Of all the wreck videos we have ever shown, this may be the craziest. Filmed at a horse race, it shows the motorized starting gate, otherwise known as an Lincoln leading the field of trotting horses across the starting line and then the gates themselves begin to fold up as the car accelerates and distances itself from the field. The race is being contested in the rain, on a muddy track and the driver of the Lincoln gets about half way through turn one when things go horribly wrong.
The car (which we believe is front wheel drive) goes into an agonizing slide as the field of trotting horses closes in. The car slides toward the inside rail and begins the upend horses and riders in sickening fashion. Normally when horses have trauma like this, it is curtains but whether it was the muddy conditions or luck, no horses were actually harmed in this accident. Two of the “drivers” (that’s what they are called in harness racing) were beat up pretty bad with broken ribs and all, but they’ll also recover.
There’s not much more to say other than we’re happily amazed that no animals or divers were killed in this calamity….and this is the definition of a freaking calamity.
Thanks to Wickam on the tip!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THE CRAZIEST CRASH WE HAVE EVER SEEN IN ANY FORM OF RACING…AND KEEP SCROLLING FOR A COOL SURPRISE!
And now for the neat thing…..this is a photo of my great geandfather harness racing in Portland, Maine (year unknown) –
The Lincoln wasn’t a “mudder”, nor was his “fodder”!
Just a smidge on the humid side out there… xD
I’m pretty sure that was a Town Car but the video isn’t the greatest as the late 90’s Town Cars look a lot like Continentals.
It’s saying the video is no longer available. 🙁
It’s a town car; that’s what they always use. A unibody car wouldn’t have the chassis to support the weight of a starting gate.
I love the photo of your grandfather. It’s likely to be mid 1930’s, based on the equipment (my area of experience) and the clothing of the spectators (my wife has a degree in costuming).
I was a harness horse trainer for several years, then left the track to go get educated. Now I work on cats and dogs. I drove a race at this track (Freehold, NJ) back in 1986. Obviously they’re using a different starting gate than when I was there.
Bad wreck. Lucky no one was killed.