Donald Charles MacTavish (August 22, 1940 – February 22, 1969) was an American race car driver. He died in an accident at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

Biography

MacTavish was born in

Dover, Massachusetts Dover is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,923 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. With a median household income of more than $250,000, Dover is the wealthiest town in Massachusetts. Located ...

, and started his racing career at the age of 15 at the Norwood Arena in nearby Norwood. He quickly earned popularity for driving

demolition derby Demolition derby is a type of motorsport, usually presented at county fairs and national events. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their v ...

cars, and appeared on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's '' Wide World of Sports''. He competed in more than 100 Sportsman Car Series races on the East Coast. In 1963, he progressed to NASCAR's Sportsman Division and in 1966 he won the NASCAR National Sportsman Division Championship, a precursor to today's

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, by beating out

Ralph Earnhardt Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American stock car racer and patriarch of the Earnhardt racing family. He was the father of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt, grandfather of Kerry Earn ...

among others. In the late 1960s, MacTavish set his sights on competing in NASCAR's top series, the

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

. On February 22, 1969, MacTavish made his debut at the

, driving the No. 5 1966

Mercury Comet The Mercury Comet is an automobile that was produced by Mercury from 1962–1969 and 1971–1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car. For 1960 and 1961, Comet was its own brand sold by Lincoln-Mercury "Comet". The compact C ...

in the

NASCAR Sportsman Division NASCAR's Sportsman Division was formed in 1950, one year after the Strictly Stock (now NASCAR Cup Series) was launched and two years after NASCAR’s formation. It gave NASCAR three major series, along with the original Modifieds. It was replac ...

Permatex 300 The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the ...

. On lap nine 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 Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

; the engine was thrown from the wreck. The Mercury then spun around and wound up facing oncoming cars in the middle of the track surface, with MacTavish completely exposed in the driver's seat. It was then struck by

Sam Sommers Sam Sommers (born September 17, 1939) is a former American stock car racing driver from Savannah, Georgia. Sommers competed in 30 NASCAR Winston Cup races between 1976 and 1978, where he achieved a total of 9 top ten finishes and 1 pole position. ...

, who was unable to see MacTavish's car due to smoke and flying debris from the accident. This second impact sent his car bouncing into the grass on the inside of the track. MacTavish died instantly. Three months after his death, the first annual 100-lap "Don MacTavish Memorial Race" was organized at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. Race-winner

Richie Evans Richard Ernest Evans (July 23, 1941Bourcier, Bones, "61 at 61", ''Speedway Illustrated'' (ISSN 1528-4182), Volume 3, Number 8, August 2002. – October 24, 1985), was an American racing driver who won nine NASCAR National Modified Championships, ...

was presented the winner's trophy by Mrs. Dorothy MacTavish and Miss Marcia MacTavish, mother and sister of the late driver for whom the event was named. Each year, the

American Canadian Tour The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) is an independent regional stock car racing series based in the northeastern United States, and Eastern Canada. The American-Canadian Tour was founded in 1979 and conducts professionally-run stock car racing event ...

racing series awards one driver with the prestigious MacTavish Award at their annual year-end Banquet of Champions. The award is given for outstanding contribution in the field of stock car racing and named in honor of MacTavish for his contributions to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

racing. Past recipients of the award have included

Bill France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based s ...

(1969) and Ken Squier (1972). In 2001, MacTavish was posthumously inducted into the

New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame The New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for racing-related people in the New England region of the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primari ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mactavish, Don 1942 births 1969 deaths People from Dover, Massachusetts Racing drivers from Boston NASCAR drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Filmed deaths in motorsport Sports deaths in Florida

Biography

See also

References

External links