Stock Car History Online - Donnie Allison Story

Donnie Allison (right), shown here with NASCAR's Jim Hunter, was recently inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. That's despite the fact that he once missed out on filming one of the most infamous incidents in NASCAR history. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Donnie Allison Missed Chance At Television History
By Sean McCracken

How many times have you and your camera been present at a memorable event? You shoot an entire roll of film at a birthday party, wedding or a parade and during the shooting, something unforeseen occurs and you are thrilled at the opportunity to record the event for posterity on your new fangled camera.

One hour later at the film lab, you eagerly open up the photo envelope, expecting to see the best photographs you have ever taken and … and … why are all of the prints pitch black? A couple moments of head scratching, and then you realize that you’ve left the lens cap on. A once-in-a-lifetime event is lost forever due to simple human error.

As unlikely as may sound in these days of demanded media perfection, such unforeseen events are not unheard of. Cameras can be left out of focus during the crucial move of the race, the sun can flare the lens of a television camera just as a 15-car melee unfolds and at any given moment, there is always the distinct possibility that a disgruntled fan may decid to yank all of the fuses out of the track’s main power unit.

On May 6, 1979 at Talladega, a series of events came together that would serve to spur on the rumors that the speedway is, in some strange way, cursed.

Three weeks prior, on April 22, the newly formed MRN Broadcasting unit filmed its first ever race at the Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. A well-edited, 30-minute version of the race was then sold to local stations throughout the country via syndication. All had gone well, and Talladega was the next stop on MRN-TV’s schedule.

Unlike major television networks, MRN-TV’s staff was very small by comparison and their resources somewhat limited. To that end, tried and true 16mm film cameras were the weapon of choice. Also, MRN-TV could not afford to keep a full-time staff of photographers and spotters on call for an entire race week end. Instead, MRN-TV enlisted the aid of several local television cinematographers who were well-versed in the operations of the bulky 16mm equipment.

MRN-TV also had a new toy to unveil for this race. In cooperation with Donnie Allison and his car owner Hoss Ellington, Jack Arute and his fellow MRN employees were allowed to mount a special in-car camera inside Donnie’s red No. 1 Oldsmobile.

Earlier that year at both the Daytona and Atlanta 500, the first true in-car broadcast cameras were put to use, first by CBS and then by ABC. Results were mixed, but the groundwork for today's multiplicity of onboard audio/visual systems was off and running.

“We were really excited,” recalls Arute. “At that time, it was not like it is now with in-car cameras. At that time it was something new, it was unusual.”

There was one major drawback. The camera mounted in Donnie’s car was not a "broadcast" type camera but rather a large, bulky news film model which could only hold a 500-foot load of film at one time. This would last for roughly 15 minutes at 24 frames per second.

“Obviously we did not want to waste any film simply on the pace laps,” Arute said. “So we rigged a little toggle switched for Donnie to flip and start the camera.”

During the final pace lap, Arute, via radio, reminded Allison to push the toggle switch just as he was coming out of turn four to take the green flag. This would be the perfect time to capture some close bumper-to-bumper racing. Allison never replied, but Arute assumed that the driver had started the camera as scheduled. With any luck, the first 10 or so laps would be captured on film.

A famous writer once wrote that luck is where opportunity meets preparation. MRN and Donnie Allison were prepared, and the opportunity would be soon in coming.

Buddy Baker took the point in his “Silver Bullet” No. 28 Olds at the conclusion of lap three. Suddenly, Baker’s car broke loose and spun wildly just past the flagstand. Nearly every car running in the draft behind Baker were sent scattering in every direction … 17 of them in all.

The No. 11 of Cale Yarborough and the No. 27 of Benny Parsons played pinball with one another as they spun into the wet infield. The cars made contact numerous times. Cale’s car was sent cart wheeling with Benny’s car getting a worm’s eye view.

Right behind the cars of Yarborough and Parsons when the wreck began was Donnie Allison. His car, like most, spun into the infield just to the inside of turn one. Allison’s car spun an untold number of times, but like the Daytona race the previous February, his car could still move.

Even after the front running cars had come to a stop near turn one, the action was far from over. Cale Yarborough had quickly evacuated his car once it had come off the merry-go-round. The No. 71 of independent driver Dave Marcis had slid to a stop very close to Yarborough’s car.

While Yarborough was hurriedly examining the damage to his car, the out-of-control No. 40 of D.K. Ulrich came sliding onto the scene. Ulrich’s car made hard impact with Marcis’ car, and Marcis’ car was shoved directly into Yarborough’s. Unfortunately, Yarborough was still standing by his car and became the unwilling meat in the sandwich.

“I honestly thought both my legs had been cut off,” Cale recalled in a 1987 interview. “I told Dave (Marcis) to look down and check to see if I still (had) my legs. They were so numb I thought they were gone.”

MRN cameras around the track captured the incident from two different angles, one from the tri-oval and one from inside turn one, and, as far they all knew from the inside of Allison’s car as well.

“At that point, we were all excited,” Arute said. “We figured we had some really exciting footage from the inside out, looking at the anatomy of a crash at Talladega.”

A short time later, Arute was on hand at the infield care center when Allison was released following the mandatory checkup.

“Donnie it’s too bad, but thanks for carrying the camera that’ll be some incredible footage,” Arute told Allison.

Allison kept his head low and had a very sheepish look on his face.

“He never looked up,” Arute recalled. “He sort of mumbled.”

“I uh…I didn’t turn the camera on,” Allison said hesitantly.

“You…you what?!?”

“I didn’t turn the camera on,” Allison mumbled before finally looking up. “Jackie, I was just about to make my move and I wanted to make sure we had that on film.”

Long story short … no miraculous in-car footage.

Unfortunately for Arute and MRN, the story of the bizarre day at Talladega did not end with Allison’s flub. The rest of MRN’s cameras remained for the rest of race, covering it in much that same fashion as the Martinsville race. At day’s end, the raw undeveloped film was given to Arute, who in turn sent it out to be processed.

“We sent it out to be processed,” Arute remembered. “Then, we get a call from the processing company…the majority of our film shot that day was “Soft”.

In other words, it was out of focus.

Through some manipulation in the developing and little trickery in the editing booth, a usable half-hour program was salvaged out of the bad film lot. Much of the program featured footage shot during qualifying or practice rather than the race itself. The end product resembled a cross between a how-to documentary and a Talladega travel special.

“We were able to salvage a sufficient amount of footage to put sort of an artsy-fartsy show together,” Arute concluded. “But, boy, there were a few sleepless nights there.”

Over the years, the film of the “big one” from the 1979 Winston 500 has been shown and re-shown countless times, and in several events, nearly re-incarnated. However, no matter how spectacular the images of that day in 1979, it only pales in comparison to what might have been. If Donnie Allison had pressed the toggle switch as planned, MRN-TV, in its infancy, may well have produced one of the most remarkable sights in the entire history of auto racing.

An opportunity missed…is an opportunity lost.