| Fatality - May 1938 |
| Everett G. Spence - Spectator |
| The Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| INDY 500 MEMORIAL - 1938 |
Copyright © 2024 IndySpeedway.com All Rights Reserved
And what about today?
Everett G. Spence, age thirty-three, North Terre Haute,a Vigo county
probation officer, is dead - killed in a freak accident at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
Emil Andres, age twenty-seven, Chicago race driver, is at Methodist
Hospital in serious condition suffering from a fractured jaw, a fractured
shoulder and several broken ribs.
Clay Ballinger, pit man in the Duray-Barbasol Special setup, is
recovering from burns received from hot oil that sprayed him as he
worked on the car driven by George Bailey.
A man who fell seventy-five feet from a tree received a shoulder injury
and was on his way back home today.
A score of persons fainted, and there was the usual amount of
sickness and minor mishaps of any city of 150,000 population in one
day.
But it was the death of Spence and the injury of Andres in simultaneous
accidents that cast shadows of grief over the Speedway, darker than
the clouds that brought rain in the closing minutes.
On Top of Truck.
Spence, like thousands of other Speedway visitors, was seated on top
of a truck in the infield, four rows back from the track on the southeast
turn. Leaders had just completed the first 100 miles, and the midday
restlessness had not yet seized the crowd.
Andres in No. 42, an Elgin Piston Special, lost the rim and tire from one
wheel. The car spun around, overturned three times, threw Andres to
the ground, crashed through the inside guard rail, and finally stopped
on a strip of macadam separating the track from the crowd. Andres
was knocked unconscious - thousands of eyes were on him as he was
carried to an ambulance.
But before this, the tire and rim had zoomed through the air, looping
high and fast, and circled Spence's head as he sat next to his wife.
The rim, spinning fast, pulled Spence in the air and dropped him on top
a truck two rows back, completely clearing an intervening vehicle.
Spence was almost decapitated.
With the Spences on or near the truck were Mr. and Mrs. William
Strauser, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Baxter and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
Winters. They had all driven to the Speedway in Baxter's truck. Mrs.
Spence, prostrate with grief, received treatment at the Speedway
Hospital, while the other members of the party went home before the
race was over.
Spence had been probation officer six years, and was a leader of the
Young Democratic Club of Vigo county. He was chairman of the recent
state convention committee supervising the meeting at Terre Haute. In
addition to the widow, he is survived by three children.
Everett G. Spence, age thirty-three, North Terre Haute,a Vigo county
probation officer, is dead - killed in a freak accident at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
Emil Andres, age twenty-seven, Chicago race driver, is at Methodist
Hospital in serious condition suffering from a fractured jaw, a fractured
shoulder and several broken ribs.
Clay Ballinger, pit man in the Duray-Barbasol Special setup, is
recovering from burns received from hot oil that sprayed him as he
worked on the car driven by George Bailey.
A man who fell seventy-five feet from a tree received a shoulder injury
and was on his way back home today.
A score of persons fainted, and there was the usual amount of
sickness and minor mishaps of any city of 150,000 population in one
day.
But it was the death of Spence and the injury of Andres in simultaneous
accidents that cast shadows of grief over the Speedway, darker than
the clouds that brought rain in the closing minutes.
On Top of Truck.
Spence, like thousands of other Speedway visitors, was seated on top
of a truck in the infield, four rows back from the track on the southeast
turn. Leaders had just completed the first 100 miles, and the midday
restlessness had not yet seized the crowd.
Andres in No. 42, an Elgin Piston Special, lost the rim and tire from one
wheel. The car spun around, overturned three times, threw Andres to
the ground, crashed through the inside guard rail, and finally stopped
on a strip of macadam separating the track from the crowd. Andres
was knocked unconscious - thousands of eyes were on him as he was
carried to an ambulance.
But before this, the tire and rim had zoomed through the air, looping
high and fast, and circled Spence's head as he sat next to his wife.
The rim, spinning fast, pulled Spence in the air and dropped him on top
a truck two rows back, completely clearing an intervening vehicle.
Spence was almost decapitated.
With the Spences on or near the truck were Mr. and Mrs. William
Strauser, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Baxter and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
Winters. They had all driven to the Speedway in Baxter's truck. Mrs.
Spence, prostrate with grief, received treatment at the Speedway
Hospital, while the other members of the party went home before the
race was over.
Spence had been probation officer six years, and was a leader of the
Young Democratic Club of Vigo county. He was chairman of the recent
state convention committee supervising the meeting at Terre Haute. In
addition to the widow, he is survived by three children.
One Death, Score of Injuries Aftermath of Speed Classic
The Indianapolis News
Tuesday, May 31, 1938
The Indianapolis News
Tuesday, May 31, 1938
A spectator was killed during the 1938 Indy 500.
His name was Everett Spence and he was from Terre
Haute Indiana. He was married and had 3 children.
While watching the race from the infield, driver Emil
Andres crashed. His wheel flew off, sailed through the
air and struck Spence, killing him.
Details can be found in the newspaper report below.
His name was Everett Spence and he was from Terre
Haute Indiana. He was married and had 3 children.
While watching the race from the infield, driver Emil
Andres crashed. His wheel flew off, sailed through the
air and struck Spence, killing him.
Details can be found in the newspaper report below.
| Wrecked Car of Emil Andres |
| Indy 500 Infield Crowd in the 1930s. |
