INDYCAR: 7-Time Indy 500 Starter Salt Walther Passes Away

David “Salt” Walther, who passed away Thursday, will be remembered for making a courageous comeback after being badly burned in the 1973 Indy 500.

Robin Miller | Posted December 28, 2012

Salt Walther. (IMS Photo)

His entire career was cloaked in controversy, from the rich kid syndrome to the infamous first-lap crash to the outcry when he tried to buy a spot in the starting field and to his countless run-ins with the law following his driving days.

David “Salt” Walther, who passed away Thursday at age 65, will be remembered for making a courageous comeback after being badly burned in the 1973 Indianapolis 500 but that was the high water mark of a life of opportunities lost.

The youngest son of George Walther, who fielded cars at Indianapolis for three decades, Salt got his nickname and start in boat racing before moving to four wheels.

Although his father bought him a USAC championship sprint car, Salt did little to impress anybody on dirt or pavement in that series yet showed up at IMS in 1972 in dad’s Dayton Steel Wheel Special.

Technically, he was one of the original ride buyers at Indy but he qualified 27th and became a regular on the USAC Championship trail. Sporting long curly hair, custom sun glasses and a personal PR man, Walther was more style than substance in most of his fellow driver’s eyes but generated his share of attention.

In ’73, he qualified 17th at Indianapolis but was coming down for the green flag when he helped trigger a fiery, 12-car accident that saw Walther’s car catapult across the spectator fence, spraying fuel on fans and landing upside down with Salt burning and trapped. He suffered third degree burns over 40 percent of his body and spent two and a half months in the Michigan Burn Center.

He’d lost 50 pounds and most of the fingers on his left hand so he wore a black glove on that hand upon his successful return to Indy in 1974 – where he qualified 14th and broke down in the race but earned some newfound respect.
Of course most of that went away in 1977 when Walther created a media firestorm.

It began on the fourth day of time trials, where he was next out in the qualifying line with the 6 o’clock gun approaching. Rookie James McElreath was on the track halfway through a run that wasn’t going to be fast enough and George Walther was out on the pit wall pleading with McElreath's father to wave off his kid’s attempt in so Salt could get on the track.

McElreath, one of the most respected drivers of the ‘60s and ‘70s, refused and said to the elder Walther: “George, you’ve owed me $800 for about 10 years so I guess this makes us even.”

So the Walthers went to Lee Elkins, whose car had been qualified by Bill Puterbaugh, and bought that ride for Salt, or at least attempted to. When word got out Puterbaugh’s car had been sold out from under him, fans and the media raised such a stink that it was decided to abandon that idea and just put Dayton Steel Wheel sponsorship on Elkins’ car in the race.

Walther qualified for Indy in 1978 and 1979 before a brief fling in NASCAR and a try in Hollywood with cameos on the Dukes of Hazard and The Rockford Files.

Ironically, his greatest achievement at Indianapolis came in 1990 when he showed up with an old Penske chassis and stuck it in the show with a tremendously ballsy effort only to get bumped in the final minutes.

But his addiction to pain killers and other offenses would prove to be his undoing as he was in and out of jail from 1998 until his death. Here’s his rap sheet from Wikipedia:

• In 1998, Walther was convicted of "illegal conveyance of painkillers into the jail" after trying to smuggle three Tylenol III tablets, each containing 60 milligrams of codeine, into his jail cell. He failed to show for his sentencing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He served six months in a minimum security jail, and placed on three years probation. He completed a drug treatment program.

• In 2000, Walther was sentenced to 180 days in jail for child endangering and 10 months in prison for violating terms of his probation in the 1998 drug case.

• In April 2007, Walther plead guilty to failure to pay child support, and in July a warrant was issued for Walther's arrest when he failed to pay by the July 10 deadline, facing up to 16 months in jail, and owing more than $20,000.

• In July 2007, Walther remained at large and managed to elude Beavercreek and Centerville, Ohio police officers after he was recognized by a police officer at a local gas station. An officer asked Walther to stand outside of his car, but he got back in his car and fled the scene. This added a felony charge of "fleeing and eluding" to Walther's warrant. He was eventually arrested on July 29, 2007 and held in the Warren County, OH jail.

• On August 14, 2007, he was sentenced 16 months in prison for felony nonsupport of dependents, and 10 months in prison violating the terms of his community control imposed in a 2005 case involving nonsupport, with 240 days of credit for time already served in jail. On November 15, he was sentenced to three years in prison after a jury convicted him of failing to comply with an order or signal of a police officer for the July incident. The prison terms are to run consecutively and he was incarcerated at Hocking Correction Institution in Nelsonville, Ohio until 2010.

Just last month, Walther was again arrested for an incident that took place in Baltimore in 2007. He died Thursday in Trotwood, OH.

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.