Donnie Allison Gets The Best Of Cale Yarborough In 1979 Daytona 500 Fight

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida 1979 – The 1979 Daytona 500 is remembered as one of the most memorable and significant NASCAR races of all-time.

The 1979 Daytona 500 the 21st annual event, was the second race of the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) season. It was held on February 18, 1979. Sports pundits consider the 1979 Daytona 500 to be the most important race in stock car history.

The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile race to be broadcast in its entirety live on national television in the United States. Races were shown on television but as an example, the Indianapolis 500 was broadcast on tape delay later in the evening on the day it was run, in this era, and usually in edited form. Most races aired during this period were only broadcast starting with the final quarter to half of the race.

For the first time in history, CBS Sports broadcasted the entire Daytona 500 flag-to-flag on live television with Ken Squier, David Hobbs and Chris Economaki serving as the booth announcers.

With a major snowstorm keeping most of the nation inside their houses, fans were able to tune in on television and watch the epic final lap battle between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison.

Neither Yarborough nor Allison ever made it to the checkered flag. On the backstretch, Yarborough pulled out to make a pass on Allison and the two drivers began beating and banging on each other until finally crashing entering Turn 3.

Richard Petty benefited from the crash and held off Darrell Waltrip and A.J. Foyt to win his sixth Daytona 500.

As Petty celebrated, one of the landmark moments in the history of NASCAR took place in Turn 3 as Yarborough and Allison began a heated debate that turned into a fist fight with Allison’s brother Bobby jumping into the fray.

Donnie Allison, reflecting on the 1979 race prior to the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in 2008, said he never would have imagined crashing out in Turn 3 on the last lap.

“If I had to do it over, and I know what I know now, I would have done something different,” Allison said. “But to be perfectly honest, it caught me by surprise. It caught everybody by surprise because how many times in the 50 years they run the Daytona 500 have you seen the leader and the second-place car wreck coming off of Turn 2. Turn 4 yes. I expected something to happen down there.”