Salt Walther

[RogerDuke]

I was watching Road Pirates today. I thought the first truck driver who Daisy stopped with her legs looked familiar. He was the strong looking guy who laid down beside her and crawled under her car to secure the muffler. 

They showed his name in the credits and it is Salt Walther. He lived from 1947 to 2012 and drove different classes of race cars. In 1973 he was involved in a horrific crash at the Indianapolis 500. I watched it on You Tube. It was nasty....so nasty in fact that it changed rules that made the Indy 500 more safe. 

My memory isn't that great but it seems like maybe we've talked about him before here on the HN. Maybe Hoss can post a video of the crash. 

[HossC]

I can't find any other mentions of Salt Walther on HNet. According to Wikipedia, he also raced unlimited hydroplane boats. It looks like his 1979 appearances in 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and 'The Rockford Files' were his only acting credits.

Following the crash, Walther apparently became addicted to pain killers, and despite a few comeback attempts, his later life included a few drug convictions and jail time. His death at the age of 65 was the result of a drug overdose.

Here's a video about the crash.

 

[RogerDuke]

Thanks Hoss. He was pretty disappointed when he found out that Daisy's daddy was the sheriff! That girl can sure shuck and jive.  

[Hobie Hartkins]

He died very young!