Two spectators who had gone to the races with their families and were seated in the infield in beach chairs, spreading a picnic lunch, lost their lives when a race car being warmed up by a mechanic crashed through the infield fence. The accident, in which no one else was injured, occurred on Sunday, 17 October 1965, shortly before the start of the 100-mile Kentuckiana Stock Car Race at Salem Speedway, Indiana.
Steve Doninger, a Louisville, Kentucky, mechanic and part owner of the 1964 Ford #7, was warming up the car for its scheduled driver Forrest Moores. During his trial run Doninger blew a tire on the backstretch and lost control of the car that slid sideways and then into the infield, crashing through the fence and striking the two spectators.
The victims were Cornelia Farris, née Satterly, 41, a native of Scott County, Indiana, who lived with her husband William G. Farris in Louisville, Kentucky. She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Louisville, KY. Also killed was Hayden Daugherty, 49, from Louisville, Kentucky, who was buried at Louisville Memorial Gardens in his hometown.
That same Sunday was marred by two other fatalities which happened in American tracks. Veteran driver Harold Kite lost his life in a multiple pile-up at Charlotte, North Carolina; Edward Mathias was killed during a SCCA sportscar race at Watkins Glen, New York.
R.I.P
