B.J. Swanson Fatal Crash - 1975 Mid-Ohio

**The first two photos are property of Richard Deming Photography. All other photos and video belong to yesterdaysneuz.com. For more video from this race, see https://youtu.be/XZST1vySUUY **

For more about B.J. Swanson, read: http://racing-reference.info/showblog?id=2836. Bernard James Swanson (November 21, 1948 - August 13, 1975) was a Formula 5000 racer killed in an event at Mid-Ohio in 1975.

B.J. Swanson began racing in SCCA amateur races in the early 70s, competing against Bobby Rahal. In 1975, he made his professional racing debut in Formula 5000 competition. In his third race, he finished third at Watkins Glen behind Brian Redman and Al Unser, beating drivers like Mario Andretti and David Hobbs. After the race, Dan Gurney gave Swanson a contract to drive for him in the 1976 Indy 500. He finished fourth in his next race at Road America. Reporters were already calling him the next Dan Gurney or Mark Donohue.

At the beginning of his fifth career race at Mid-Ohio, Swanson's throttle stuck entering turn one. He slammed on the brakes, breaking the left half shaft and spinning to the left. Swanson's car hit the end of the pit exit guardrail, the top rail coming up and hitting his helmet. He was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries before passing away three days later. Four days after Swanson's passing, Tiny Lund was killed at Talladega and Mark Donohue was critically injured in Austria, Donohue passing away two days later. Swanson remains one of the biggest "what-ifs" of mid-70s IndyCar.

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