I was 18 and watched this race live on Eurosport in the UK. It was immediately apparent that was a very bad crash for Greg. I had a Canadian pen friend who was a Greg Moore fan and he’d predicted Greg would eventually switch to F1 - something I could probably see happening. Such an awful loss.
I was watching this race live on TV and I knew immediately he could not survive a head first hit on the wall at that speed. I continued watching the race waiting for the inevitable announcement. I was a huge Greg Moore fan. This one was hard to take.
That was a truly horrible crash. I knew Greg couldn't survive that as soon as I saw it. The speeds they do on those ovals is mind bending...lap after lap. If you lose it on an oval...God help you. R.I.P Greg Moore.
Remember this race. Was on air on a community radio station in Sydney, Australia and covering the race. Due to listener feedback that the programme is kid friendly we did not mention the passing of Greg Moore but carried the result when the race finished. Would be interesting to see how IndyCar, NASCAR and so on would handle such a situation today with the prevalence of mobile phones and social media.
I was watching this race live on ESPN that afternoon. I remember it vividly. It was chilling to watch one of my favourite CART drivers crashing like that. I remember Jorge koechlin saying "We pray for Greg and his family". Heart braking.
1999. I was 9 years old. Had been a racing fan since 1995. But had never seen anyone die doing it. Until this day. I remember being kind of silent that day. I didn't have a true understanding of what was happening. Also. On a personal note. I don't think Greg should've been racing with that hand injury. He literally had it numbed an hour before the race. That's just my opinion. It did contribute to what happened that day
@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT I'd need to find Olvey's book again, but IIRC he touches on Fontana 1999 and the why and how of Greg and his situation. I don't recall if he states who cleared Greg/why Greg was cleared to race, but Greg had shown in a one car session (his one) he could handle the car at speed. I've always heard it was 'the CART doctors', plural, who allowed him to race however, not any one specific doctor and the way I understand it, Olvey was not the sole doctor CART had at the time though.
That's correct. They did a couple lap single car test run with Greg to see if everything would be okay. Greg did fine in the test at speed and he was cleared to race.
I don't think it would have mattered. It was a freak accident that also caught out Richie Hearn at the same spot on the track. The only difference was Hearn stayed off the grass never hit the concrete dividers on the infield.
He said he didn't feel pain, but drivers are going to want to run always. But I don't think it was his hand, a few laps before there was an accident in the same area with a car that spun alone.
I was 29 that year and finally getting to live some of my own amatuer driving dreams in monthly SCCA autocross and Porsche Club time trials with a very active, friendly group of drivers. Greg Moore was talked about a lot amongst us. After his death it was even more sad for me than I remembered the death of Senna being, which made me realize just how much we had all become fans of Moore. Godspeed, Greg.
I don't think a driver could survive that crash even Today; the violence and angle the car hits the wall is ridicuolus. Also, remember the telemetry registered the impact at 154Gs.
I remember watching this when it happened. My heart sank as I saw the replay. I can't stand watching it again as the slow-mo replay of the car flipping, hitting that barrier and then rolling and rolling is etched in my brain. I don't EVER want to see it again... I would have preferred that they never showed that replay... I'm glad that (at least in F1) they don't show major accident replays until they know the driver is okay. It was frustrating, not knowing what happened with Romain Grosjean in Bahrain, but respect for the driver and those close to them is more important than my curiosity. Greg was such an energetic likeable guy. RIP Greg Moore!
Adrian Fernandez seemed to be a bad luck charm (just due to bad luck). He won this race, and the one where Jeff Krosnof was killed. Plus, it was his tire that killed 3 spectators at Michigan.
CART never should have let Greg Moore drive in that race with a broken hand. He had to have that hand "numbed up". When you do that, you lose the "feel" of the car, and at those speeds, that's a recipe for disaster.
How things turned out... Greg had a lot to achieve in CART and he would definitely become the champion of the series. Roberto Moreno was scheduled to race in his place due to the incident that injured Greg Moore's hand, but he was cleared to race. The following year, Helio took Greg's place at Penske, and the rest is history.
I gave you a like because I like your posting these video reminders, and I enjoyed CART racing more than no other throughout the 1990s and even the early 2000s as Champcar. With that same respect... I am unable to watch this. RIP Greg.
Probably the worst accident I have seen in motor racing or right up there at least. Tragic in every sense of the word. I related to your comment about being 9 and this being your first real experience of loss. I remember the reports of Jim Clark's death in 1968 when I was only 8. I was stunned and was trying to process what it meant and working out how to deal with it. He was one of my earliest heroes and it took a long time to process what had happened. I still remember how I felt back then. Watching this accident and hearing your comments brought it all back all over again. Incredibly young and incredible sad 🖤
I doubt with the force involved an aeroscreen or halo would have helped. It was purely an issue the track and that access road causing a car going across it to catch air and then have a fence they was angled towards the track due to the access road. Accidents like Greg's are reason that many tracks now have pavement on the infield.
It wouldn't have. His head didn't hit the wall, but the G-forces in the flips ripped him out of his seat and the car landed on top of him and folded him in half. There used to be a slow motion video on RUclips where it was broken down frame-by-frame. You could see the tub hit the wall, and see when his arms go outside the car and then his body. It was absolutely brutal to watch that video and I'm honestly glad it's gone.
Thanks a lot for uploading this video man ,I was there that day and remember everything like it was yesterday, we manage to go to the inified after the checkered flag and all the fans,crew members, media, drivers were in total shock not giving credit to what had happened, it was a weird feeling hard to describe, on moore's garage there were a lot of fans sad and crying and suffering the loss,I'm so sorry for greg moore 😢it came to second term to know who Won the race or who was champ.
You're welcome. I love hearing people's perspectives that were there during the race. I could only imagine what that was like. As a Canadian myself, Greg was a racing hero up here, and his loss was felt throughout the whole country.
I made 11 steering wheels for Greg, Ser.#127 #249, #267, #269, #275 #286, #294, #299, #300, #301, #307. We'd hang out together and grab dinner sometimes. Good guy...fast. Godspeed.
09:34, i was also 9 when this ocurred, i always regard the death of Ayrton Senna, 5 years prior, as the first time i saw someone dying at the wheel of a race car, but still i wasn't prepared for this one, reporter: "This is a life threatening situation?", doctor: "Yes, it is", since that moment we were expecting the worst scenario
This is the hardest to watch and the worst loss for me, he is my hometown driver, the whole city was so heartbroken for weeks after this horrific incident.
@@Demise90Racing yeahh it was sad for Greg's dead but I watched this race when I was 12 years with my family but we supported to JPM and his championship. The end of this race was a weird feeling in us mixing mentions for Greg an JPM.
They only catch the car the moment before it makes contact with the barrier. But with it airborne and flipping top-first toward the wall, you immediately expect the worse. Gruesome crash, really a tragedy.
I was about 7 years old when this happened so its kinda a blur but i was a senior in highschool when Dan Wheldon got killed at Las Vegas i almost walked away from watching or attending races again ive gone back and watched this race so weird how 2 great drivers get killed in the season finale 12 years apart and Dario Franchitti was in the championship battle both times
Here's how I believe Moore's career would've played out. He spends the two years in CART with Penske before coming to the IRL and given his success on ovals. He puts his face on the Borg Warner trophy. Alongside the IRL schedule he runs some select Truck and Busch series events that have no schedule conflicts (team he drives for is up for debate). 05 he takes over the 77 Kodak cup car and has typical rookie struggles but shows more progress than Kvapil did that year. Instead of replacing Rusty in the 2 (Kurt still comes over). The 77 moves in house. Anything after that is a toss up. He likely could've had a handful of victories later in NASCAR alongside a few memorial day doubles with both Indy and Charlotte. Alas we are sadly in this timeline. And what happens to Castroneves alongside this? He likely doesn't win 4 Indy 500s if Penske didn't ultimately pick him up. (And avoids the tax fiasco).
I was there that day. A hush fell over the whole track. Jan Magnussen had had a scary off earlier at the Corkscrew. Mags foot had apparently got caught between the pedals. I was at the bottom of the Corkscrew looking up. He was lucky. I was down in the pit when Gonzalo went off. The cars all came to pit lane. Al Jr just set in his car. One of the crew threw him a pack of cigarettes, and he smoked one in the car. They closed the track early. It was weird because of how quiet it was. It wasn't till I got back to the hotel that I saw the replay.
Hi! I just looked at the race again and that was a very sad day for me Greg was my top driver in this series . When I saw the accident appen I knew that he would die. the crash was sooo violent and it seemed like the car would not stop tombleling. it was hard to look at and I could'nt stay put to continue watching the race and when the doctor gave the sad news I could not look at the race anymore and I still have problemes with that, cant watch live races anymore. Dale Earnhardt's crach did it for me.
The 90s definitely had big tragedies in motorsports... mainly Greg Moore in '99 and (the biggest one) Ayrton Senna in '94. A future ATG and an ATG. Sad. #RIP
That era got brutal. NASCAR had several. IndyCar (CART and IRL both) had multiple. F1 had two in one weekend. Thankfully it forced a change in how we viewed motorsports and safety. It's always cyclical. Eventually the danger eclipses reasonableness, and we focus on safety, then we get complacent, then it happens again. It does seem like we've reached the pinnacle. Cars aren't getting faster anymore and safety has continued to go further and further. SAFER barriers, HANS devices, HALO/Aeroscreen, etc.
I know the camera foreshortens it a bit, but such a terrible angled barrier. And although it's been softened by the modern SAFER barrier, the barrier still has about the same angles. I know there's a need for gaps in the wall for emergency access, and that's always going to create angles to some degree, but they need to be minimised. This "protruding" design (where the angled barrier comes before the gap and is exposed to the racing surface, rather than after the gap, protected by the straight barrier) was a terrible choice.
Absolutely! The design was not well thought out. The wall shouldn't be angled out like that, and rather the wall on the other side of the opening angled into the track, making the gap and wall flush as possible.
I saw a slowed down verion of the replay. He was still in the car. As it rotated his body slammed into the ground over, and over, and over and landed with the car on top of him. Whomever designed this track needed to be banned from it entirely.
I remember this vividly. As soon as the camera cut to Moore's accident I remember gasping "Senna!". I was 10, it was my first year watching motorsport, both F1 and CART, and when I saw the impact it was the only thing I could think. When they cut to the announcement of his death, my heart sank. I remember the video tribute after and Carpentier being retired. I dont really remember the rest of the race, we kept watching but none of us were paying attention.
Hearing about the drivers not being informed of the severity of Greg Moore’s crash until after the race reminds me of the 1991 Budweiser at the Glen in which JD McDuffie was killed in a crash on only lap 6. While the announcement was made when the red flag was lifted, the race continued and I wouldn’t be surprised if the drivers weren’t informed about what happened until after the race. Greg’s accident even made the local morning news the following day, as he was a former winner of my home Indycar race, the Detroit Grand Prix. That’s how I even knew that the accident happened.
@@FlashoftheBlades indeed, no idea how he didn't suffer a basal skull fracture or the brain injury that essentially twists inside the head and damages all the fibers connecting to the spinal.cord. Guessing most of that force was absorbed in the crumple zones of the car. Poor Greg was unfortunate to hit with very little crumple zone.
@@LichaelMewis I suspect that was because Brack, much like Will Power in that ill-fated Las Vegas 2011 race, hit the fence undertray-first, or at least nowhere near a cockpit-first hit, unlike Moore and later Dan Wheldon.
The violence of that impact is mind-boggling. When Paul Page says "oh my god", you knew it was hopeless then...
For sure. The way that car hit, everyone assumed the worst.
Also "That's what was our concern". (He knew, but was waiting for the medical team to confirm it)
Factz😖🤦🏾♂️
It was pretty much the same as a severe airplane crash, impossible to survive the forces were so severe, RIP.
Page was one of the greatest, most experienced racing announcers at that point. His words conveyed so much in those moments.
It still hurts as a racing fan because greg Moore had so much ahead of him signing with Penske in 2000 RIP
Absolutely. The possibilities were endless. Who knows what could have been.
Probably multiple wins and at least a championship had he lived.
I was there. The big screens showed the replay until just after contact with the wall and then went off and the replay was not shown again. The image of Greg's helmet is burned in my mind. Most people around me in the stands on the front stretch feared the worst even though where we were we couldn't see the remains of the car. Later the 1975-1999 picture went up on the big screen. I remember the guy in the row behind me reading that and saying, "He's younger than my kid." We were all pretty subdued. This was the first time I've seen the video since that day.
Damn man, I can imagine how difficult it must have been seeing that. That's something you'll carry with you for the rest of your life.
I was 13 years old and there that day sitting in the turn 4 grandstands. I remember the screen like you mentioned only showed the live accident when it first happened and a replay that was brief that didn’t show everything. I had a scanner on the ESPN frequency that day and you would hear the conversations between paul page, Parker johnstone, and the producer of the show during commercial breaks. They were holding back tears almost every commercial break. You could also hear conversations very early on by the producer that a Tribute video was already being created. It was shocking for me at the time as that was the first race that had tragedy that I was personally at. I remember people nearby us in the stands didn’t have scanners so they would ask what we were hearing from the booth when they would talk during commercials. Such a tragic day.
I was there with my brother. We were about half way between the start finish line and turn 1, about 10 rows up. We saw Moore lose it, but couldn't see much of his the impact with the wall. We didn't really know how bad it was. Word of his death started filtering through the crowd. Then we saw it on the big screen.
We were also at Laguna Seca a couple months before when newcomer Gonzalo Rodrigues was killed.
I was at this race and it was my 15th birthday too. My dad and I were about half way between start finish and put exit in the grandstand.
I watched Greg after the restart because I knew he’d go all out. He passed about 4 cars on the outside then lost him behind turn 2. I then turned to the big screen and saw his accident. It was horrifying.
When the announcement that he passed came the person next to us said that he was done and left. It killed the mood of the entire race.
I’m glad they got rid of the grass on the back straight. Prevented a lot of bad accidents going forward. Michigan did the same as well. Had it been all asphalt then he would have been fine.
Richie Hearn said he lost control because of the turbulence created by the Hanford device. You’ll notice his car broke in half and his impact was massive. It’s a miracle he was okay from that accident. The same probably happened to Greg, it didn’t help that he was driving with basically one hand too. RIP
Imagine had Gonzalo Rodriguez and Greg Moore didn't lose their lives, 2000 season might be one of the star studded season
Absolutely. The season overall was pretty good. Montoya could have ran away with the title but his inconsistencies made it very interesting.
I'm glad that the telecast showed no replays from any other angles. That was a decision that was taken almost immediately and it was the correct decision.
The frankness mixed with despair from Dr Olvey while delivering the facts about Greg's condition is numbing even now, 24 years after the fact.
Right. To do what he does(did) and see what he's seen...guys you know personally, taking their last breaths. Thats about as heavy as you can get. The man(and folks like him) are just built differently. God bless each and every one of them.
Before seeing this video, I still think about Greg Moore every now and then. Something about this nice guy has kept him in my memory
I watched this race live on TV. The very first images of Gregs totally destroyed car still rolling and rolling around, made me feel sick to the stomach, and knew immediately, that no one can survive a crash that magnitude. A future champion gone way too early.
Greg Moore was also interested in NASCAR. He had talked to Cal Wells and Andy Petree about driving for them and had formed friendships with Jeff Burton and Bobby Labonte. I have no doubt he would have won an Indy 500 and championship with Penske. And he would have found success in NASCAR as well. He would have joined NASCAR at its peak.
Basically what Hornish did but things could’ve potentially gone better than what happened to Hornish. R.I.P. Greg Moore
@@ic3man Tony Kannan was quoted as Moore was going run 3-4 seasons then go to NASCAR. That would make around 2003 or 2004. Penske's Cup program was getting near its downward slide around that time. They were still good but the signs were showing.
I don't think Penske would have thrown Moore into the deep end without giving him some starts in Xfinity or ARCA (maybe even Trucks).
@@combatking20 so, basically, if greg doesn't die, he's in the 12 and not ryan newman potentially
Maybe not Ryan Newman, but rather Brendan Gaughan in the 77 Penske Jasper entry.
@@Demise90Racing Yes. And that car was junk. If Moore goes to the 77, Penske would have thrown more resources at the car.
I was at this race. After the crash, my friend and I left. Just couldn’t be there after the crash. R.I.P. Greg Moore.
Greg Moore, one of the great what ifs in Open Wheel history. Had he lived, who knows what heights he could have reached if he'd been able to honour his contract with Penske. One thing's for sure, while it's always sad when a racing driver perishes in an accident, somehow, given his light hearted, practical joker style, it makes it even more sad as the sport lost a personality
Due Moore's death, Castroneves came to Penske and won three of his four Indy 500, becoming one of the bigest in Indianapolis.
Greg was my favorite driver 25 years ago. I had to stop watching Cart or almost 10 years. Just recently able to embrace my love for the sport again.
Things like that are tough. Even though it took time, I'm glad you found love for the sport again.
Indy car died for me that day!
I never watched Cart again. I only found out thru RUclips last year (2022) that Paul Tracy won a championship.
A lot of people did the same with Nascar after Earnhardt died.
I remember watching this live on Eurosport here in the UK. I remember feeling very uneasy after the crash and just waiting for some news. When the announcement finally came, I felt sick!!
I was in the stands. It was sickening.
I could imagine. That's a memory you'll carry with you forever.
In his book, Paul Page hit the talkback button to his producer and director and said "no replays" as soon as he saw Greg hit the wall.
You could even tell everyone just wanted the day to be over after the wreck. You can only imagine how many championships and Indy 500s he would have won went Prnske went to the IRL just two years later.
The Loss Of Greg Moore Is A Sad Way To End The 1999 CART Season.
On the Dinner with Racers podcast, Paul Page did not speak highly of how CART handled this one. Admittedly it was overshadowed by him shredding Driven, which was well, well deserved.
From the podcast...
Paul hit the intercom button and told his producer not to show any replays because in his mind, it was 100% a fatal accident. CART delayed and delayed, in Paul's words despite the ABC crew knowing it was fatal just by looking at it and cameramen reporting in. Then, CART decided hey, we're going to throw a yellow, we're going to throw a yellow and lower the flags. Somehow, CART bungled both, they backtracked on throwing the yellow, then somehow (Paul doesn't say how or why) they somehow, somehow, botched taking the flags at the speedway to half mast. It took the ABC/ESPN crew pestering CART to finally acknowledge what had happened.
Paul Page, for reference, monotone as hell during this segment of the podcast, a contrast from the rest of it where he's hilarious, riffing on the late Bobby Unser. I never knew any of this before 2018 when the episode dropped. Knowing how CART handled it makes me seriously question how they handled Gonzalo's death and Jeff Krosnoff's death as well since from 96-99 it was the same core group of people in race control, your Dennis Swan, your Wally Dallenbach, your Chris Kneifel (who somehow got a promotion in 2003 when CCWS was a thing), your Kurt Russell and so forth.
I'm honestly disgusted with how CART handled Greg's death. Yes, the actual on track racing was your usual late 90s Hanford Device Mk3 era wild race, but Greg's death sucked all the enjoyment and fun out of it. And to think, Greg was going to Penske in 2000, him in that Renske would, IMO, have meant he'd have won the 2000/2001 CART titles and had a good shot at Indy too.
EDIT: And going on more in the podcast ep, CART tried pulling the same shit with Krosnof in Toronto in 1996, they wanted to fuck around with making the announcement due to in Paul's words, not wanting to admit to a fatality. If you've ever seen a video or stills of Krosnoff's crash, then.... Se the point up there about the same core group in race control
Very interesting I have to check that episode out. The Krosnof incident was a really big deal because I live in Toronto. It was all over every local news channel here. Even with that it was a horrible track design flaw with street light poles exposed to the track with no catch fence. Pretty wild that Adrian Fernandez won that race as well.
@@Demise90Racing Marshall Pruitt had a great series about Krosnoff and goes in depth on that horrific day and the fallout from it. It's scary that both the Canadian street tracks (Montreal gets a pass) have had fatal incidents, albeit Vancouver 1990 is a weird one
EDIT: On that note, the entire series on Krosnofff is amazing, I didn't know how good he was or he ran junior ormulae. I knew Toyota kept his name on he Le Mans car however
You have to wonder, even if the split never happened, would CART have survived while continuing to promote the absolute worst people into high positions?
Crazy that the exact same wall was hit prior in that race. Also a safety truck parked right behind it, as it was an obvious known danger area. This is a wreck that should have never taken place IMO.
i still know how to watch it here in Germany ! i was a big Fan of the Champcar series! I saw it live. I love the time from 1996 to 1999! after the death of Greg i don`t want to watch it anymore. But now i like Indycars! Thanks Demise90 for your content! i love it. Greetings from Germany! Marco
You're welcome Marco. Glad you enjoy it 👍
I remember this. I actually had a friend named Greg Moore at the time too. The ONLY good thing about the Fontana reconfiguration: that part of the wall will FINALLY be gone!!!!! They've had plenty of other cars in other series hit that extremely hard in ways that the drivers were fortunate not to be hurt, or worse....
One aspect you missed. Greg started the race in last place because he did not qualify. This was because, before quali, he was riding his scooter in the parking area when a car/truck struck him, knocking him off the bike. His left hand/wrist was injured and needed to be stitched and taped. The morning of the race, Indycar allowed Greg a session to see if he was fit to race. He had some discomfort, but was adament about racing, which they finally cleared him to do so. I bring this up not because it was the reason for the crash, but just how twisted fate can be. Had Roger Penske weighed in to say "Sit this one out. I want my star of tomorrow ready to go next season. There's nothing on the line for him in the championshipthat year..." had someone convinced him of that...
I cried. For hours I cried. I am still crying to this day. I didn't know him and yes others have lost their lives in the sport I love, but Greg was special. Had this not happened, I am certain we'd be celebrating one of the best racers in Indycar and Formula One ever to put on a helmet.
It's scary when you get injured, then get killed the next day.
I was there that day. Horrible. After the announcement I couldn’t even sit and watch the sport I love. So I left. Cried all the way home.
Man. During his active years in NASCAR, I did not appreciate Montoya as I do now. Looking back, it would have been so incredible if he could have won the Daytona 500. He already had Monaco and the Indy 500.
arguably the greatest driver of his generation.
That jet dryer crash at daytona was the perfect summary of his nascar career.
Nascar just dosen't do him justice.
@@VGF80And that crash wasn’t entirely his fault. A broken suspension component was the main culprit.
I was 18 and watched this race live on Eurosport in the UK. It was immediately apparent that was a very bad crash for Greg. I had a Canadian pen friend who was a Greg Moore fan and he’d predicted Greg would eventually switch to F1 - something I could probably see happening. Such an awful loss.
At 9:41 when the doctor says “Taken for further recessitative EFFORTS”….. I just knew the result wasn’t going to be good.
thank you for making videos even on hard races, gotta keep the memories of these incredible racers alive 😔❤️
My pleasure. These races can be difficult to do, but they are huge part of history and the drivers deserve to be celebrated and remembered.
I feel so bad for Adrian Fernandez that two of the races he won were when a driver died as a result of a crash.
RIP Greg, we will miss you ❤
I was watching this race live on TV and I knew immediately he could not survive a head first hit on the wall at that speed. I continued watching the race waiting for the inevitable announcement.
I was a huge Greg Moore fan. This one was hard to take.
That was a truly horrible crash. I knew Greg couldn't survive that as soon as I saw it. The speeds they do on those ovals is mind bending...lap after lap. If you lose it on an oval...God help you. R.I.P Greg Moore.
By far my favorite driver of all time. Thanks for this video. "Red gloves rules, see you up front"
I love hearing that. It was a sad day but one that needs to be remembered.
Remember this race. Was on air on a community radio station in Sydney, Australia and covering the race. Due to listener feedback that the programme is kid friendly we did not mention the passing of Greg Moore but carried the result when the race finished.
Would be interesting to see how IndyCar, NASCAR and so on would handle such a situation today with the prevalence of mobile phones and social media.
RIP my friend today is always hard.
I was watching this race live on ESPN that afternoon. I remember it vividly. It was chilling to watch one of my favourite CART drivers crashing like that. I remember Jorge koechlin saying "We pray for Greg and his family". Heart braking.
1999. I was 9 years old. Had been a racing fan since 1995. But had never seen anyone die doing it. Until this day. I remember being kind of silent that day. I didn't have a true understanding of what was happening. Also. On a personal note. I don't think Greg should've been racing with that hand injury. He literally had it numbed an hour before the race. That's just my opinion. It did contribute to what happened that day
I agree. Greg should not have ran the race with a hand injury.
@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT I'd need to find Olvey's book again, but IIRC he touches on Fontana 1999 and the why and how of Greg and his situation. I don't recall if he states who cleared Greg/why Greg was cleared to race, but Greg had shown in a one car session (his one) he could handle the car at speed.
I've always heard it was 'the CART doctors', plural, who allowed him to race however, not any one specific doctor and the way I understand it, Olvey was not the sole doctor CART had at the time though.
That's correct. They did a couple lap single car test run with Greg to see if everything would be okay. Greg did fine in the test at speed and he was cleared to race.
I don't think it would have mattered. It was a freak accident that also caught out Richie Hearn at the same spot on the track. The only difference was Hearn stayed off the grass never hit the concrete dividers on the infield.
@@Demise90Racing true but we will likely never know for sure
Greg Moore such a talented racer. Race in Peace Greg Moore 😢🙏
I was a fan of Greg Moore, was heartbroken by this. I wonder if he had not broken his hand that weekend, that wreck would have never happened.
He said he didn't feel pain, but drivers are going to want to run always.
But I don't think it was his hand, a few laps before there was an accident in the same area with a car that spun alone.
I was 29 that year and finally getting to live some of my own amatuer driving dreams in monthly SCCA autocross and Porsche Club time trials with a very active, friendly group of drivers. Greg Moore was talked about a lot amongst us. After his death it was even more sad for me than I remembered the death of Senna being, which made me realize just how much we had all become fans of Moore.
Godspeed, Greg.
I don't think a driver could survive that crash even Today; the violence and angle the car hits the wall is ridicuolus. Also, remember the telemetry registered the impact at 154Gs.
Incredible documentary of Greg Moore's last race.
Greetings from Mexico
Oh my god... A fantastic finale ruined by a tragedy :( That crash is still one of the most violent fatal accidents I've ever seen. RIP Greg
I remember watching this when it happened. My heart sank as I saw the replay. I can't stand watching it again as the slow-mo replay of the car flipping, hitting that barrier and then rolling and rolling is etched in my brain. I don't EVER want to see it again... I would have preferred that they never showed that replay...
I'm glad that (at least in F1) they don't show major accident replays until they know the driver is okay. It was frustrating, not knowing what happened with Romain Grosjean in Bahrain, but respect for the driver and those close to them is more important than my curiosity.
Greg was such an energetic likeable guy. RIP Greg Moore!
Adrian Fernandez seemed to be a bad luck charm (just due to bad luck). He won this race, and the one where Jeff Krosnof was killed. Plus, it was his tire that killed 3 spectators at Michigan.
CART never should have let Greg Moore drive in that race with
a broken hand. He had to have that hand "numbed up". When
you do that, you lose the "feel" of the car, and at those speeds,
that's a recipe for disaster.
He, Zanardi and da Matta are the best IndyCar drivers to never race in an Indy 500.
I remember that day, a few laps before the official announcement, the flags were already halfway up. Sad memories.
I was also a kid watching this race. It hit me hard. Like when Dale Earnhardt passed. Racing is dangerous, that's what makes it great.
How things turned out... Greg had a lot to achieve in CART and he would definitely become the champion of the series. Roberto Moreno was scheduled to race in his place due to the incident that injured Greg Moore's hand, but he was cleared to race. The following year, Helio took Greg's place at Penske, and the rest is history.
I watched this on TV live when it happened, and still recall the sickening feeling.
Vi esa carrera hace unos 23 años, el accidente fue brutal, hoy todavía pienso en la muerte de ese muchacho.
I gave you a like because I like your posting these video reminders, and I enjoyed CART racing more than no other throughout the 1990s and even the early 2000s as Champcar.
With that same respect... I am unable to watch this. RIP Greg.
Probably the worst accident I have seen in motor racing or right up there at least. Tragic in every sense of the word. I related to your comment about being 9 and this being your first real experience of loss. I remember the reports of Jim Clark's death in 1968 when I was only 8. I was stunned and was trying to process what it meant and working out how to deal with it. He was one of my earliest heroes and it took a long time to process what had happened. I still remember how I felt back then. Watching this accident and hearing your comments brought it all back all over again. Incredibly young and incredible sad 🖤
Thank you for sharing this.
@@Demise90Racing You are welcome. I only recently came across your channel. You have great content
We all got one of those huh...to me it was Ronald Razenberger & Ayrton Senna. I was 12 years old during that weekend.
@@Demise90Racingwill you be doing a piece on the *Gordon Smiley* crash? I was just wondering... ~ JonseyG 👲
Even the halo wouldnt have saved poor Greg in that crash .. the G forces would have been unimaginable
Went to the CART race the year before and was watching that day, a sad day for Greg Moore's family, Canada and the world of racing.
I remember watching this live, I use to race Karts with the same Karting club Greg Moore did, Westwood.
In my fantasy world Greg Moore becomes the 2003 F1 World Champion and then finally goes to Indy in 2006 and wins it.
I was there. Awesome race, sad ending. May Greg Moore Rst In Peace. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I don't know if the Halo would've saved Greg's life. That was just such a brutal way to hit the wall. It may have. But I've always learned towards no
The aeroscreen would have. It would have redirected the trajectory of the car once the top of it hit the wall.
I was wondering the same thing. The halo would have definitely saved Dan Wheldon but Greg? I would love some new age analysis to determine that.
The aeroscreen would've done nothing. With the speeds involved, the G's would be completely unsurvivable regardless of any bodywork.
I doubt with the force involved an aeroscreen or halo would have helped. It was purely an issue the track and that access road causing a car going across it to catch air and then have a fence they was angled towards the track due to the access road. Accidents like Greg's are reason that many tracks now have pavement on the infield.
It wouldn't have. His head didn't hit the wall, but the G-forces in the flips ripped him out of his seat and the car landed on top of him and folded him in half. There used to be a slow motion video on RUclips where it was broken down frame-by-frame. You could see the tub hit the wall, and see when his arms go outside the car and then his body. It was absolutely brutal to watch that video and I'm honestly glad it's gone.
Thanks a lot for uploading this video man ,I was there that day and remember everything like it was yesterday, we manage to go to the inified after the checkered flag and all the fans,crew members, media, drivers were in total shock not giving credit to what had happened, it was a weird feeling hard to describe, on moore's garage there were a lot of fans sad and crying and suffering the loss,I'm so sorry for greg moore 😢it came to second term to know who Won the race or who was champ.
You're welcome. I love hearing people's perspectives that were there during the race. I could only imagine what that was like. As a Canadian myself, Greg was a racing hero up here, and his loss was felt throughout the whole country.
I made 11 steering wheels for Greg, Ser.#127 #249, #267, #269, #275 #286, #294, #299, #300, #301, #307. We'd hang out together and grab dinner sometimes. Good guy...fast. Godspeed.
My dad almost gave up on watching racing altogether, after this crash. He loved to watch Greg Moore race.
I saw this live in 1999, never forgot it. greetings from Belgium.
09:34, i was also 9 when this ocurred, i always regard the death of Ayrton Senna, 5 years prior, as the first time i saw someone dying at the wheel of a race car, but still i wasn't prepared for this one, reporter: "This is a life threatening situation?", doctor: "Yes, it is", since that moment we were expecting the worst scenario
This is the hardest to watch and the worst loss for me, he is my hometown driver, the whole city was so heartbroken for weeks after this horrific incident.
Love this video !!
Great reminders !!
Thank you! It can be very sad, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.
@@Demise90Racing yeahh it was sad for Greg's dead but I watched this race when I was 12 years with my family but we supported to JPM and his championship.
The end of this race was a weird feeling in us mixing mentions for Greg an JPM.
They only catch the car the moment before it makes contact with the barrier. But with it airborne and flipping top-first toward the wall, you immediately expect the worse. Gruesome crash, really a tragedy.
Always good to give credit to the people you borrowed the video from. #cartseries #espn #abcsports
I was about 7 years old when this happened so its kinda a blur but i was a senior in highschool when Dan Wheldon got killed at Las Vegas i almost walked away from watching or attending races again ive gone back and watched this race so weird how 2 great drivers get killed in the season finale 12 years apart and Dario Franchitti was in the championship battle both times
Here's how I believe Moore's career would've played out. He spends the two years in CART with Penske before coming to the IRL and given his success on ovals. He puts his face on the Borg Warner trophy. Alongside the IRL schedule he runs some select Truck and Busch series events that have no schedule conflicts (team he drives for is up for debate). 05 he takes over the 77 Kodak cup car and has typical rookie struggles but shows more progress than Kvapil did that year. Instead of replacing Rusty in the 2 (Kurt still comes over). The 77 moves in house. Anything after that is a toss up. He likely could've had a handful of victories later in NASCAR alongside a few memorial day doubles with both Indy and Charlotte. Alas we are sadly in this timeline. And what happens to Castroneves alongside this? He likely doesn't win 4 Indy 500s if Penske didn't ultimately pick him up. (And avoids the tax fiasco).
I was so shocked at this accident, twice the same wall was involved with these concrete walls. These all should of had tires in front of them. 🇨🇦❤️
Of the racing deaths I'm most saddened by, its this one and Jules Bianchi.
As someone who is a huge motorsports fan in general. Every one hits pretty close. Especially in IndyCar, Nascar, and F1.
Great video as ever and very respectfully done. Back then the onboard cameras made it look scary! 😂
Thanks Dave. Appreciate it 👍
Isn’t it Ironic that Roger Penske built a poorly designed track that would eventually prevent him from having Greg Moore drive for him?
The next year it was paved solid on the inside all the way to turn 3.
One has to wonder about how that lady who hit him must've felt when news broke.
We need to talk about Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodriguez death in Laguna Seca. We lost two amazing pilots that season.
I was there that day. A hush fell over the whole track. Jan Magnussen had had a scary off earlier at the Corkscrew. Mags foot had apparently got caught between the pedals. I was at the bottom of the Corkscrew looking up. He was lucky.
I was down in the pit when Gonzalo went off. The cars all came to pit lane. Al Jr just set in his car. One of the crew threw him a pack of cigarettes, and he smoked one in the car. They closed the track early. It was weird because of how quiet it was.
It wasn't till I got back to the hotel that I saw the replay.
Hi! I just looked at the race again and that was a very sad day for me Greg was my top driver in this series . When I saw the accident appen I knew that he would die. the crash was sooo violent and it seemed like the car would not stop tombleling. it was hard to look at and I could'nt stay put to continue watching the race and when the doctor gave the sad news I could not look at the race anymore and I still have problemes with that, cant watch live races anymore.
Dale Earnhardt's crach did it for me.
The 90s definitely had big tragedies in motorsports... mainly Greg Moore in '99 and (the biggest one) Ayrton Senna in '94. A future ATG and an ATG. Sad. #RIP
That era got brutal. NASCAR had several. IndyCar (CART and IRL both) had multiple. F1 had two in one weekend. Thankfully it forced a change in how we viewed motorsports and safety. It's always cyclical. Eventually the danger eclipses reasonableness, and we focus on safety, then we get complacent, then it happens again. It does seem like we've reached the pinnacle. Cars aren't getting faster anymore and safety has continued to go further and further. SAFER barriers, HANS devices, HALO/Aeroscreen, etc.
He'd probably still be racing today. Crazy to think about.
I stopped watching indycar after this crash just like I stopped watching F1 after Senna's death a few years earlier. Brutal and avoidable.
"...even to be alive in this championship battle..." Ouch
The best CART/IRL/INDYCAR era...
Still can't believe that he is gone..
🏁🏁❤️🏎😥
Scary when someone has an injury on an accident and then one day later gets killed in an even worse accident.
One of the most horrific crashes ever in motorsport
4th like I'm back(Rip Greg Moore)
I know the camera foreshortens it a bit, but such a terrible angled barrier. And although it's been softened by the modern SAFER barrier, the barrier still has about the same angles.
I know there's a need for gaps in the wall for emergency access, and that's always going to create angles to some degree, but they need to be minimised. This "protruding" design (where the angled barrier comes before the gap and is exposed to the racing surface, rather than after the gap, protected by the straight barrier) was a terrible choice.
Absolutely! The design was not well thought out. The wall shouldn't be angled out like that, and rather the wall on the other side of the opening angled into the track, making the gap and wall flush as possible.
Very well done!!
I raced my 650RWHP corvette here on the roval and its so fast, 160MPH+ on the straight and the banking is deceptive.
R.I.P Greg Moore
The Len Bias of US open wheel racing.
3:01 THAT AREA WAS DANGEROUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watch this in slow motion even if he did live he was spaghetti
RIP Greg Moore.
I saw a slowed down verion of the replay. He was still in the car. As it rotated his body slammed into the ground over, and over, and over and landed with the car on top of him.
Whomever designed this track needed to be banned from it entirely.
His place at Penske was filled by Castroneves, I watched this race.
And now for something depressing, that area where he died is now an Amazon Warehouse.
I remember this vividly. As soon as the camera cut to Moore's accident I remember gasping "Senna!". I was 10, it was my first year watching motorsport, both F1 and CART, and when I saw the impact it was the only thing I could think.
When they cut to the announcement of his death, my heart sank. I remember the video tribute after and Carpentier being retired. I dont really remember the rest of the race, we kept watching but none of us were paying attention.
Hearing about the drivers not being informed of the severity of Greg Moore’s crash until after the race reminds me of the 1991 Budweiser at the Glen in which JD McDuffie was killed in a crash on only lap 6. While the announcement was made when the red flag was lifted, the race continued and I wouldn’t be surprised if the drivers weren’t informed about what happened until after the race.
Greg’s accident even made the local morning news the following day, as he was a former winner of my home Indycar race, the Detroit Grand Prix. That’s how I even knew that the accident happened.
154G impact hard to survive from especially inverted.
@@LichaelMewis Wasn’t Kenny Brack’s Texas crash over 200G?
@@FlashoftheBlades indeed, no idea how he didn't suffer a basal skull fracture or the brain injury that essentially twists inside the head and damages all the fibers connecting to the spinal.cord. Guessing most of that force was absorbed in the crumple zones of the car. Poor Greg was unfortunate to hit with very little crumple zone.
@@LichaelMewis I suspect that was because Brack, much like Will Power in that ill-fated Las Vegas 2011 race, hit the fence undertray-first, or at least nowhere near a cockpit-first hit, unlike Moore and later Dan Wheldon.
I fainted.