Having cars go as fast as humanly possible is just asking for disaster. Maybe back in the day, it was "acceptable", but today, I'd rather my favorite driver be able to have a full career. I understand that death is always a possibility in racing, I just think in some instances, one should use their head in setting up something.
if you slow this down and look closely i swear you can see his lower body thrown from the car and goin with the force of the wreakage,, this is really bad !
Several things I noticed here, avg. speed 185? That's about what they average now. This race in 1969? I don't think they mentioned any cars newer than 1966. Wikipedia says he hit the wall at a spot where a metal guardrail covered an opening in the wall, the impact with the butt of the wall sheared the front of the car. The second impact severed McTavish's legs completely, he was pronounced dead on the spot. RIP
@TheRacer120 Thanx for that, I've followed NASCAR for a long time, but I don't remember late model sportsman races. I was born in 1961. Wikipedia say 12 drivers have been killed at Daytona, more than any other track. I've only ever been to 1 race, at Dover in about 1985. Geoff Bodine won in the Levi Garett Chevy, Tim Richmond crashed, not badly though.
@clintonearlwalker Yes - the new guys race cars that are slower than new Corvettes you can buy for 50 grand. While it still takes balls to race, the new cars are for pussies. Sorry, but I think they should be going 220-230. No more long trains at that speed...
@beeroosterm Well, that's an interesting theory, I remember when Bill Elliot was getting up around either 210 or 220 at Daytona, that's when they came out with restrictor plates. I can remember the period when "racing" meant pushing the speed of the car, now all the cars are equal. However, after Dan Wheldons crash at Miami last year, I don't think upping the speeds of any race series is likely anytime soon.
@clintonearlwalker The problem the sanctioning bodies do not want to admit out loud is that real racing would be too fast/dangerous given the technology of today's engines/aerodynamics. However, they still want to make millions of dollars, and so we get these boring races that are ironically, probably just as dangerous. Why should anyone be surprised that running wheel to wheel in a pack at 220 for long periods of time is more dangerous than going 250 in single file?
@clintonearlwalker I say we allow unlimited horsepower and speed and see what the racers can come up with. 4 wheels, discrete wheelbase and track. Fuck it - 275 mph on the straights.Tough shit to the losers. That's racing.
@MerscratianAce looks like when the front end was sheared off, if you look closely he looks like a ragdoll as his car is spinning around just before being cracked into, id bet my money on him being dead by the time he was contacted by another car
I had never seen this before. the only reaction i can come up with is "Oh my god". I had seen some bad one's before (Russell Phillips, Gordon Smiley), but that takes the cake.
this has got to be the worst crash I have ever seen in stock car racing. I think he might have survived the initial hit. but then he was uncovered and still strapped in while a car going over 100 mph (not sure how fast) smacked him head on. that second one obviously did it for him. I kind of hope he was knocked unconscious in the initial hit so he wouldn't have to see the car that ended his life coming right at him.
Personally, I think the first hit killed MacTavish. The cars were nowhere near as safe then as they are today; I don't think it would have been possible for him to survive the first hit.
don won consecutive sportsman championships in the 60s. very tragic accident. could u please put up a warning in the future for the video being graphic. thanks
...Still today one of the most HORRIFIC and nightmarish crashes I've seen in Nascar...
I still have nightmares about this one. The way he's fully exposed to that hit is just...Creepy and frightening.
My condolences to all men and women related to Don. This was his first BIG race, and it's incredibly sad his first big race ended with this horrid crash...
On efootage website. A vintage stock footage distributer. Have to pay for it though. If someone uploads that footage on here or uplaods on rapidshare, that would ready be nice
i was actually watching this on wide world of sports live....this wreck has haunted me all this time....this wreck was by far the most horrific i've ever seen
For those who asked if I am serious, yes he is truly my uncle. I am going to create a memorial site for him online sometime next year.
The reason why it was hard to find the footage is bcause my grandmother asked the network to not publsih the material. I have mixed feelings in regards to the posting of these videos. I'd hope that this crash would serve as a warning to people on how dangerous auto racing can be today's technology aside there is always a risk that fate will intervene..
@dsyer144 I knew a guy who worked with you uncle.His name was Tom something. I can't remember his last name. Sorry. I didn't believe him until I saw this video. Tom passed away a few years ago from cancer.
I remember watching racing back in the day with my family and it was a real event, you never know when something like that would happen...looks like a different sport compared to today
Seems hard to believe this was shown on network television. Back before political correctness and "blurred" censorship. Pretty damn disturbing to say the least! His death, albeit violent, was mercifully quick! RIP Don MacTavish!! Drive on with your brothers on that big racetrack in the sky!!
I remembered this,... since Childhood. I wanted to RACE, My father had me watch this.
Still Raced, when older. But I NEVER FORGOT, .... this scene. Can't believe, I found footage of it! I'm 50 now. My Boy Races, had him watch it too. How did You Find this?
@Matt6051997 On lap 9 of the race, his vehicle tangled with a car driven by Bob James. Out of control, MacTavish's car hit the outside crash wall at a point where a metal guard rail covered an opening in the wall. The impact with the butt end of the concrete sheared off the whole front of the car, up to the firewall; its engine was thrown 100 feet from the wreck.
WOW never seen a wreck like this. Mercifully he was either dead or unconscious when he got hit by that other car. He must have hit that wall hard as hell to rip off the entire front of the car, even if it was an old mopar. Come a long way in safty. To run these cars at those speeds with the safty equipment they had....major stones my friends.
@jambocamera07 they said that elliott's impact was the worst. this was bad because the front end was gone and he got hit. elliott's car almost turned into this one, but because they made it safer he survived. and the weird thing is sadler didnt complain of a headache or whiplash/neck pain, due in part to the HANS. also dr jerry *cant spell last name* said on espn that sadler had more bruises on his right side because he twisted in his seat.
@Porygonseizureman what makes you think this is the only time it's happened using full bodied vehicles? I can think of 5 other wrecks that it's happened in full bodied vehicles. More times than not, it is caused by hitting a crossover gate and the crossover gate giving way. I'm fairly sure that's what happened in this wreck too.
@erasetoimprove I haven't seen such a wreck in many years where the car seperates entirely. Elliott Sadler's was close to it, and Greg Biffle's at Nazareth in 2002 split the chassis but the body was still intact.
It took a hefty amount of bravery to race back then alot more so than today, because of unpredictable incidents such as this despite how weak the integrity of the cars were...
Had Don McTavish's car not been hit after it lost it's front end, McTavish might well have survived.
I'm, convinced that the second impact not opnly killed McTavish, but his body probably got dismembered in the process. It looks like his body split into several parts.
Today, he would probably have easily survived the crash.
Like others have said, I was also watching Wide World of Sports when this crash was shown. I distinctly remember a broadcaster saying to please not let young children view this video. When my father and I heard that, we were glued to the TV.
@Eldiabloaqui This race was shown a few hours after it took place, and I remember the booth announcer saying a couple of times "There was a crash of a gruesome nature that will be shown in a few minutes. Parents should decide whether their children should be allowed to see it".
Some of the worst racing crashes seem to be around this time period. The speeds they were running weren't too far off from where they are today, but the safety technology was still a generation behind...Not a good combo for the drivers. I'm actually amazed guys like Petty and Foyt actually made it out in one piece
At least. Its crashes like this where it sickens me when people not only call back for the "good ole' days" (which isn't too bad, and given certain arguments, I can listen to without calling one a fool), but also call to roll back some of the "safety bullcrap), so the drivers can race like the greats.
This accident happened right in front of us, we were in the 5th row. When the car hit the metal gate it pushed it outward so that the car ran head on into the cement wall. I had just returned from an infantry tour in Nam and the impact sounded just like a mine explosion in Nam! Then we saw the engine flying through the air and the other car plow right into McTavish's car. We actually felt sick from seeing the wreck and sold our Daytona 500 tickets in the parking lot and left .
I was watching Wide World of Sports in 1969 when they cut in and showed this accident. I was ten years old and I remembered this all my life. This is the first time I've seen this since that day.
Yes I have seen the Smiley crash many times and it is indeed a horrible crash. This however has the "one-two-punch" effect that makes it worse, at least to me anyway.
I was there sitting next to the top row.... in the opening.... It sounded like 10 sticks of dynamite going off when he hit the corner of the stands.... the motor was at eye level being thrown towards the inside of the track.... the video explains the rest better than I can..... I still have the Sunday Daytona paper with the picson the front page...... still the worse wreck I have ever seen at Daytona.... I hope to never see anything like it again.....
There was a gap in the retaining wall in which there was an armco gate. McTavish hit the solid protruding end of the wall and it sheered the front away from the car
There are pictures on Wikipedia if you look up Don McTavish.....it does appear the lower legs are gone, but its hard to tell whether or not he lost his left arm at the elbow because it was hanging out the window after the original impact.
atgn70, I was sitting in the endfield I heard the crash and turned and saw the motor flying in the air. And yes there is another angle to this that is more gruesome. It shows Mactavish leaning to the side of his car and the other one hitting him head on. At this angle he looks like he's already dead. The other car rams into him If he was alive he never had a chance. But it still brings chill to the back of my neck. I never will forget it as long as I live.
I have a still shot in my computer of the aftermath of this wreck. Not real nice. You can see Don still in the car, slumpped over. It is quite graphic.
@dmhart67 Out of respect for the MacTavish Family. I will not post that photo anywhere on the internet. As dsyer144 stated below, I had heard that Don's wife and family had asked for the images to not be published. The web site that I got the photo's from, later removed them per Don's widow's request.
I was there when this happened. My best friends dad worked the ambulance crew. They picked him up in three pieces After this he could no longer do this. A truly aweful wreck. There used to be a piece of his car hanging at a bar in Daytona. No kidding.
Wow,darkfall,are you serious!!! Where were you sitting?!?!?
I heard the engine popped up straight i the air!!! I also heard that there is another camera angle somewhere out there that shows the original impact..
movracefan, thanks for posting this. I haven't seen this footage since it's original airing in 1969. I never forgot it, and didn't expect to ever see it again.
It's pretty unfortunate that NASCAR never developed any real safety measures for drivers until after Dale Earnhardt got killed. All they did was put restrictor plates in racecars for Superspeedways only.
poor man. At least it appears he was either dead or unconscious before the Sommers car slammed in & ripped his legs off. So he would've felt no pain. Truly horrendous stuff.
I had never seen this accident. HORRIBLE!!Late model Sportsman races should NEVER be held at a track of that s ize with the speeds they carry. If I am not mistaken, several years later, CharlotteMotor speedway attempted to run late model sportsman races also, and ended up with I think 3 drivers killed. I think the worst of those accidents was Russell Phillips, poor boy never had a chance. Rest in peace
@copperhead29 this is not the same division at what you saw at Charlotte...............this division called late model sportsman became Busch and now Nationwise series.........the LMS you saw at Charlotte was a short lived series of old cup/bush cars with local drivers.......this is the race that later became known at the Goody's 300 for Busch cars years later.........
more comments..Bobby Allison was outraged at this crash with Nascar....it was the racing back to the yellow that saw Sumner's car slam into Don's.....Allison tried to lead a group of drivers to change that rule.......all evidence did show that McTavish died on impact with the gate.......Two drivers I knew where in that race..Bob James a great Ohio short track driver who stopped to see if he could help..Jerry Cook who told me that to this day walking by that area of the track still chokes him up.
.Don's car unloaded over that bump in four and lost control heading into the gate.....it sheered off the front of the car..the engine ripped from the mounts and was thrown through the air.....Friday Hasseler (a driver) saw this crash in person......saw Don strapped in the open car dead with both legs and one arm gone.....it gave him nightmares until he was killed a few years later in a twin 100 crash there....photos of Don dead and disfigured body were printed in papers across America..
If you look closely,and if you watched the footage of him on the gurney,you will see that there are no legs in his racesuit..You have to look close though.I would still like to see if there was a video of the impact with the wall,I have heard that it was almost if the car, when it hit the wall,came to a stop,then spun wildly...It hit the wrong spot on the guard rail...I heard that there were parts stuck in the fence and everything..Id like to find that infield footage...
I had heard he lost his legs..the picture I have of him being loaded in Ambulance doesnt show the lower part of body..I have newspaper clipping of car of him in car after wreck but its rather unclear if his legs were intact...However Bobby Allison did claim in a book that Don's legs were gone after 2nd impact...I watched Don race Modifieds several times..He was a great Driver
No..I'm from Buffalo NY..I saw Don race at Lancaster Speedway a few times in the 60's..He would run the Big races there..He was always a front runner...Lancaster is a suburb of Buffalo
@Swartzie6 three picture were shown but not in all the papers.........the first photo was shortly after he hit the gate.....the second caught him in the middle of the spin face on with the car cut in half..........his body stapped in and intact........the last photo not shown in all papers was the car remains sitting in the infield with him still in the car minus legs and part of an arm with a gruesome pale expression frozen on his face........awful.........
My grandpa told me about this crash. He didn't name names or tell me the race, but he described this very crash. That is violent. This is just as violent as anything you'll see on TV. They qualified at 185+ MPH comparable to today, but they used production cars and inferior safety equipment and design compared to today.
Terrible crash. I'm amazed at the quality of the coverage of the race though, in colour, spectacular camera angles, really it doesn't look any different from how it looks now. Formula 1 in 1969 looked shit in comparison!
I saw this when first show on TV at the age of 12........they interrupted WW of sports and showed the crash footage but first warning the viewer fo the violence....this was not the camera angle show on the original airing of the crash...they showed Don it the wall and tear the car in half then the hit by Sumner..it was from a infield camera shot very close to perpendicular to the line of racing as bad as it looked here the footage I saw was worse, this crash gave me nightmares for a long time.
It is amazing how much the area around the speedway has changed since then. The Airport and the Homes and Businesses in the area.
I remember seeing this video on The Wide World of Sports and also on our local 6 O'Clock news along with warnings about the content which was indeed morbid but a fact of racing that shows we are are all fragile...
This is what they showed, nothing more than the video as it is. Less on the nightly news during the sports segment. and there all it showed was the car spinning after hitting the wall and the other car hitting it. Nothing more was shown then and they warned everyone what was going to happen in the video and gave some time if Kids were needed to leave the room. I live near Rochester NY and that's what they showed here.
According to Bobby Allison's book "Miracle" ,MacTavish was killed from his car hitting the wall.When Sommers hit him,the impact severed MacTavish's legs(sort of like what happened to Alex Zanardi)though he already dead by then.Either way it's by far one of the worst Daytona wrecks ever.
I'm curious as to how this clip segwayed into an indianapolis clip,if the permatex 300 was held in february,as indy isnt until memorial day...tslick, did you see this race in its entirety,and is there film of the entire wreck..I was curious to know how you know he was sucked into the wall...I am curious to see the intital impact..
From what i recall it was not this angle shown that day on Wide world of sports.. And it was not the entire race..His car made a sharp right turn into the wall head on as if something broke..simalar to Stan Fox at Indy..the angle i recall was more behind the accident showing more of the impact of the second car hitting him..it also included him hitting the wall..he was running 4th at the time
Coming out of turn 4 at that time there was a slight dip. He hit that dip and went straight into where the entry gate to the infield connected to the wall. He could not have hit a worse spot. The force popped the engine straight up in the air out of the car. I am sure he went instantly.
I watched this that day on ABC..I have told people for 40 years how horrible this accident..Seeing it now again..I cant describe my feelings..Thanks for posting this video..Don was a great driver..something sucked him head on into the wall which this video doesnt show..I still cant believe the damage..
I have the same recollection of this crash as you. I was 13 and my Dad told me he heard on the radio about a driver being killed at Daytona. I watched the news that night and they showed the footage. I always remembered the way the car spun down off the wall and the violent hit from the second car.
There are pics of this crash in a book I bought one year when I went to Daytona. I always thought the front of the car was torn off because he got hit by another car, not already gone when he got hit. Thats unbelievable. R.I.P. DON
Was he crushed?
MrLuke5416 2 weeks ago
@MrLuke5416 Legs got severed and he died instantly.
preshead 3 days ago
There is racing, and then there is insanity.
Having cars go as fast as humanly possible is just asking for disaster. Maybe back in the day, it was "acceptable", but today, I'd rather my favorite driver be able to have a full career. I understand that death is always a possibility in racing, I just think in some instances, one should use their head in setting up something.
PYLrulz1984 1 month ago
1:50
thank me later
JagermeisterDetox 1 month ago
I don't understand how the entire front end of the car could get ripped off like that.
Tragic event.
WHITERTHANHITLER 1 month ago
It looked like he was dead before the hit
111820nascar 3 months ago
if you slow this down and look closely i swear you can see his lower body thrown from the car and goin with the force of the wreakage,, this is really bad !
2StackMac 3 months ago
@2StackMac Yes - but before that, you can see both his legs after they were sheared off right after he was hit. Gruesome....
beeroosterm 1 month ago
Several things I noticed here, avg. speed 185? That's about what they average now. This race in 1969? I don't think they mentioned any cars newer than 1966. Wikipedia says he hit the wall at a spot where a metal guardrail covered an opening in the wall, the impact with the butt of the wall sheared the front of the car. The second impact severed McTavish's legs completely, he was pronounced dead on the spot. RIP
clintonearlwalker 4 months ago
@clintonearlwalker This was a Late Model Sportsman race. They were for old model cars with new model parts and engines.
TheRacer120 4 months ago
@TheRacer120 Thanx for that, I've followed NASCAR for a long time, but I don't remember late model sportsman races. I was born in 1961. Wikipedia say 12 drivers have been killed at Daytona, more than any other track. I've only ever been to 1 race, at Dover in about 1985. Geoff Bodine won in the Levi Garett Chevy, Tim Richmond crashed, not badly though.
clintonearlwalker 4 months ago
@clintonearlwalker Yes - the new guys race cars that are slower than new Corvettes you can buy for 50 grand. While it still takes balls to race, the new cars are for pussies. Sorry, but I think they should be going 220-230. No more long trains at that speed...
beeroosterm 1 month ago
@beeroosterm Well, that's an interesting theory, I remember when Bill Elliot was getting up around either 210 or 220 at Daytona, that's when they came out with restrictor plates. I can remember the period when "racing" meant pushing the speed of the car, now all the cars are equal. However, after Dan Wheldons crash at Miami last year, I don't think upping the speeds of any race series is likely anytime soon.
clintonearlwalker 1 month ago
@clintonearlwalker The problem the sanctioning bodies do not want to admit out loud is that real racing would be too fast/dangerous given the technology of today's engines/aerodynamics. However, they still want to make millions of dollars, and so we get these boring races that are ironically, probably just as dangerous. Why should anyone be surprised that running wheel to wheel in a pack at 220 for long periods of time is more dangerous than going 250 in single file?
beeroosterm 1 month ago
@clintonearlwalker I say we allow unlimited horsepower and speed and see what the racers can come up with. 4 wheels, discrete wheelbase and track. Fuck it - 275 mph on the straights.Tough shit to the losers. That's racing.
beeroosterm 1 month ago
@beeroosterm That would make for some exciting racing for the fans, no sanctioning body would ever allow it though.
clintonearlwalker 1 month ago
thats definitely in the top 3 of the most horrific crashes in nascar history
xXxmtdoomxXx 4 months ago
atfreeforum . com / gahlgarath /viewtopic. php?t=1935
superserial1 4 months ago
closeup pics of him before the second impact and after can be found here (close gaps) at free forum . com / gahlgarath /viewtopic. php?t=1935
superserial1 4 months ago
holy shit! that was bad. makes you feel sick. a sad day for racing.
torino390 5 months ago
Did He die when his car's front end was ripped off or when he was hit head on?
MerscratianAce 5 months ago
@MerscratianAce looks like when the front end was sheared off, if you look closely he looks like a ragdoll as his car is spinning around just before being cracked into, id bet my money on him being dead by the time he was contacted by another car
marine224a1 4 months ago in playlist Fatal
@marine224a1 One can only hope...so sad.
sr71sr71 3 weeks ago
imageshack.us/f/532/mactavish.jpg/
gravehunder 5 months ago
My grandpa is actually the one that took this video
Invader010 6 months ago
terrible wreck...ouch...he's dead for sure
klepetar 6 months ago
What happened??
TittyTittyBangBangXX 6 months ago
That's the worst I've ever seen. Man......takes your breathe away. R.I.P. Don.
TurkeyWild1956 7 months ago
@wildstargo9 what do u think that white stuff at the left of the spining car is at 1:59.....
rip
addeman81 7 months ago
@addeman81 probably fuel
MCarll 7 months ago
@addeman81 I think... those were his legs.
MeowthRocket 6 months ago
did anyone see him in the cockpit?
MrJjones46 8 months ago
Jesus!
I bet that tingled.
spunkets 8 months ago
May his soul live in heaven peacefully
iamchazzi 8 months ago
The only safety back then was a helmet
sneezabonk 8 months ago
This crash and Tom Pryce's 1977 crash in South Africa are the worst I've ever seen.
Kouvre 9 months ago
I had never seen this before. the only reaction i can come up with is "Oh my god". I had seen some bad one's before (Russell Phillips, Gordon Smiley), but that takes the cake.
yodog678 11 months ago
oh my god.... was he dead before he hit the wall or when he was hit by the car
R.I.P
thank god for the safer everything in NASCAR
MrWarrior1997 11 months ago
@MrWarrior1997 It looks like he was unconscious if not dead after he hit the wall.
WreckEmUp1 10 months ago
To paraphrase "it's a part of this sport, espically when openings in the concrete wall are covered with what amounts to tinfoil."
What doorknob thought THAT was a good idea. No one clearly ever wondered what would happen if a car hit that spot at speed.
Zoomer30 11 months ago
this has got to be the worst crash I have ever seen in stock car racing. I think he might have survived the initial hit. but then he was uncovered and still strapped in while a car going over 100 mph (not sure how fast) smacked him head on. that second one obviously did it for him. I kind of hope he was knocked unconscious in the initial hit so he wouldn't have to see the car that ended his life coming right at him.
revolution09pac 11 months ago
@revolution09pac
Personally, I think the first hit killed MacTavish. The cars were nowhere near as safe then as they are today; I don't think it would have been possible for him to survive the first hit.
guitardedboy 8 months ago
horrifying you can tell from the crash that he probably died instantly
headbangingfilms1 11 months ago
@headbangingfilms1 according to motorsport memorial it has you said
playabilitybunnies 11 months ago
don won consecutive sportsman championships in the 60s. very tragic accident. could u please put up a warning in the future for the video being graphic. thanks
07blackshirt 11 months ago
...Still today one of the most HORRIFIC and nightmarish crashes I've seen in Nascar...
I still have nightmares about this one. The way he's fully exposed to that hit is just...Creepy and frightening.
My condolences to all men and women related to Don. This was his first BIG race, and it's incredibly sad his first big race ended with this horrid crash...
manfulify 1 year ago
@manfulify look up eric martin. horrible :(
supersevenn 1 year ago
Formula One always look shitty when compared to NASCAR. F1 is just "follow the leader". May be one lead change per YEAR.
galaxiexl500 1 year ago
Shiers the aftermath of this
On efootage website. A vintage stock footage distributer. Have to pay for it though. If someone uploads that footage on here or uplaods on rapidshare, that would ready be nice
DMJR13 1 year ago
i was actually watching this on wide world of sports live....this wreck has haunted me all this time....this wreck was by far the most horrific i've ever seen
mdigoe13 1 year ago
This may be the worst crash I've ever seen, and I've watch NASCAR for a long time.
guitardedboy 1 year ago
Wow I never saw a car lose a firewall.rip don
MrDjh66 1 year ago
Damn that was really scary... RIP
Nascarfan880 1 year ago
gruesome crash 1.52 you can see Dons upper body and left arm sticking oute off his car
R.I.P Don McTavish
mrford70 1 year ago
I remember this accident. I was just a kid at the time and it gave me nightmares for a long time.
idesofmarch23 1 year ago
For those who asked if I am serious, yes he is truly my uncle. I am going to create a memorial site for him online sometime next year.
The reason why it was hard to find the footage is bcause my grandmother asked the network to not publsih the material. I have mixed feelings in regards to the posting of these videos. I'd hope that this crash would serve as a warning to people on how dangerous auto racing can be today's technology aside there is always a risk that fate will intervene..
dsyer144 1 year ago
15 years ago I knew an old-timer who told me about this crash, he had witnessed it from the stands and said it was awful.
kaygreen74 1 year ago
Don is my uncle. I hope my mom doesnt see this.
dsyer144 1 year ago
@dsyer144 I knew a guy who worked with you uncle.His name was Tom something. I can't remember his last name. Sorry. I didn't believe him until I saw this video. Tom passed away a few years ago from cancer.
jrdill1929 1 year ago
@dsyer144 are you're serious
reefshark46 1 year ago
I remember watching racing back in the day with my family and it was a real event, you never know when something like that would happen...looks like a different sport compared to today
fkudf 1 year ago
Seems hard to believe this was shown on network television. Back before political correctness and "blurred" censorship. Pretty damn disturbing to say the least! His death, albeit violent, was mercifully quick! RIP Don MacTavish!! Drive on with your brothers on that big racetrack in the sky!!
OldSkoolBoysRule 1 year ago
I remembered this,... since Childhood. I wanted to RACE, My father had me watch this.
Still Raced, when older. But I NEVER FORGOT, .... this scene. Can't believe, I found footage of it! I'm 50 now. My Boy Races, had him watch it too. How did You Find this?
Caveman4860 1 year ago
holy shit he just got smashed by that other car! i cant believe they could show that on TV of a REAL person getting killed out in the open...
DialgaRules24 1 year ago
Wow, theres a video of this crash but not of elliott sadlers hit a pocono. This is still a horrifying wreck though. R.I.P
mrdirttrackusa 1 year ago 10
They showed this on TV?!?! That's graphic!
AlexSprenger 1 year ago
It also said his legs were severed. You can see it after the second car hit him.
Stags80 1 year ago
@Matt6051997 On lap 9 of the race, his vehicle tangled with a car driven by Bob James. Out of control, MacTavish's car hit the outside crash wall at a point where a metal guard rail covered an opening in the wall. The impact with the butt end of the concrete sheared off the whole front of the car, up to the firewall; its engine was thrown 100 feet from the wreck.
Stags80 1 year ago
@Stags80 gate 7
PttyBlue43 1 year ago
elliotts was the worst head on crash for sure this would be the worst wreck
jambocamera07 1 year ago
Right in the tri oval, a lot of people saw that unfortunately.
Lickamyleica 1 year ago
WOW never seen a wreck like this. Mercifully he was either dead or unconscious when he got hit by that other car. He must have hit that wall hard as hell to rip off the entire front of the car, even if it was an old mopar. Come a long way in safty. To run these cars at those speeds with the safty equipment they had....major stones my friends.
Jelsick 1 year ago
worst crash ive seen...... elliot sadlers crash yesterday was the 2nd worst but at least he survived. nascar has come a long way with safety!
jambocamera07 1 year ago
@jambocamera07 they said that elliott's impact was the worst. this was bad because the front end was gone and he got hit. elliott's car almost turned into this one, but because they made it safer he survived. and the weird thing is sadler didnt complain of a headache or whiplash/neck pain, due in part to the HANS. also dr jerry *cant spell last name* said on espn that sadler had more bruises on his right side because he twisted in his seat.
chuckshewie 1 year ago
This is without a doubt the worst crash I've ever seen in stock car racing.
RDarth 1 year ago 4
He was either unconscious or dead after the first hit. His body was completely limp before the second impact.
JMPhillips99 1 year ago
@JMPhillips99 Tbh it was better that way
ForTheRealGamer 1 year ago
You would expect a crash where a driver is hanging out of a race car like that to happen in Indy Cars, NOT Stock Cars.
PYLrulz1984 1 year ago
@PYLrulz1984 Like Stan Fox's wreck in the 1995 Indy 500. Yes, this is the only time it has happened in the tin tops of NASCAR and touring cars.
Porygonseizureman 11 months ago
@Porygonseizureman what makes you think this is the only time it's happened using full bodied vehicles? I can think of 5 other wrecks that it's happened in full bodied vehicles. More times than not, it is caused by hitting a crossover gate and the crossover gate giving way. I'm fairly sure that's what happened in this wreck too.
erasetoimprove 9 months ago
@erasetoimprove I haven't seen such a wreck in many years where the car seperates entirely. Elliott Sadler's was close to it, and Greg Biffle's at Nazareth in 2002 split the chassis but the body was still intact.
Porygonseizureman 8 months ago
if the first hit didn't get him, the second one for sure did him in
killpeople20 1 year ago
he was -quite literally- a sitting duck waiting to get hit by the other car. RIP
hejjagedu 1 year ago
It took a hefty amount of bravery to race back then alot more so than today, because of unpredictable incidents such as this despite how weak the integrity of the cars were...
Rest in peace Don McTavish.
Lucariooooo 1 year ago
Had Don McTavish's car not been hit after it lost it's front end, McTavish might well have survived.
I'm, convinced that the second impact not opnly killed McTavish, but his body probably got dismembered in the process. It looks like his body split into several parts.
Today, he would probably have easily survived the crash.
altfactor 1 year ago
Like others have said, I was also watching Wide World of Sports when this crash was shown. I distinctly remember a broadcaster saying to please not let young children view this video. When my father and I heard that, we were glued to the TV.
Eldiabloaqui 1 year ago
@Eldiabloaqui This race was shown a few hours after it took place, and I remember the booth announcer saying a couple of times "There was a crash of a gruesome nature that will be shown in a few minutes. Parents should decide whether their children should be allowed to see it".
altfactor 1 year ago
Did he die from the first hit???
17lookatme17 1 year ago
@xAmRDeUcEx u are correct
footballgusto72 1 year ago
That, from an actual visual standpoint, is one of the most disturbing wrecks I have ever seen in NASCAR.
CombatSportFan 1 year ago
I rember watching this race and the wreck when i was in boot camp at Ft.Jackson SC IN 1969
bigtruck1969 1 year ago
Statistically, Daytona was the most fatal race track on the Nascar circut having about 10 deaths.
ItsSkaTV 1 year ago
we can only hope he was knocked out by original imapct, when the second fatal blow came
rowdyeverylap 1 year ago
This crash is insane. It's a shame that lives are lost, but it is a part of motorsports.
RIP McTavish
monster271 1 year ago
Some of the worst racing crashes seem to be around this time period. The speeds they were running weren't too far off from where they are today, but the safety technology was still a generation behind...Not a good combo for the drivers. I'm actually amazed guys like Petty and Foyt actually made it out in one piece
00JosefK 1 year ago
@00JosefK
At least. Its crashes like this where it sickens me when people not only call back for the "good ole' days" (which isn't too bad, and given certain arguments, I can listen to without calling one a fool), but also call to roll back some of the "safety bullcrap), so the drivers can race like the greats.
PYLrulz1984 1 year ago
This accident happened right in front of us, we were in the 5th row. When the car hit the metal gate it pushed it outward so that the car ran head on into the cement wall. I had just returned from an infantry tour in Nam and the impact sounded just like a mine explosion in Nam! Then we saw the engine flying through the air and the other car plow right into McTavish's car. We actually felt sick from seeing the wreck and sold our Daytona 500 tickets in the parking lot and left .
Spiffy37 1 year ago
never seen a wreck like that, no one could survive that, russell phillips was very bad as well, but not as gruesome
RIP
crakajack3 2 years ago 2
oh good god NO
dasstrooper 2 years ago 2
I was watching Wide World of Sports in 1969 when they cut in and showed this accident. I was ten years old and I remembered this all my life. This is the first time I've seen this since that day.
quadnut20 2 years ago 2
That is the worst thing I have ever seen occur in a motor race...my God.....
SwanKong11 2 years ago
@SwanKong11
You have not seen the accident of Gordon Smiley at the Indy 500 1982.
Wait, 1:59 - isn't it his legs???
F1carlo 2 years ago 2
Yes I have seen the Smiley crash many times and it is indeed a horrible crash. This however has the "one-two-punch" effect that makes it worse, at least to me anyway.
SwanKong11 2 years ago 2
Still photos of the car after it stopped spinning show him still strapped in. That is pieces of the car being flung around.
yteezi1 2 years ago
Definitely the nastiest wreck I've ever seen.
RDarth 2 years ago 9
@RDarth check out russell phillips crash and read about it on wikipedia
derrike50 10 months ago
@derrike50
Yes, I've seen that one, but looking at YouTube clips doesn't really give you that horrific feeling that this one does, in my opinion.
RDarth 10 months ago
I was there sitting next to the top row.... in the opening.... It sounded like 10 sticks of dynamite going off when he hit the corner of the stands.... the motor was at eye level being thrown towards the inside of the track.... the video explains the rest better than I can..... I still have the Sunday Daytona paper with the picson the front page...... still the worse wreck I have ever seen at Daytona.... I hope to never see anything like it again.....
cotton25th 2 years ago 2
Where was he hit that his half car was gone?
obilinx1 2 years ago
There was a gap in the retaining wall in which there was an armco gate. McTavish hit the solid protruding end of the wall and it sheered the front away from the car
BikerBonno 2 years ago
There are pictures on Wikipedia if you look up Don McTavish.....it does appear the lower legs are gone, but its hard to tell whether or not he lost his left arm at the elbow because it was hanging out the window after the original impact.
riss0630 2 years ago
R.I.P
krisco29 2 years ago
my grandfather helped build his modifieds up in new york at fonda and lebenon valley and malta
gzautner7 2 years ago 2
atgn70, I was sitting in the endfield I heard the crash and turned and saw the motor flying in the air. And yes there is another angle to this that is more gruesome. It shows Mactavish leaning to the side of his car and the other one hitting him head on. At this angle he looks like he's already dead. The other car rams into him If he was alive he never had a chance. But it still brings chill to the back of my neck. I never will forget it as long as I live.
DARKFALL57 2 years ago
I have a still shot in my computer of the aftermath of this wreck. Not real nice. You can see Don still in the car, slumpped over. It is quite graphic.
lookatmattscar 2 years ago
ooo i saw that,yea its pretty bad
insertusernamehere9 2 years ago
@lookatmattscar can you send it to me? Not being creepy or anything...
colorfulcookiemonsta 1 year ago
@lookatmattscar would you put it on youtube
dmhart67 1 year ago
@dmhart67 Out of respect for the MacTavish Family. I will not post that photo anywhere on the internet. As dsyer144 stated below, I had heard that Don's wife and family had asked for the images to not be published. The web site that I got the photo's from, later removed them per Don's widow's request.
Don was a great race car driver.
lookatmattscar 1 year ago
I was there when this happened. My best friends dad worked the ambulance crew. They picked him up in three pieces After this he could no longer do this. A truly aweful wreck. There used to be a piece of his car hanging at a bar in Daytona. No kidding.
DARKFALL57 2 years ago
Wow,darkfall,are you serious!!! Where were you sitting?!?!?
I heard the engine popped up straight i the air!!! I also heard that there is another camera angle somewhere out there that shows the original impact..
atgn70 2 years ago
I have a picture of him being loaded into ambulance..Hes not in 3 pieces
Swartzie6 2 years ago
movracefan, thanks for posting this. I haven't seen this footage since it's original airing in 1969. I never forgot it, and didn't expect to ever see it again.
exidemontecarlo 2 years ago
It's pretty unfortunate that NASCAR never developed any real safety measures for drivers until after Dale Earnhardt got killed. All they did was put restrictor plates in racecars for Superspeedways only.
switchhitter08 2 years ago
poor man. At least it appears he was either dead or unconscious before the Sommers car slammed in & ripped his legs off. So he would've felt no pain. Truly horrendous stuff.
ivangrozny27 2 years ago
I dont think the second one hurt because he was already dead.
deadheat007 1 year ago
I had never seen this accident. HORRIBLE!!Late model Sportsman races should NEVER be held at a track of that s ize with the speeds they carry. If I am not mistaken, several years later, CharlotteMotor speedway attempted to run late model sportsman races also, and ended up with I think 3 drivers killed. I think the worst of those accidents was Russell Phillips, poor boy never had a chance. Rest in peace
copperhead29 2 years ago
@copperhead29 this is not the same division at what you saw at Charlotte...............this division called late model sportsman became Busch and now Nationwise series.........the LMS you saw at Charlotte was a short lived series of old cup/bush cars with local drivers.......this is the race that later became known at the Goody's 300 for Busch cars years later.........
jacopman 1 year ago
more comments..Bobby Allison was outraged at this crash with Nascar....it was the racing back to the yellow that saw Sumner's car slam into Don's.....Allison tried to lead a group of drivers to change that rule.......all evidence did show that McTavish died on impact with the gate.......Two drivers I knew where in that race..Bob James a great Ohio short track driver who stopped to see if he could help..Jerry Cook who told me that to this day walking by that area of the track still chokes him up.
jacopman 2 years ago
.Don's car unloaded over that bump in four and lost control heading into the gate.....it sheered off the front of the car..the engine ripped from the mounts and was thrown through the air.....Friday Hasseler (a driver) saw this crash in person......saw Don strapped in the open car dead with both legs and one arm gone.....it gave him nightmares until he was killed a few years later in a twin 100 crash there....photos of Don dead and disfigured body were printed in papers across America..
jacopman 2 years ago
i have the newspaper clipping..he wasn't disfigured at all
Swartzie6 2 years ago
If you look closely,and if you watched the footage of him on the gurney,you will see that there are no legs in his racesuit..You have to look close though.I would still like to see if there was a video of the impact with the wall,I have heard that it was almost if the car, when it hit the wall,came to a stop,then spun wildly...It hit the wrong spot on the guard rail...I heard that there were parts stuck in the fence and everything..Id like to find that infield footage...
atgn70 2 years ago
I had heard he lost his legs..the picture I have of him being loaded in Ambulance doesnt show the lower part of body..I have newspaper clipping of car of him in car after wreck but its rather unclear if his legs were intact...However Bobby Allison did claim in a book that Don's legs were gone after 2nd impact...I watched Don race Modifieds several times..He was a great Driver
Swartzie6 2 years ago
Are you from the Boston area Swartzie!!!??
atgn70 2 years ago
No..I'm from Buffalo NY..I saw Don race at Lancaster Speedway a few times in the 60's..He would run the Big races there..He was always a front runner...Lancaster is a suburb of Buffalo
Swartzie6 2 years ago
@Swartzie6 three picture were shown but not in all the papers.........the first photo was shortly after he hit the gate.....the second caught him in the middle of the spin face on with the car cut in half..........his body stapped in and intact........the last photo not shown in all papers was the car remains sitting in the infield with him still in the car minus legs and part of an arm with a gruesome pale expression frozen on his face........awful.........
jacopman 1 year ago
Thats some crazy ass shit. To bad. Cars were shit back then. But that was modern stuff.
ohiopower 2 years ago
My grandpa told me about this crash. He didn't name names or tell me the race, but he described this very crash. That is violent. This is just as violent as anything you'll see on TV. They qualified at 185+ MPH comparable to today, but they used production cars and inferior safety equipment and design compared to today.
arizonaresident1 2 years ago
Looks like he was already Dead Before
the 2nd inpact
99boyz 2 years ago
Terrible crash. I'm amazed at the quality of the coverage of the race though, in colour, spectacular camera angles, really it doesn't look any different from how it looks now. Formula 1 in 1969 looked shit in comparison!
1ff2as5f12s51f3 2 years ago 15
Camera angles and onboard cameras are still inferior in F1 today compared to other forms of racing... go figure.
hristoitchov 2 years ago
I saw this when first show on TV at the age of 12........they interrupted WW of sports and showed the crash footage but first warning the viewer fo the violence....this was not the camera angle show on the original airing of the crash...they showed Don it the wall and tear the car in half then the hit by Sumner..it was from a infield camera shot very close to perpendicular to the line of racing as bad as it looked here the footage I saw was worse, this crash gave me nightmares for a long time.
jacopman 3 years ago
jesus that was a freaking bad one. RIP
DiVito94 3 years ago 6
holy crap he was luanched out of the car
RIP
99boyz 3 years ago
It is amazing how much the area around the speedway has changed since then. The Airport and the Homes and Businesses in the area.
I remember seeing this video on The Wide World of Sports and also on our local 6 O'Clock news along with warnings about the content which was indeed morbid but a fact of racing that shows we are are all fragile...
apike6 3 years ago
apike6,,,did the original video you saw show him on the stretcher,or the impact when he hit the wall.??
atgn70 3 years ago
This is what they showed, nothing more than the video as it is. Less on the nightly news during the sports segment. and there all it showed was the car spinning after hitting the wall and the other car hitting it. Nothing more was shown then and they warned everyone what was going to happen in the video and gave some time if Kids were needed to leave the room. I live near Rochester NY and that's what they showed here.
apike6 3 years ago
Holy McShit. that's bad... RIP
gamewizard546 3 years ago
According to Bobby Allison's book "Miracle" ,MacTavish was killed from his car hitting the wall.When Sommers hit him,the impact severed MacTavish's legs(sort of like what happened to Alex Zanardi)though he already dead by then.Either way it's by far one of the worst Daytona wrecks ever.
R.I.P Don MacTavish.
Crocfan20 3 years ago
I'm curious as to how this clip segwayed into an indianapolis clip,if the permatex 300 was held in february,as indy isnt until memorial day...tslick, did you see this race in its entirety,and is there film of the entire wreck..I was curious to know how you know he was sucked into the wall...I am curious to see the intital impact..
atgn70 3 years ago
From what i recall it was not this angle shown that day on Wide world of sports.. And it was not the entire race..His car made a sharp right turn into the wall head on as if something broke..simalar to Stan Fox at Indy..the angle i recall was more behind the accident showing more of the impact of the second car hitting him..it also included him hitting the wall..he was running 4th at the time
tslick1951 3 years ago
Coming out of turn 4 at that time there was a slight dip. He hit that dip and went straight into where the entry gate to the infield connected to the wall. He could not have hit a worse spot. The force popped the engine straight up in the air out of the car. I am sure he went instantly.
12gerbear 3 years ago 4
I watched this that day on ABC..I have told people for 40 years how horrible this accident..Seeing it now again..I cant describe my feelings..Thanks for posting this video..Don was a great driver..something sucked him head on into the wall which this video doesnt show..I still cant believe the damage..
tslick1951 3 years ago
I have the same recollection of this crash as you. I was 13 and my Dad told me he heard on the radio about a driver being killed at Daytona. I watched the news that night and they showed the footage. I always remembered the way the car spun down off the wall and the violent hit from the second car.
3bar 2 years ago
Don hit the metal crossing gate head on tearing the front of the car off. One heck of a racer-R.I.P Don
bighock54 3 years ago
I can't believe they still have those crossover gates.
jwcalla1 3 years ago
There are pics of this crash in a book I bought one year when I went to Daytona. I always thought the front of the car was torn off because he got hit by another car, not already gone when he got hit. Thats unbelievable. R.I.P. DON
jay157 3 years ago
Comment removed
atgn70 3 years ago
I've been looking for this footage forever,,i need to save it to my pc...rip don.
atgn70 3 years ago
Judging by how he was slumped over, it's hard to argue that he was even alive before the car was t-boned. Absolutely vicious crash.
vanillacoker1 3 years ago 5
It must have been horrible to be driving the car that hit McTavish his car. R.I.P. Don
101Metallica 3 years ago
I've heard about that crash for years, but never saw footage of it until now. RIP Don MacTavish
vgorilla80 3 years ago 13
This is a real good find. R.I.P Don McTavish.
scook120 3 years ago 3