Mark Dismore was badly injured in a practice crash for the Indianapolis 500, when his car veered sharply towards the entrance of pit road at the exit of Turn 4 and back-ended the fence, only to careen across the pit lane and smash virtually head on at sizeable speed against the edge of pit wall; this later impact virtually ripping the car in two pieces. Amongst the injuries he suffered, the most severe was a broken neck.
He is probably best known for nearly dying in a brutal crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 1991 Indy 500. Of that horrifying wreck, Dismore said: "It broke my feet, my ankles, my knees. It broke my neck, it broke my heart, it broke everything."
Mark Dismore (born October 12, 1956 in Greenfield, Indiana) is a former driver in the Indy Racing League and the 1990 Toyota Pacific champion as well as the winner of the 1993 24 Hours of Daytona with Dan Gurney's All American Racers in a Toyota GTP car with co-drivers Rocky Moran and P. J. Jones. He made 3 CART starts in 1991 when he had this nearly fatal crash. He was largely out of open wheel racing until the 1996 Indy 500 where he drove for Team Menard though he did try to qualify in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 for Concept Motorsports in an outdated Lola/Buick. In 1997 he drove a second car at the Indy 500 for Kelley Racing and would become a full-time fixture there until the 2001 season. He returned to Menard for a partial season in 2002. Dismore has a single IRL win coming in the fall 1999 Texas Motor Speedway race and also finished a career-best third in points that season. Among his 62 career IRL starts he won four poles. He also represented the IRL in the International Race of Champions in 2000 and 2001.
"Racing's been my life... It almost took my life, but it's hard to walk away from." - Said Dismore
He now owns and operates New Castle Motorsports Park, a Karting facility in New Castle, Indiana, as well as Comet Kart Sales in Greenfield, Indiana. He is married with two children. New Castle Motorsports Park is the home of Indiana karting's signature event, the Da