Nice of you to put this together.

" Racing is life. Everything else is just waiting". Gordon was the perfect example of this. He was a true racer. One of Americas forgotten racing heroes.

If only there was some way to pin this as the top result for any search for Gordon Smiley...

I was there in the 82 time trials. My dad was friends with Smiley during the SCCA years. Thank you for a respectful showcase. Regardless of what most thought he was a good and kind man. He to this day is missed.

I was in my last year of high school when I went to the Speedway that morning with my father. We were sitting on the main straight in tower terrace. It was hot and balmy out but like always, there was a huge crowd on hand and everybody was stoked about the record falling which it did in short order. I clearly recall Smiley coming by on his first warmup lap but what stood out to me was that unlike the other cars, the car had white painted rims and also, that the chassis wasn't an 82 March as many stories allude. It was an 81C and that surprised me because Fletcher's team was a first rate operation. He never came back around and outside the fact Carnegie announced the car had hit in turn 3 NO ONE had a clue as to the severity. We sat there for what seemed an hour with NO WORD on what was going on? Then I remember a guy with a small radio turning and saying "the car had disintegrated and the block was laying inside the short chute." That's was our first real indication something was really bad. Then an ambulance came down the inside portion of the main straightaway but it's lights weren't on and though it was moving fast, there seemed not to be a sense of urgency about it. Shortly afterwards, Carnegie made the announcement and that entire place fell dead silent. Not a sound was heard from that massive crowd. No one who was there will EVER forget that silence.

Finally a video that respectfully showcases who he was as a driver. Nice work on this.

You did a really great job of humanizing him here. I only knew of him prior as the guy who died in an awful accident, but now I see he was way more than just that.

It's hard to find anything on smiley beyond his crash , thank you for making this

I decorated his grave this morning. I’m glad I found your video; I feel I know him better now.

I can't believe how well researched and presented this is. I love it. As a racing fan for years, I have never been able to find much information beyond just his terrible crash. Thank you so much for doing the work and letting us see the man himself.

Still fondly remembered in the UK by most involved in Formula Ford and Aurora F1, he wasn't here long but made himself known. I think there's still a picture of him in the cafe at Mallory Park in the Melchester car. His crash will always be the ultimate reminder of just how hard Indy can bite you, but it's nice to see a video that shows the human behind the violent looking demise.

One microscopic mistake caused possibly the worst indy crash ever. Rest in peace

We definitely need more of these kinds of videos to highlight drivers who have passed careers and stories instead of just the story of their deaths.

Thank you so much for posting this video. For so many years, the name Gordon Smiley has been synonymous with the horrific tragedy of the Speedway crash. I am so glad to finally learn about the history of this talented driver and the all out effort he made to further his racing career. Simply fascinating! Thanks again.

This was long overdue. Thank you.

3:18 Geez what an irony that both Gilles Villeneuve raced against Gordon Smiley and both were killed two weeks apart in 1982.

knowing his full story now kinda makes it sad. Smiley driven by a career and life goal. Trying to chase the dream. Truly a remarkable race car driver.

I was 12 years old in '82 when watched Smiley's crash on the Saturday afternoon. Indy qualifying used to be a big deal then and it was on all afternoon on ABC. And, I was a big A.J.Foyt fan and I wanted to see him win the pole that day. When the show came on at 1 PM they showed the Smiley crash. It was horrible... It looked more like an aircraft accident. What made it worse was 7 days earlier, Gilles Villeneuve was killed at Zolder in an equally horrifying wreck. Let's just say that early May of '82 was not a happy time...

I've know for a long time how Gordon died, now i know how he lived. Thanks for your effort telling his story !

We need more of this type of video on KZfaq. Gone the top 10s, and more of this in-depth type of video, very well structured and thought about.

I thank you for not putting the crash in here. I think it would degrade such a classy video... Never heard the man’s name but I know a ton about him now.

Gordon sounded like a great guy. I think one can take inspiration from the fact that he got to the Indy 500 basically all on his own... no rich parents or anything like that. Died chasing something rather than die in a nursing home or spending years working a job he didn't like for this promise of "retirement" at some point in the ungaranteed future. He is rememebered for his accomplishments. Everyone dies and some people die from something as simple as slipping in the shower. I say he had a great life.

Thanks so much for making this. At the time of his death I was best friends with the son of one of the owners of Intermedics. We had been to the races with Gordon, he came and spoke at our school, and we tore around in his personal FLASH G Z28. His death hit us hard. Thanks for the respectful telling of his professional career. The memory that sticks with me the most was Gordon greating his friend Lee Sheperd of Reher-Morris at a pro stock race. Both were gone within a year. Thanks again.

As a kid (around 1962) I would go down the alley to Dundee Texaco at 50th & Underwood, in Omaha to watch Gordon and his dad work on his race cars. One Mini-Cooper (I think), Gordon had to lift the engine partway out just to change the spark plugs. Other than fetching tools, I wasn't much help. JB

Thank you so much for putting this clip together. It’s nice to see a video on Mr Smiley that isn’t dedicated to slow-motion replays of his demise. It was nice to learn a little about him. My hats off to you.

I was there just a kid at the the track in Indianapolis when he died in the 3rd turn

Those alcohol (methanol) fires the drivers faced were a thing of nightmares. Rick Mears in 81' was brutal. If you haven't seen the video of check it out.

Much better explanation of a tragic story than obscure driver implodes into wall @ 200

Gordon was a natural as a road course driver of the kind that comes along maybe once or twice in a generation. On road racing tracks he could pull results out of cars that really didn't have the capability to produce them, but Indy racing is a lot different to road course racing, not necessarily easier, but a very different set of mental and physical challenges which is clearly shown by the number of F1 world champions who've moved to racing IndyCars and rather struggled until they've got their brain around that challenge. A number of his contemporaries in Europe, some of whom went on to be F1 world champions, freely told anyone who would listen that Gordon was a very safe bet to be a world champion on his natural ability and his ability to think through developing situations as to how to maximise his situation, a talent that is very important to a driver looking to win championships... He may well have been the first modern racing driver as we know them now... And he was right, he was taken out at Indy in 1981 by Tony Bettenhausen, but there wasn't any malice there, he was just a victim of circumstance in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course, then you didn't have the instant replay and expert analysis with access to all the data available now, so a driver could only call a crash as he saw it unfold in front of him and in his mirrors, which never gives the full story... It should also be said that his fatal crash at Indy in 1982 ended Desiree Wilson's opportunity to get an IndyCar drive in a competitive car, and pretty much led to her racing career fizzling out, though it's also fair to say that Gordon's death took some, maybe a lot, of the pleasure out of racing for her... If Gordon had been racing on a road course, then what he did at 200+ mph that day would have been seen as being a save of the century, and a clear sign of his natural ability as a racer. But, on a superspeedway, well...

Thank you for putting this together as prior his fatal accident was overshadowing his memory. Some nice rides in Europe!

He was my neighbor and my hero. He lived one street over from me in Grapevine TX not Garland. I rode my bike past his checkered flag mailbox daily. I was 12 when he died. Thank you for this video. And of course my next hero was Dale #3...

Very interesting. Thanks for posting. His crash was so horrible. It was nice to learn about his life in a different way.

Excellent video! Gordon was just a little bit before my time getting into watching CART but you really did a fantastic job bringing together his background and accolades. Even though he wanted to get into Formula 1, it sounded like he really came into his own in 82 as a person, getting along with his fellow Indy racers and being a Vet to the newcomers. Truly a tragic story but he died doing something he loved while chasing glory. RIP!

I am so glad that you did this piece Gordon was ahead of his time with his own PR and was a brilliant driver on his day and should be remembered for more than what happened on that fateful day

I remember he used to enjoy running around the track in the morning. I was there at qualifications that fateful day.

I remember Gordon winning the FF class at the June Sprints at Road America in the early '70's. A shame he was taken from us so soon, RIP.

I love how you didn’t show the accident. Not trolling, that was a nice touch to the good tribute to him.

really an excellent vid. Thanks for posting. I had no idea he was so ahead of his time incorporating the marketing and promotion.

I knew Gordon Smiley in the '60s when he was racing a Porsche Carrera Speedster in SCCA. Rather than all the garbage you dish out his legacy needs to be that he was a hard racer his entire life. I renewed the friendship with him in his Trans-Am Series Camaro days. At the Sears Point round he drove almost the entire distance one-handed, holding the car in gear. The shifter knob wore thru his nomex glove & into his palm. He couldn't even shake hands after. Despite that he still finished 12th on the leader's lap. That's the Gordon Smiley I knew.

Such an awful accident that killed a great driver of his time.

Gordon left us 40 years ago today, RIP

One week before Smiley's death, Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve died during qualifying. These were heroes at that time.

I was working as a photographer at Indianapolis the day Gordon was killed. I was in Turn 1 so I didn't see the accident live, only later in the press room on the closed circuit TV. What I remember most is the Public Address was silent. Typically in those days Carnegie would announce if the driver pulled into the pits, or if there was some kind of incident. But this time Smiley went by, but never came back around...and it was dead quiet. Then we saw smoke coming up from 3, and we knew it must be bad. It was...

From what i have read he consulted with other veteran drivers about how he was going to attack the race track and shortened the turns by being aggressive with the wheel to save time.The vets said you can't saw the wheel with a Indycar like a USAC car and make a safe lap.

Superb video...Been a long time F1 and Indycar fan and I found this really interesting. Gordon Smiley suffered such a violent, awful accident in a very public way that sometimes it’s easy to forget that he had an interesting career and certainly wasn’t a rookie to the 500 race when he died.

My mom worked for STP for quite a few years. Mom ran the suite in may and took care of the granetelli travel. I was always at the track with my mom. I was 9 almost 10 when the crash happened I watched the car come to its stop. What I saw looked like a mass of blood for several years I thought he had lost his head. But later found out he lost his helmet and what I had seen was the top of Gordens head which was all bloody.

never heard of this guys story, since most of the information available on youtube is about his tragic accident. by the way, this video was so well put together, that it didnt need to show the accident itself, but rather concentrate on explaining who smiley really was. thanks for the video.

Excellent video. I've only ever known Gordon from his crash video. This puts his whole career into much better perspective. Thank you so much!

A very informative and well produced video. 👍👍👏

What a great tribute! I saw Smiley's horrific crash on TV and knew his name vaguely before that but never knew of all his successes and what a scrappy go-getter he was to have worked his way up from a non-moneyed background. “To do something well is so worthwhile that to die trying to do it better cannot be foolhardy. It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one's ability, for I feel that life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.” --Bruce McLaren

Thank you for making this in-depth, respectful video.

This popped up on my home page and I'm so glad that I clicked to watch. I'm thrilled to hear clips of Donald Davidson in here! Subbed and will be going back through, watching. Hope to hear Donald a LOT more.

His wife died just a few years later (1987) from cancer. She was only 43.

Great vid. I learned more details about Smiley's life inside and outside of Indy in these eighteen and a half minutes than I have in the last eighteen and a half years.

Was there when I was 9 with my mom and dad. Still remember it clearly. Horrible crash. RIP Gordon Smiley

For what its worth ... i remember our own F1 champion Alan Jones commenting on Gordon's accident and he said not being accustomed to oval track racing his natural instinct was to correct it as it oversteered where he should of turned it down to the infield instead ... RIP Gordon...

I remember racing at Silverstone against Gordon in FF 1600. I recall how smooth his driving was. David. Not Lynne.

Thanks for making this! Smiley was such a fascinating driver.

Thank you for posting this. As a child I lived in a small town in Indiana called Greencastle. I was there with my family the day he died ( we were sitting in bleachers on the back stretch). From time to time throughout my life I have though about him. However I had no idea about his biography. Thank you so much for putting this together.

@nascarman History: Great Documentary. Look forward to watching many others. I am a Huge Fan of Indy Car and the old vintage open wheel racing scenes. Im about 2 hours from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and have been lucky enough to have been to many Indy 500s! Appreciate the good work brother!

Really nice work! Subbed. Excited to see what you come up with in the future!

Those early 80's Indy cars were really sweet looking.

Many thanks for this work. In a time of short 5 second videos andn twitter sized news, it´s good to see someone has the patience and time to do a proper story on a subject not much spoken about. Congratulations!

I remember seeing Smiley at my first SCCA road race, September 20, 1970, Mid America Raceway, Wentzville, Missouri. Besides his driving skills, the most likely reason I noticed him was because 8 months earlier, I had just acquired my first car, a 1964 TR-4 and of course, Smiley was driving a Spitfire.

This is an excellent film about Gordon Smiley very interesting and done with style and fantastic that you did not include film or photos of his terrible accident rip GS.

The nastiest Indy crash in my lifetime. My dad was at Indy in 1964 (his first auto race of any kind) in the infield of turn 4 to witness the darkest day at The Indy 500. Glad that didn’t scare him off, instead lead to a racing family🏁

I'll never forget Gordon Smiley. One of my favorite drivers. I don't need to see the crash on video, I can visually see it in my mind. The way the car snapped straight into the wall. Just horrible. I watched it live and I knew it was bad. RIP Gordon.

I Hope That I Am Not Being Ungrateful. But Thank You For NOT Showing The Video 📼 Of Gordon Smiley's Fatal Crash!🥺😢 Rest In Peace Gordon Smiley ( 1949-1982 )🙏🏻

Such a horrible death, that crash was hard to watch. Very sad demise

I was 5 years old sitting in stand J and saw part of the accident. When everyone stood up my dad told me not to look. That's really all I remember but I'd heard he died. I was just a kid and didn't really understand but dad told me he died. I cried. I'll never forget Gordon Smiley

Just think, in another version of history Smiley is remembered as a solid driver with a standout qualifying/race result in the 500 or two and a decent sports car career, before becoming a well respected driver manager/team pr guru/journalist. Instead he's known as "The guy whose brain got splattered over The Brickyard" (which I completely respect you omitting from the video, given it's a celebration of his life, not his oft recalled death) Fate is cruel.

between his death and Gillies Villeneuve, which were 8 days apart, May 1982 more or less ended the Ground Effects era full stop.

Very well done, thanks for your work. I absolutely love your channel, being a NASCAR fan from the 70’s

I was a senior in high school at the time, I was always more into NHRA drag racing, and was just getting interested in Indy car, His death left an impression on me. I never forgot what a nice guy he seemed to be, and such a tragic loss at such a young age, I often wonder what his career would have been if he had lived longer. He seemed to have a big personality and hard work ethic. I really appreciate this video getting to know more about him! ... I bet he would have eventually been one of the greats! ... RIP GS

This was a great tribute to see. Very objective. I had never heard of him until I saw his crash video in 2012. I had nightmares about it that night. Worst crash I had ever seen. I remember watching that race in '82 on the customary tape delay of the period and all the anger over the botched start and am amazed I never heard about the death during the qualifying, but I was only 15 then and wasn't the fan I would later become.

WOW, another masterpiece! Well done, keep up the fantastic work!

Absolutely love this channel.

Great stuff, really helps to paint a bigger picture of his racing career and personality.

Thanks for not posting a video of a guy smacking a concrete wall....head on ...:at 200 mph, and being ripped to pieces by the catch fence. There are tasteful people out there. Great driver. Nonetheless ..... That goes to show you how unforgiving that racing as a whole can be... and it really doesn’t matter how good you are. Racing history supports this. God speed, Gordon Smiley.....as well as to everyone (driver or not) who has died, loving the sport, as he loved it.

Well done! So glad to see there's more to the story than just the accident.

The two men he had a row with, Brian Kreisky and Tony Bettenhausen Jr, both died in 2000 in separate plane crashes, if I'm not mistaken.

Amazing content, and amazing to know the story of an otherwise unknown gordon smiley always knew him because of how he died but to know the story of how he got there just makes him a legend. A man with a purpose and ambition doing absolutely everything to achieve that goal even prepared to die to reach 200mph in a tin can march chassis. Unfortunately that would be the case but a whole new admiration for the late gordon smiley, rest in peace and may your story of your life live on because it is truly awesome and people should remember smiley for that and not his death

what a great channel you've got here. thanks so much for all of it.

Great video! Very informative!

His accident was the worst I'd ever watched.

I was at the speedway the day Gordon wad killed..saw him coming out of turn 3, horrific!

Thanks for this. I looked for years for stuff other than his crash and can't find alot. I always wanted to know what he was like.

Its so good to hear more about the career of this man. All ive ever known is that horrendous crash. Also had to say something; 5:29 - cmon James (Hunt - the commentator), you so often called it perfect but not here. Smiley was way alongside! And the win in the wet was really impressive.

Excellent video. Had never heard of Gordon Smiley, seemed kind of like the Tim Richmond of champ car.

Hats off to this remarkable work of research and edition, As you well say, I always thought that there was more to Gordon Smiley's life that the way it ended. Thanks for let us know.

This was awesome as usual!~ I'd like to see one done on Rich Vogler~ I've still to this day never seen a picture of his Cup car~

Really interesting video, indepth info on a driver that was a (possibly) Indy 500 winner and maybe was able to do a F1 race/champiosnhip.

Great job, you've given Gordon the recognition he deserved.

That's a nice video and a break from just gory pictures. Well done. 👍🏼

Excellent mini documentary! This should be the go-to video for anyone who wants to learn about Smiley's life.

Great Job, people don't realize how huge the Indy 500 was & what guys were willing to risk to be a part of it

Great video, I didn't know much about him other than his crash until this.

Surely, Gordon Smiley could sense the clock ticking on his Formula 1 dreams in May 1982. The days when a team of modest resources could compete with a tidy chassis and a Cosworth DFV engine were numbered; the three years Smiley took off his age are less significant when comparing a 33-year-old rookie to a 36-year-old rookie. If he was going to find a ride in F1, he needed to make a big splash at Indianapolis that year. To Smiley, simply qualifying for the race and moving up the field with smart driving wouldn’t be enough: he needed to reach 200 MPH. His car wasn’t quite capable of reaching those speeds, yet he continued to push it to its limits. The end result, well, speaks for itself.

Great video man.

Smiley by name, Smiley by nature. I'm glad he passed immediately in his accident. Good to know more about his life, not just his death. Great video.