This article lists the people who have been fatally injured in American Championship car racing during testing, practice, qualifying, or races since 1916, categorized into drivers, riding mechanics, and non-participants. The lists recognize "IndyCar" or "Champ Car" fatalities that have occurred in events making up the National Championship, which has been held by the following sanctioning bodies:

American Automobile Association (1916, 1920–1941, 1946–1955) United States Auto Club (1956–1995) Championship Auto Racing Teams (1979–2003) Open Wheel Racing Series/Champ Car (2004–2007) Indy Racing League/IndyCar (since 1996)

The National Championship, which was split from 1979 to 2007, has featured regular races, non-points paying (non-championship) rounds, competitions sanctioned by entities that did not stage the National Championship in the same year (such as the Automobile Club of America), and the AAA Big car meetings held in the 1946 season.

The most recent driver to be fatally injured in an IndyCar Series event was Justin Wilson at the 2015 ABC Supply 500.

Driver fatalities Driver Date of incident Sanction Track Event Team/Owner Car/Entry Session April 8, 1916AAAGrand Boulevard (Corona)Corona Grand PrizePeugeotRace May 13, 1916AAASheepshead Bay SpeedwayMetropolitan TrophyDelageRace August 27, 1916AAARecreation Park (Kalamazoo)100-mile raceSunbeamRace November 18, 1916AAASanta Monica Road Race CourseAmerican Grand PrizeMarmonRace December 2, 1916AAAUniontown SpeedwayUniversal TrophyPremierRace November 25, 1920AAABeverly Hills Speedway250-mile raceFrontenacRace Duesenberg October 1, 1921AAAFresno SpeedwaySan Joaquin Valley ClassicFrontenacRace September 17, 1922AAAKansas City Speedway300-mile raceMillerRace September 4, 1923AAAAltoona Speedway200-mile raceDuesenbergRace September 1, 1924AAAAltoona SpeedwayFall ClassicDuesenberg – Race September 15, 1924AAANew York State Fairgrounds150-mile raceMillerRace October 16, 1924AAACharlotte Speedway250-mile raceDuesenbergPractice April 22, 1925Long Island Motor ParkwayPrivate testWells's HornetTesting November 29, 1925AAACulver City Speedway250-mile raceMiller – Race May 27, 1926AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Al CoteyMiller – "Elcar"Qualifying July 4, 1926AAARockingham SpeedwayIndependence Day SweepstakesDuesenbergQualifying October 12, 1928AAARockingham SpeedwayInternational Motor Classic – "Boyle Valve"Race May 30, 1929AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500August DuesenbergDuesenberg – Race June 15, 1929AAAAltoona Speedway200-mile raceMiller – "Simplex Piston Ring"Race May 26, 1931AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Duesenberg "Jones & Maley"Practice September 12, 1931AAANew York State Fairgrounds100-mile raceDenny DuesenbergDuesenbergQualifying May 27, 1932AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500MillerPractice May 28, 1933AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Brady – Studebaker "Brady & Nardi"Qualifying May 30, 1933Buehrig-Duesenberg "Kemp-Mannix"Race Miller May 25, 1934AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – Miller "Miller-Hartz"Practice September 9, 1934AAANew York State Fairgrounds100-mile raceOakland "Simmons"Race May 21, 1935AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Stevens – Miller "Bowes Seal Fast"Practice Shafer – Buick "Victor Gasket"Qualifying May 30, 1935Stevens – Miller "Bowes Seal Fast"Race January 26, 1936AAAAscot Speedway125-mile raceWetteroth – OffenhauserRace August 20, 1938AAAIllinois State Fairgrounds100-mile raceLion OilSchrader-MillerRace May 30, 1939AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Wetteroth – Offenhauser "Burd Piston Ring"Race May 7, 1940AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Gulf Oil – "Gulf-Miller"Practice September 2, 1940AAANew York State Fairgrounds100-mile raceMarks – OffenhauserRace June 22, 1941AAALanghorne Speedway100-mile raceHoppe – RileyQualifying April 14, 1946AAAWilliams Grove Speedway10-lap Big car raceFurslew-RileyHeat race June 16, 1946AAAFlemington Fair SpeedwayBig car raceBagley – "Burd Piston Ring"Heat race August 11, 1946AAAFunk's Speedway20-lap Big car raceEngle- OffenhauserRace September 2, 1946AAALakewood Park100-mile raceWetteroth – Offenhauser "Noc-Out Hose Clamp"Race Shaw – Offenhauser "Wolfe-Tulsa" September 15, 1946AAAIndiana State Fairgrounds100-mile raceStevens – OffenhauserQualifying May 30, 1947AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – Miller "Auto Shippers"Race May 16, 1948AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – "Novi Grooved Piston"Practice October 10, 1948AAADuQuoin State Fairgrounds100-mile raceHorn – OffenhauserRace May 28, 1949AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Shaw – OffenhauserPractice June 19, 1949AAANew Jersey State Fairgrounds100-mile raceBromme – OffenhauserPractice November 6, 1949AAADel Mar Fairgrounds100-mile race – OffenhauserRace July 29, 1951AAAWilliams Grove SpeedwayIndianapolis Sweepstakes – OffenhauserQualifying June 8, 1952AAAWisconsin State Fair ParkRex Mays ClassicKurtis Kraft – OffenhauserQualifying November 2, 1952AAASanta Clara County Fairgrounds100-mile raceWatson – OffenhauserRace May 15, 1953AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – "Novi Governor"Practice May 30, 1953Kurtis Kraft/ – Offenhauser "McNamara"Race July 5, 1954AAADarlington RacewayIndependence Day Sweepstakes – OffenhauserRace May 16, 1955AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – OffenhauserPractice May 30, 1955Race November 6, 1955AAAArizona State FairgroundsBobby Ball Memorial – OffenhauserRace May 15, 1957USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – OffenhauserPractice May 30, 1958USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – Offenhauser "Sumar"Race July 4, 1958USACLakewood Speedway100-mile raceKuzma – Offenhauser "Central Excavating"Race September 28, 1958USACTrenton Speedway100-mile race – Offenhauser "Bowes Seal Fast"Race February 11, 1959USACDaytona International SpeedwaySpeed record attempt – Offenhauser "Sumar Streamliner"Testing April 4, 1959USACDaytona International SpeedwayDaytona 100Epperly – Offenhauser "Bowes Seal Fast"Race April 19, 1959USACTrenton SpeedwayRace of Champions – OffenhauserRace May 2, 1959USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Kuzma – Offenhauser "Helse"Practice May 19, 1959Cornis EngineeringCornis – Offenhauser July 19, 1959USACWilliams Grove SpeedwayIndianapolis Sweepstakes – OffenhauserRace August 30, 1959USACWisconsin State Fair Park200-mile raceChristiansen – Offenhauser "Travelon Trailer"Race June 19, 1960USACLanghorne Speedway100-mile raceLeader CardWatson – OffenhauserRace May 12, 1961USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Watson – Offenhauser "Stearly Motor Freight"Practice November 19, 1961USACArizona State FairgroundsBobby Ball MemorialPhillips – Offenhauser "Konstant Hot"Race July 1, 1962USACLanghorne SpeedwayLanghorne 100 – OffenhauserRace May 30, 1964USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500DVSHalibrand Shrike – Ford "American Red Ball"Race – Ford "Sears Allstate" August 22, 1964USACIllinois State FairgroundsTony Bettenhausen MemorialKuzma – Offenhauser Race November 27, 1964Phoenix International RacewayTire test – Ford "Pure Oil Firebird"Testing May 14, 1966USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Leader CardWatson – Offenhauser "Wynn's"Qualifying May 7, 1968USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500STP – Pratt & Whitney Turbine "STP Oil Treatment"Practice June 9, 1968USACWisconsin State Fair ParkRex Mays ClassicGerhardt – "Central Excavating"Race May 14, 1972USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Gerhardt RacingEagle – "Thermo King"Practice March 12, 1973FasTrack International SpeedwayPrivate testPage RacingEagle – Testing May 12, 1973USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Eagle – "Cobre Firestone"Practice May 30, 1973Patrick RacingEagle – "STP Oil Treatment"Race May 15, 1982USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – CosworthQualifying July 31, 1982CARTWisconsin State Fair ParkProvimi Veal Tony Bettenhausen 200Rattlesnake Racing – CosworthPractice May 15, 1992USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Euromotorsport – Practice May 17, 1996USACIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – Practice July 14, 1996CARTToronto street circuitMolson Indy TorontoArciero-Wells Racing – ToyotaRace September 11, 1999CARTLaguna Seca RacewayHonda Grand Prix of Monterey – MercedesPractice October 31, 1999CARTCalifornia SpeedwayMarlboro 500Forsythe Racing – MercedesRace October 22, 2003Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayFirestone tire testG-Force – ToyotaTesting March 26, 2006IRLHomestead–Miami SpeedwayToyota Indy 300Rahal Letterman RacingPanoz – HondaPractice October 16, 2011IndyCarLas Vegas Motor SpeedwayIZOD IndyCar World Championship – HondaRace August 23, 2015IndyCarPocono RacewayABC Supply 500Andretti Autosport – HondaRace

Breakdown

+Fatalities by track Track Total First Last 36 1926 2003 4 1924 1940 1952 1982 3 1923 1929 1946 1958 1949 1959 1946 1959 1941 1962 2 1920 1920 1926 1928 1959 1959 1955 1961 1938 1964 1964 1973 1 1916 1916 1916 1916 1916 1921 1922 1924 1925 1925 1936 1946 1946 1946 1948 1949 1952 1954 1996 1999 1999 2006 2011 2015

+Fatalities by decade Decade Total 1910s 5 1920s 15 1930s 14 1940s 15 1950s 20 1960s 11 1970s 4 1980s 2 1990s 5 2000s 2 2010s 2 2020s 0 All 95

Fatalities among riding mechanics ✝ indicates that the driver was killed in the same incident.

Mechanician Driver Date of incident Sanction Track Event Team/Owner Car/Entry Session ✝April 8, 1916AAAGrand Boulevard (Corona)Corona Grand PrizePeugeotRace ✝May 13, 1916AAASheepshead Bay SpeedwayMetropolitan TrophyDelageRace July 15, 1916AAAOmaha Speedway150-mile racePeugeot – Sunbeam "Peusun"Race August 27, 1916AAARecreation Park (Kalamazoo)100-mile raceStutzRace September 4, 1916AAACincinnati Motor SpeedwayInternational SweepstakesStutzRace October 14, 1916AAASpeedway ParkGrand American Auto RaceCrawford – DuesenbergRace November 10, 1916AAA/ACASanta Monica Road Race CourseMercerPractice ✝December 2, 1916AAAUniontown SpeedwayUniversal TrophyPremierRace ✝November 25, 1920AAABeverly Hills Speedway250-mile raceDuesenbergRace ✝October 1, 1921AAAFresno SpeedwaySan Joaquin Valley ClassicFrontenacRace May 30, 1930AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500DuesenbergRace June 8, 1930AAAMichigan State Fairgrounds100-mile raceAmblerAmbler – BuickQualifying ✝May 26, 1931AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Duesenberg "Jones & Maley"Practice May 25, 1932AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Duesenberg "Jones & Maley"Qualifying ✝May 28, 1933AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500? – Studebaker "Brady & Nardi"Qualifying ✝May 30, 1933MillerRace ✝May 25, 1934AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500 – Miller "Miller-Hartz"Practice ✝May 21, 1935AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500? – Buick "Victor Gasket"Qualifying ✝January 26, 1936AAAAscot Speedway125-mile raceWetteroth – OffenhauserRace May 28, 1937AAAIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayIndianapolis 500Stevens – Miller "Belanger-Miller"Qualifying September 20, 1939Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayFirestone tire test – MillerTesting

Fatalities among non-participants This section lists people who have been fatally injured in close connection to the racing taking place at an event while not occupying a race car including participants being on the sidelines.