|| *Comments on the 1975 Talladega 500:* View the most recent comment <#27> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. buckshot44 posted: 09.14.2004 - 6:30 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Tiny Lund was fatally injured in lap 6 of this race when he spun out and hit by Curtis Link. At 6-5, 270 lbs. and winner of the 1963 Daytona 500, Lund completely embodied the pioneers of early NASCAR, and I'm sure he was missed very much. 2. Chicago posted: 12.27.2005 - 5:07 am Rate this comment: (4) (0) This was a black weekend for the sport even before the event ... Gene Lovell, crew chief for Grant Adxox's independent operation, suffered a heart attack the Saturday before the scheduled start of the race. As the first alternate, Tiny Lund got the call to race and after dominating a Sportsman event, flew to Alabama in Bobby Allison's airplane, while Adcox withdrew. Adcox had a bizarre career with more bad luck and tragedy than some experience in an entire lifetime, culuminating in his fatal crash at Atlanta of chest injuries. More on Tiny later ... Before the race even started, the weekend saw Mark Donohue break A.J. Foyt's closed circuit speed record in a sports car. More on Donohue later. The race, to be held on Sunday the 10th, was postponed a week due to rains. A week later, Formula One legend Juan Manuel Fangio waved the green flag and the ominous Talladega 500 started ... The fatal crash on the backstretch on lap seven was triggered when Lund got into J.D. McDuffie and both cars spun - through the smoke, rookie Terry Link also spun and slammed side on side straight into Lund's door. Link's car exploded into flames, and it was two spectators, Richard Simpson and David Garmany, along with Walter Ballard who had also been caught up in the crash, who rescued a not breathing Link from his car despite being assailed by officials and resuscitated him. Lund, however, was beyond saving. He was pronounced dead shortly after the accident occured. The drivers were left in the dark. The race, however, for the lead was ferocious in intensity - a number of drivers led laps, with over sixty official start finish line lead changes, but Richard Brooks would touch Donnie Allison down the backstretch and went tumbling through the grass all the way to the third corner. He was shaken but uninjured. Baker triumped over Petty in a close finish as Donnie Allison blew a tire late in the going. That same day, in practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Ostreichring, Mark Donohue had a massive shunt as he exploded a tire and went off at the Hella Licht corner. His Penske March cleared the barriers and impacted with a sponsor board and two marshalls - one of whom would die on the spot. Donohue was thought alright at first, then soon complained of major headaches. Despite an operation to relieve pressure on his brain, The day of Tiny Lund's funeral, he died in hospital at Graz. 3. Darrell posted: 03.18.2006 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) RIP Tiny and Mark. DW's first race with DiGard. 4. Destiny posted: 06.20.2007 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Tiny is dead in Talladega, in just two days later, Mark Donohue passed on. 5. DieselDan posted: 12.22.2007 - 5:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't Richard Petty's brother-in-law die in a pit road accident during this race? 6. Petty43 posted: 12.25.2007 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) the final cup start for the longest racing career of all RED FARMER! 7. Destiny posted: 02.02.2008 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DieselDan, Randy had died in May, not August. 8. jp posted: 02.22.2009 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) first RP's cousin, now Tiny & Mark. and about the Adcox deal, in '89, Adcox had a Heart Attack & crashed. NASCAR was JINXED then. 9. Sébastien posted: 07.27.2009 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bonnett #12 sponsor was Kelley not Kelly ;) 10. WillG46 posted: 02.08.2010 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dick Brooks flipped several times in this race. 11. Schroeder51 posted: 03.08.2011 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There is now video of Tiny Lund's fatal accident on Youtube. 12. fannie davis posted: 03.17.2011 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) thank you Chicago for your comment many whom including myself come here for racing info and i never knew this happened may god bless you and please others who may know history about our fav. sport do the same for us all thanks 13. jamie88fan@yahoo.com posted: 04.17.2011 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last time for 50 cars to start a race here thank god what the hell was nascar thinking starting 50 cars of course this is nascar back in the 70s and early 80s if u had a leagl car you could attmet at any track ... 14. 18fan posted: 08.10.2012 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First start for Darrell Waltrip in a DiGard car. He would stay at DiGard until the end of the 1980 season. 15. v2v1v5 posted: 02.18.2013 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Buddy Baker's winning Bud Moore Ford Torino was a "fastback" 1973 model the same model he won the spring race in. 16. mkl62 posted: 12.28.2014 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think that this was Donnie Allison's first outing with Hoss Ellington. They would be together until March 1980. 17. Schroeder51 posted: 12.31.2015 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to Ken Squier on the 1979 Daytona 500 CBS broadcast, Dick Brooks flipped SEVENTEEN times in this race. 18. RaceFanX posted: 01.21.2016 - 10:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Link's last Cup start sees his Pontiac, the only one in the field, wiped out in the big wreck in the opening laps. Link attempted a few races later on but did not make the field. 19. Paul posted: 03.08.2016 - 11:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #61 Joe Mihalic - Pittsburgh: Someplace Special #96 Richard Childress - Ashville Savings Bank Source: Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/joe-mihalic-and-richard-childress-battle-side-by-side-news-photo/103645060) 20. Maverick posted: 10.08.2016 - 9:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Largest field in the Latford era points system. The system could accommodate up to 54 cars (54th would recieve 1 point), not sure what would happen if there was a larger field. 21. chevyfan98 posted: 10.08.2016 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They would probably get 0 points. That was how it worked with owners points for races where there were more than 54 entries. 22. Anthony posted: 10.08.2016 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) wow, the engines took a pounding in this one!! 23. KW posted: 08.03.2017 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a sports car race run on the infield road course as a preliminary race this weekend. The winner was Hans Stuck in a BMW, followed by Peter Gregg, Hurley Haywood, and Al Holbert. 24. Bob Sawicki posted: 03.27.2018 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ Car#97 Driver:Salt Walther Sponsor/Owner Smithville Farms/Walmotors. Salt crashed in practice when a water pump blew and water went on the tires causing the crash. This was to be Salt's first race with Smithville Farms(Norris Reed) Sponsorship. This was Salt's car with Norris Reed's engine, Salt used Reed's transporter and crew. 25. bbigjohnson posted: 04.10.2018 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Donnie Allison said he hit Dick Brooks in the right rear. Brooks' car turned toward the wall but he corrected the other way. Then Allison said Brooks' car went airborne nose up and flipped. Brooks' told the same story saying the car flipped twice in that direction before hitting the ground tumbling the rest of the backstretch,rolling the other way 16 or 17 times. Less than a month later Brooks ran second at Dover and probably should have won except for the antics of Buddy Arrington. Incredibly Brooks was in the same car that was all but destroyed at Talladega. 26. Mile501 posted: 12.04.2019 - 10:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Exactly the first half of the field (1st-25th) was running at the finish, while everyone in the second half of the field (26th-50th) had a DNF. I'm not sure how often that has happened in NASCAR history, with the field equally split like that between finishers and non-finishers, but I imagine it is a rarity. 27. MSportRev posted: 12.04.2019 - 11:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some DNQs and Driver Changes: DC: A.J. Foyt qualified the #28 and had to leave due to IndyCar commitments after this race was postponed by a week due to rain. DC: Tom Williams qualified the #38 that Grant Adcox raced. DC: Henley Gray qualified the #19 that Jabe Thomas raced. DC: Tom Gale qualified the #10 that Bill Champion raced. DC: Jabe Thomas qualified the #25 that Earl Brooks raced. DNQ: Grant Adcox #41 Owner: Herb Adcox Chevrolet DNQ: Salt Walther #97 Sponsor/Owner Smithville Farms/Walmotors DNQ: John Banks Manufacturer: Dodge Source: Ultimate Racing History ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: