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MakingLaps Home -> MakingLaps.com Forum -> Vintage Tribute -> Winston 500 flashback..... MAY 6TH 1973
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scott121476


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Winston 500 flashback..... MAY 6TH 1973
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                             DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND FLASHBACK "IS BACK"


 


Who said it was never possable to fit 60 cars at the biggest superspeedway in the USA


They have started 50....    and back in the early days of nascar they started 70 at darllington for the southern 500......   In the early 70s they have started 50 at Tallydega, Ontairo CA,  But the maddness was about to begin...


Buddy Baker started on the pole and lead the 1st 10 laps Ramo scott in the June Donlavay 90 blew the engine and the lead pack of cars came whipping past and skidded in the oil, in all, 21 cars were involved and 19 of them were sidelined, Wendell Scott suffered 3 broken ribs, a lacertated arm, and a cracked pelvis,he was listed in "stable" condtion at an anniston hosipal. Earl Brooks suffered a broken hand, Joe Frasson a lacerated arm, and Slick Gardner complained of a briused knee,


"I dont know how iI got through that wreck" commented David Person who survived to win the WINSTON 500, "As soon as i got to the 1st turn i could tell something was going on, when i got over there all i could see was cars all over the track."


Buddy Baker, Leader at the timw and who was swept into the crash and said it was the biggest mess he ever seen "The whole backstrech was cluttered with engines, trannys, peices of doors, and other parts" he said "Ive never seen a bigger pile-up anywhere"


Cale Yarbrough  running second on lap 10 Said " I hit one car, and sailed through the air, i did not ever think we were going to stop"


Bobby Allison  another victim blamed a large 60 car starting field as the major culprit, "The extra 10 or 20 cars were needed to fill up the track, they did that all right, all over the backstrech" Allison did also add that the cars of Ronnie Daniels and Yarbrough sailover the roof of his car  "Somehow i got through that without getting into anyone, Then i plowed into James Hylton, who was stopped in the grass" said Aillison


Most of Pearsons competion was taken out. He went on to finish just over a lap ahead of Donnie Aillison, who was driving for DiGard Chevy. Benny Parsons finished 3rd, Clarence Lovell 4th, and Cecil Gordon 5th


Five days later Lovell was killed in a highway accident near his San Antiono TX home


USAC Indy Car driver Dick simon started 52nd and finished a repectable 7th


The caution was only out 4 times for a total of 54 laps, lowering Pearsons to a slow 131.956 mph. it was the 5th stright win of the 1973 season


Benny parsons took the points lead by 217.35 over Cecil Gordon, Hylton fell to 3rd place........


_________________________________________________________________________


My take,


 


This was the last time they would start 60 cars at a superspeedway,  For 3 more years they would start 50 untill 1976 where they did go to a standard 40,41 car grids..  Daytona back in these days only started 40 cars, sometimes 42 for the 500 but that was it,  43 cars starting in the present superspeedway races are pretty good, Could be alittle higher like 45-46 but the pitstalls could be in question, do they have enough?  The present short tracks run 43 cars like everwhere else but they tend to be 90-127 mph rush hour traffic jams,  should go to a 36 car field like the truck series,  in the 70s and 80s they would run 30-32 cars at short tracks,  Mile and over<Dover and Darlington> Started 36 or less. 


On the NEXT flashback


A race nobody wanted to win, And it was a site of the 1st carrer Victory of the driver and Car owner in the same race, an ultimate rareity, The 1981 THE MASON-DIXON 500 AT DOVER will be our next Flashback, Keep reading and KEEP ON MAKINGLAPS !!!!!!!!!!  Till then


 


Scott


 



-- Edited by scott121476 at 09:45, 2005-09-08

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spdracer19


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Scott,


Very interesting stuff. Keep it up as far as I'm concerned.


I remember Don McTavish's crash back when I was young. I remember ABC Wide World of Sports saying the accident was very violent and veiwer discression should be used. But I can not find any info about it. Do you know where I can read about it? I know he was very talented and the first real Yankee to go down to run with the Rebels but his career was very short.


Thanks again for the interesting history.


Steve



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scott121476


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oh yes.....


i remember seeing that on the 25th anniversery of ABC WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS in the early 90s......   it happened off of turn 2<if memory serves me right> and he barrell rolled about 14-18 times....  the cars back in the late 60s and early 70s were tanks but they were not built like they were in the 70s 80s...  i do beleave if you go on a auto racing crash site....  TBK or CRASHIN.   they will help you out there....   drop me an email and i will send you the links on where to go for that.....    if that was not where it happened, it must be the maynard troyer tumble of of turn 2....   and that was in 1971.....   thanks for your support!!!!!!!!


 


scott



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WhelenModifiedTour


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Scott Buddy , Great to see you back in action . Great story , PLEASE keep them coming . We seem to be  getting ALOT of interest going lately .

-- Edited by WhelenModifiedTour at 23:48, 2005-09-08

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spdracer19


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As I recall, it was like '69 - '71 at Daytona. His car got tore apart at the firewall and spun it seemed like forever and stoped heading the wrong way and was hit head on. Like I said, there was nothing from the dashboard forward and I swear you could see him in the car. It was a very bad wreck. I am thinking it must have been in practice because I have found a site [ http://www.racing-reference.com/driver.htm ] that has all the driver references and starters & finishers in the races back then and he is never listed.


I drop you an email for the info, thanks.



-- Edited by spdracer19 at 14:47, 2005-09-08

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scott121476


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hmmmmmmmmmmm......


 


now you got me thinking it was 1968.........   and it was in the sportsman divsion<now BGN> although he might have had a few nextel cup starts.....  didnt he lose his life in this accident or shortly after???? because for some reason 1968 is ringing a bell......


 


 


scott



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spdracer19


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I believe the year had to '70 or a year or so later because I watched it in our house in Taftville and we didn't move there until Sept '69. I want to say it was Grand National which became Winston Cup. I would have to believe it was GN because they had it on tape and back then they not did not show the race live and they only showed a couple races a year like the Daytona 500. It may have been a qualifier race but he is not listed in any of the Daytona races.


What is odd is he is not even listed on that driver reference link which would lead you to one of two views, either he never ran an actual race or they did not want to list him as getting killed in his very first race. He was one of the Northern drivers of the times that was susposed to compete with the likes of Petty, Hamilton, Foyt and the like but never got a chance.


I always liked racing but in 1969 I was 14 and just starting to become involved (like in dirty hands) in racing. I started as a go-for on my neighbors car the just prior to it becoming the 'Spirit Of 76'. 


The cars that are now the BGN were Sportsman back in the '70s and would be the other half of the Dogwood 500 & Cardinal 500 at Martinsville when we ran the Modifieds there. We called them Taxi Cabs because they had fenders, lol.



-- Edited by spdracer19 at 18:19, 2005-09-08

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scott121476


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from        http://www.o-graham.com/photopage15.html


Don McTavish, modified champion. Don was killed in a crash at Daytona in the Saturday Modified-Sportsman event. Those images of the crash are burned into my memory forever.


Don MacTavish, Sportsman 300 race, Feb. 21, 1969.


 


 it was 1969, you were close ,  it was one of the few videos i never saw clip wise, i do not thrive on tragic accidents, or like to sit at the computer and watch a fatal crash but there is some times i sit there and try to understand "how did it accually happen"   exspecally when it was before my time... i was born in 1976 so there is many that i never saw and try to undertand the times......  like vukys accisent at indy in 1955....  heard about it but never saw it untill a few years ago....  still sends chills up my spine but that is racing, it is gonna happen..... 


 


scott



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spdracer19


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Scott,


Thanks for the link. It was one of those things I saw, well, like the heading under the picture, it is burnt in my mind even after more than 35 years.


That is also a great vintage site. I'll spend some time there.


Thanks again,


Steve



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