In January 1967, Savage made a point of showing up at a Ford Motor Company test session at Riverside International Raceway attended by, among others, racing legend Dan Gurney.

Savage debuted in the old SCCA United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) series in April 1968, driving a Lola T70 Mk III (the car campaigned by Gurney in the 1967 Can-Am racing series; a condition of employment Gurney imposed on the young driver was that he rebuild and prepare the car for competition with very little assistance from other AAR staff).

[6] The throttle stuck wide open,[citation needed] and Savage suffered near-fatal head injuries in the ensuing crash.

Savage emerged from his stop with 60 gallons[citation needed]—nearly 500 lb (230 kg)—of additional fuel and a new (cold) right rear tire.

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 [according to whom?]

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.

He came to rest adjacent to the outer retaining wall, fully conscious and completely exposed while he lay in a pool of flaming methanol fuel.

Television footage seems to show the right half of his rear wing had come loose, which would instantly change the downforce on the wheels and could explain the sudden back and forth twitching of the car.

A young crew member for Savage's Patrick Racing teammate Graham McRae, Armando Teran, ran out across the pit lane in an effort to come to Savage's aid and was struck by a fire truck rushing up pit road at 60 mph (100 km/h) (opposite the normal direction of travel) to the crash; Teran was killed instantly.

[citation needed] However, according to Savage's father, the percentage of oxygen they were giving Swede just prior to his death, due to the damage to his lungs from the fumes inhaled from the accident, was such that there was no way he could have survived, even if he had not contracted hepatitis B.

[citation needed] As of May 2023[update], Angela was living in the Indianapolis area and her husband was working for a company that restores vintage USAC, CART, and INDYCAR race cars.