Notes:
Originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania, Eddie Sachs competed in the AAA-American Automobile Association, then United States Auto Club (USAC) National Championship between 1950 and 1964. He made 65 starts, taking eight outright wins. He also won ten USAC Sprint Car races, winning the 1958 USAC Midwestern Sprint Car Championship. He made the grid eight times in the Indianapolis 500, winning the pole-position in 1960 and in 1961, when he took his best finish of runner-up to A.J. Foyt, after dropping from the lead to second place on lap 197, due to an emergency stop for a fresh right rear tire. And a third place finish followed in 1962.

Indy's adored "Clown Prince of Auto Racing", Eddie Sachs - an Indy veteran and one of the most popular American drivers of the period - is supposed to have said: "If you can't win, be spectacular". He lost his life on Saturday, 30 May 1964, in a fiery crash involving seven cars, one of the worst in Indy 500 history.

That year, racing car owner and innovator Mickey Thompson, who made his name on drag strips and salt flats, conceived a revolutionary car for the Indianapolis 500. This machine, the Thompson 63-Ford "Mickey Thompson Sears-Allstate Special", had its engine at the rear, like the most advanced European cars, in opposition to the traditional front-engined American roadsters that had dominated the Indy 500 for decades. It had a low profile, fully enclosed bodywork with covered front wheels which made it look like a sportscar. Additionally, it was equipped with huge fuel tanks, which would allow the car to run the entire race without refueling.

But if the "Sears-Allstate Special" seemed to be ahead of its time, it was actually a poorly designed and built vehicle. Its handling was terrible, and many drivers walked away from the team after testing the car, considering it dangerous. Things were made even worse when USAC mandated the use of fifteen-inch wheels. The bodywork had to be partially cut to accommodate larger tires, which caused an alarming front-end lift. Thompson refused to withdraw the entry, and talented, Corvette and Cobra up-and-coming Californian racer Dave MacDonald was hired to drive it in what would be his debut at Indianapolis. He did well to qualify 14th.

On the first lap of the race MacDonald overtook several other drivers and was battling for seventh, but it was clear that the car was a handful, because it was wobbling all over the road. And then, on the exit of turn four as he was completing the second lap, MacDonald lost control of the fuel-heavy machine, spun it almost 180 degrees and crashed against the inner wall with sickening force. The car exploded on contact, in a huge orange and black mushroom of fire and smoke, and the blazing wreck slid down the track into the path of the oncoming cars.

Eddie Sachs who closely followed, had to make a choice of which side to go; he steered to the right, on the high groove of the track. Unfortunately, that is where MacDonald's car slid to, and Sachs hit it broadside. Sachs' car also caught fire, and he was killed on impact. MacDonald was burned beyond recognition, and died about two hours later.

Several cars were involved in the ensuing melee. Ronnie Duman crashed, spun in flames and hit the pitlane wall, and he was seriously burned. Bobby Unser hit another car and broke his steering, but somehow emerged from the wall of flames and smoke where he hit Johnny Rutherford on his car's left rear tire, propelling it to the outside wall. Chuck Stevenson's and Norm Hall's cars also crashed. The event was being shown live by TV for the first time, and for the first time, a 500 was red-flagged because of an accident.

Johnny Rutherford's role in the crash is one of the most incredible accounts of motorsport history. As a young driver, he wisely chose to stick with the experienced Sachs in the early stages of the race - and, like Sachs, he was overtaken by MacDonald on the first lap at the backstretch. Rutherford noticed that MacDonald's car was very loose, on the verge of loss of control and throwing grass and dirt up from the edge of the track. Watching the behavior of MacDonald's car Rutherford thought "Whoa... he's either gonna win this thing or crash." Sadly MacDonald would not win the race.

Rutherford was on the right on the tail of Sachs' car when Sachs hit MacDonald's car. Rutherford's Watson-Offenhauser went under Sachs' car tail and over MacDonald's, tearing off a couple of its intake horns - which lodged themselves in the rear left of Rutherford's car. The Watson rode along the top of the wall, wrapped in flames, before landing back on the track on its wheels. The cockpit carpet - used to absorb oil, was in flames - but Rutherford only left the car after driving all the way back to Turn 4 again, where he noticed that the impact with Unser had ruptured the car's fuel tank. He was in the middle of a large puddle of fuel - and, quite likely, only the fact that his Offenhauser engine was running on methanol saved him. MacDonald's and Sachs' Ford engines used the much more flammable gasoline, and after this race gasoline was banned at the Indy 500 and its corresponding series - USAC Championship Trail/Gold Crown, CART/OWRS Champcar, and the IRL.

When Rutherford's chief mechanic Herb Potter opened the hood of his car to inspect it after the crash he found, amidst all sorts of debris, a lemon with a cord looped through it and one end cut off to expose its pulp. Later it was learned that Eddie Sachs had the habit of driving with a lemon around his neck, so that during a caution flag, he could suck on the lemon and get a little moisture - maybe the tartness gave him a little boost. As it happened, when Sachs smashed into MacDonald the lemon flew off his neck and sailed into the air - and was then scooped up by Johnny Rutherford's car.

Eddie Sachs is buried in the Holy Saviour Cemetery in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. He was survived by his wife Nance; a two-year-old son, Edward Julius Sachs, III, who later also became a racing driver competing on local dirt tracks in the Midwest, and a ten-year-old daughter, Kathren Debra. Years later she had three children and her middle son, Matt looked like his late grandfather. In 1954, Eddie Sachs had married Betty Reid, the widow of Gordon Reid who lost his life at Dayton Speedway in 1952. Sachs announced to his friends he had inherited four daughters by Reid, but the marriage ended soon. He married Nance McGarrity in 1959.

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• Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Monday, 18 May 1964, page 41, Special to The New York Times, article "Sachs, With 151.4 M.P.H., Fastest of 5 Joining '500' Qualifiers", by Frank Blunk.
• Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, pages S-1 and S-5, Special to The New York Times, article "Second-Lap Crash Fatal To Sachs and MacDonald", by Frank M. Blunk.
• Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page S-4, article "'500' Crash Vivid For TV Viewers", by William N. Wallace.
• Newspaper The New York Times (New York City, NY, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page S-4, Special to The New York Times, article "Death Writes Finish to Careers Of Two Men Who Loved to Race".
• Newspaper The News and Courier (Charleston, SC, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 1-A, article "2 Drivers Die In Flaming Pileup At 500. Classic Race Is Halted", Associated Press wire story [E1].
• Newspaper Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, FL, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, pages 1 & 2, article "Eddie Sachs, Rookie Die In 500 Race" [E2].
• Newspaper Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, FL, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 31, article "Indianapolis Driver Describes Wreck", by Bobby Unser (As Told To United Press International) [E1].
• Newspaper Reading Eagle (Reading, PA, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 45, article "Sachs' Parents Watch Fatal Crash on TV", by United Press International wire story [E1].
• Newspaper The Blade (Toledo, OH, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 3 of section C, article "News Of His Tragic Death Shocks Sachs' Neighbors", Associated Press wire story. [E1].
• Newspaper Reading Eagle (Reading, PA, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 44, article "Sachs Wanted to Win 500 - And Then Retire", Associated Press wire story [E1].
• Newspaper The Blade (Toledo, OH, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, pages 1 & 3 of section C, article "And A Driver Dies. Sachs Was Spectacular, But Also Unlucky" [E1].
• Newspaper The Blade (Toledo, OH, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 2 of section C, article "It Came As No Surprise To Sachs", by Eddie Jones [E1]
• Newspaper The News and Courier (Charleston, SC, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 1-D, article "Sachs Called Brother At 3 A.M." [E1]
• Newspaper The Blade (Toledo, OH, United States), issue of Sunday, 31 May 1964, page 3 of section C, article "Sachs' Family Told Eddie Of Dangers", Associated Press wire story [E1]
• Website Motorsport.com, chapter Statistics, Champ Cars, research by Phil Harms, page http://www.motorsport.com/stats/champ/data/ch196403.pdf .
• Website Champ Car Stats.com - Eddie Sachs, page http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/SachsEddie.htm .
• Website Forix: Eddie Sachs, page http://forix.autosport-atlas.com/driver.php?1=0&r=1927052800&c=0 .
• Website The Indianapolis Star, page http://www.indystar.com/library/factfiles/sports/autoracing/500deaths.html .
• Website AUTOSPORT → Forums → The Nostalgia Forum, thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 21, posting by "ReWind", message http://forums.autosport.com/topic/9705-speeds-ultimate-price-the-toll/page-21#entry1472063 .
• Website Automobile, article "American Driver: "Lone Star JR - Johnny Rutherford", by David E. Davis, Jr., page http://www.automobilemag.com/columns/0306_americandriver .
• Website Find-A-Grave: Eddie Sachs.
• E-mail by Rick Kelly, dated 14 June 2004.
• E-mail by Chris Sampang, dated 19 June 2004.
• E-mail by Pier Paolo Garagnani, dated 06 October 2004.
• E-mail by Susan Hoesli Reid, dated 16 March 2009.
• E-mail by Eman, dated 28 January 2014, citing [E1].
• E-mail by Eman, dated 06 June 2014.
• E-mail by Eman, dated 18 June 2014, citing [E2].
• E-mail By Carlo Fertitta, dated 08 October 2022 (two messages).