Eldon Rasmussen

Who is Eldon Rasmussen?

Eldon Rasmussen, is a former driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1971 and 1973-1979 seasons, with 23 career starts, including the 1975, 1977, and 1979 Indianapolis 500. His Indy career was unremarkable except for a single moment on lap 125 of the 1975 race: Tom Sneva, attempting to lap Rasmussen, ran over his left front wheel and was launched into the Turn 2 wall, exploding and disintegrating before tumbling to a stop. The spectacular nature of the accident, and the fact that Sneva miraculously escaped serious injury, have led to its being constantly replayed on television and becoming one of the iconic images of the race. Rasmussen's image is therefore familiar to nearly every fan of the Indy 500, even though his name might not be. In his Champcar career, Rasmussen finished in the top ten 3 times, with a best finish in 7th position in 1975 at Ontario. He built his own race chassis which he dubbed the "Rascar" which he campaigned with limited success from 1973 to 1979. In all 3 of his Indy starts, Rasmussen qualified his Rascar on the last row.

Eldon Rasmussen has been a fabricator of race parts in Indianapolis for years and was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.