Mayhem In May At Talladega

   Even now, 35 years later, Buddy Baker still gets the shivers in recollecting the 1973 Winston 500 at what was then known as Alabama International Motor Speedway.
   The NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, being run for only the fourth time on the 2.66-mile track now named Talladega Superspeedway, was marred by a 21-car crash, among the largest ever to that time.  Nineteen of the machines involved were eliminated from the event won by David Pearson, who scored his fifth straight victory in the Wood Brothers Mercury.
   Some drivers who experienced the colossal crash, like Baker, maintain that the accident remains by far the circuit's most violent overall in magnitude.  Even though it resulted in no fatalities it left Wendell Scott, Earl Brooks, Joe Frasson and Slick Gardner with injuries ranging from minor to serious.
   Scott, the only African-American ever to win at NASCAR's top level, now called the Sprint Cup Series, was hurt the worst.  The pioneering competitor,  who died of cancer in 1990, suffered a cracked pelvis, three broken ribs and a lacerated arm.  The loss of his race car also left him almost ruined financially and his career--in effect--was over.

   For some years now such multi-car crashes, which happen mainly at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway, have been tagged as "The Big Ones."
  The Aaron's 499 is scheduled Sunday at Talladega, and if the drivers entered all could be given a truth serum, it's very likely they'd concede their major concern is still another "Big One."
   "To me, what took place in '73 was bigger than big," said Baker.  "Most of the drivers racing that day had never been in anything like it.
   "The wreck happened with such suddeness that it was like opening a closet door and having a tiger jump out on you.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw the caution light flash on, but there was no time to react to it.  Then it was just chaos."
   The swerving, sliding, soaring savagery of cars going out of control at almost 200 mph developed on the 10th of 188 laps .
    The engine in a Mercury driven by Ramo Stott, who started 13th in an expanded field of 60 cars, failed as he swept off the second turn banking.  Stott spun when the motor blew, spraying a wide oil slick across the asphalt track's long backstretch.  The timing hardly could have been worse, for fast approaching was the onrushing front pack, led by pole winner Baker in a Dodge.
   "In an instant there were cars spinning and slamming out of control everywhere," continued Baker.  "The smoke from the skidding tires was incredible.  There also was a lot of dust.  It hadn't rained for a while in Alabama, so the grassy area along the backstretch was very dry.  When cars got off the pavement, they created big rooster-tails of dust.
   "The smoke and dust mixed, making it seem like total darkness in that section of the track.  I feel sure the visibility off the hoods of the cars for most of us was no more than an inch or two.
   "I kept looking for a light spot, praying for a light spot.  I saw one and in a split-second decision went for it."
   Baker found no clear path awaiting.  Instead, Stott's car blocked the way.  Stott had jumped  quickly from his cockpit, saw the field fall apart behind him and then jumped back in, figuring on the roll cage to protect him, which it did.
   "The impact tore my car to pieces," said Baker.  "Big parts were knocked off of it, including the motor.  I went burrowing through the grass with what was left of the front end of my car digging up so much dust it almost choked me.  Other cars were getting damaged worse.
   "I heard a boom louder than a bomb exploding.  Bobby Allison and James Hylton had collided.  It looked like someone had taken a giant pair of shears and cut both those cars in half.
   "Next I heard a much stranger noise.  It was Cale Yarborough's car coming over me in the air.  His motor was going, 'Wha-room, wha-room, wha-room.'  Cale was still accelerating!"
   Yarborough's Chevrolet had become airborne when it hit a Chevy driven by Ronnie Daniel.
   "I didn't think I ever was going to come down," said Yarborough.
   "When Cale got out of his car I went rushing to him," continued Baker.  "We were so amazed to be alive we started hugging each other."
   The rejoicing ended abruptly.
   Incredibly, although a minute or so had elapsed since the accident began, a second wave of cars was now wrecking with all the wildness of the first wave.
   "Cale and I were stunned," said Baker.  "We saw one car going over us as high as a telephone pole.  And Joe Frasson's Dodge was coming right at us backwards and appearing to pick up speed.  Cale and I jumped simultaneously and somehow made it to the top of the inside wall, or banking.  I doubt even Michael Jordan ever jumped any higher from a flat-footed position."
   Baker shook his head in recollection and went on:
   "There were engines, rear end housings and drive shafts sticking in the pavement.  It looked like a bomb went off in a junkyard.  There was no part of the backstretch that wasn't littered."
  The late Benny Parsons offered this description:  "For some reason I thought it had been only a one car incident, or maybe two. But coming off turn two I saw the biggest mess of my career on a race track.  It looked like a 747 jetliner had crashed."
    Among the others drivers swept into the wreck were Larry Smith, Bobby Mausgrover, Charlie Roberts, Ben Arnold, Bill Ward, Ron Keselowski, Buddy Arrington, Walter Ballard and Lennie Pond.
   Several top stars blamed the expanded field, NASCAR's largest in 15 years, for the mayhem.
   Said Yarborough: "Those 20 extra cars had a lot to do with it.  There were too many inexperienced drivers out there.  They panicked and didn't know what to do when trouble broke out."
   Added Bobby Allison: "NASCAR said that because the track is so big, the extra cars were needed to fill it up.  They did alright.  All over the backstretch."
   Allison also was critical of NASCAR for allowing drivers to race back to the yellow flag.  This no longer is permitted.  Technology now enables NASCAR to immediately freeze a field in position when the yellow shows.
   Incredibly on that May Sabbath in '73, the race was not red-flagged.  The clean-up crews did their work while cars continued to circle at what amounted to a crawl.  The caution flag was out for an hour and 35 minutes.
    When the green flag showed again on Lap 45, Pearson was the leader.  He stayed near the front the rest of the way, taking the lead for good on Lap 119 and pulling away to win by more than a full lap over Donnie Allison and Parsons, who finished 2-3.
   Pearson had started on the front row alongside Baker, but had a hunch there was going to be trouble early in the race.  He dropped back a bit.
   "Even by slowing down, I don't know how I didn't become a part of the wreck," said Pearson.  "I guess the thing that saved me is when I saw the first wisp of smoke I almost stopped completely."
   Only 17 of the 60 starters were running at the finish.
   "I'll always feel that May 6, 1973 will rank among the wierdest days ever in racing," said Baker.  "Anyone who had a complete car--much less one that was still going--was lucky that day."
   Yarborough said at the time it went beyond luck.
   "We have witnessed the biggest miracle we'll ever see," proclaimed Cale.  "With all the cars that were hit in the driver's door, you know the Good Lord had His hand on the backstretch.  He was with us."