Five Drivers Who Have Survived Wrecks They Shouldn’t Have

Kenny Bräck

This guy knows all too well what it means to take a hard hit. The swedish driver Kenny Bräck, winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500 sustained what is believed to be one of the biggest forces ever recorded on a human body at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003. While battling with Thomas Sheckter in the final laps, the two cars made contact sending him straight into the catchfence.

The g-force that generated from the impact was massive and it peaked at 214g (to give you an idea a normal person can usually sustain 5 vertical g or 20 horizontal g before losing consciousness). He was immediately extricated from the wreckage and airlifted to the local hospital. I am not going to make a list of the fractures he suffered: you can hear it from Bräck himself in the video.

He returned to racing for the 2005 Indy 500 to substitute Buddy Rice and immediately sat on the pole. That would be his last career start in the series.