AAR effort and Gurney stepped out of the car to let Savage drive the entire season. Driving an Eagle-Ford IndyCar, Savage won the Bobby Ball Memorial, a 150-mile race at Phoenix International Raceway on November 21, 1970. This would be his sole professional auto racing victory. In March 1971, Savage entered the Questor Grand Prix at Ontario Motor Speedway, driving an Eagle-Plymouth Formula 5000 car. The throttle stuck wide open, and Savage suffered near-fatal head injuries in the ensuing crash. He returned to driving in August at the Trans-Am event at Watkins Glen. He competed in the Indianapolis 500 twice; in his debut in 1972, he finished 32nd after dropping out on lap six with mechanical problems. 1973 Indianapolis 500 crash and subsequent death In the 1973 Indianapolis 500, Savage was entered in an STP-sponsored Eagle-Offenhauser (number 40) prepared by master mechanic George Bignotti. He had been the fastest driver for much of practice. On the first day of qualifying, gusting winds slowed Savage from matching his best practice speeds, but he still shattered the track record with a four-lap qualifying average of . Later in the day, as the winds abated, Johnny Rutherford, Bobby Unser, and Mark Donohue each bettered Savage's time. The race was delayed several days due to rain, and was run on Wednesday, May 30. Savage held the lead from laps 43–54, and then made his first pit stop. He rejoined in second place, closely behind Al Unser and just ahead of Bobby Unser. Savage emerged from his stop with 70 gallons (nearly ) of additional fuel and a new (cold) right rear tire. In his autobiography, Bobby Unser wrote that when Savage exited the pits, he became alarmed at how hard Savage was pushing, and dropped back slightly in anticipation of an incident. However, due to Savage's reputation in the racing world as a highly skilled driver who did not take unnecessary chances, Unser's comments have been attributed to his resentment of Savage's rapid rise in the racing world as opposed to the "hard knocks" experiences of Unser's career. On lap 58, just behind Al Unser (who was about to make a pit stop of his own), Savage, pushing hard in anticipation of a coming rainstorm, lost control as he exited turn four. Savage's car twitched back and forth, then slid across to the inside of the track at nearly top speed, hitting the angled