David George MacDonald (July 23, 1936 – May 30, 1964) was an American road racing champion noted for his successes driving Corvettes and Shelby Cobras in the early 1960s. His promising career ended abruptly after a crash in the 1964 Indianapolis 500 in which he was killed along with fellow driver Eddie Sachs in a fiery inferno that directly led to a change in fuel type from gasoline to methanol. MacDonald was born in El Monte, California and died at the age of 27.
In a brilliant but all too brief career, MacDonald competed in 105 races with 45 victories and 67 top 3 finishes.[1] In a 2008 interview with Hot Rod Magazine, legendary auto racer and designer Carroll Shelby said "I think Dave had more raw talent probably than any race driver I ever saw".[2]
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MacDonald, dubbed the "Master of Oversteer" for his drifting skills, was a well-known Chevrolet Corvette racer on the West Coast when Carroll Shelby hired him to drive his new Ford-powered Cobra Roadster in the 1963 season.
His first race for Shelby American was at Riverside International Raceway on February 2, 1963 and MacDonald recorded the Cobra Roadster 260's first-ever victory. The following month he drove the Cobra Roadster 289 to its first victory in a race held at Dodger Stadium.[3]
In the fall of 1963, MacDonald rose to national prominence during a five-week stretch where he dominated both the USRRC and NASCAR racing circuits. During that period he outdueled international fields of world class drivers to put his Shelby King Cobra in the winners circle at the two biggest and richest road races in America, the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix at Riverside and the Monterey Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. He also finished 2nd in the Hawaiian Grand Prix driving a Cobra Roadster. MacDonald then jumped to the NASCAR circuit where he finished 2nd in the Golden State 400 driving Wood Brothers Racing's famous #21 car, and then 2nd again for Holman Moody in the Augusta 510. The Helms Athletic Foundation named MacDonald "Athlete of the Month" following his outstanding performance in October. MacDonald competed in seven NASCAR Grand National races prior to his death at Indy, including a 10th place finish in the '64 Daytona 500 won by Richard Petty.[4]
In March 1964, MacDonald and teammate Bob Holbert co-piloted the new Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe to a 1st in GT & 4th OA finish in the 12 Hours of Sebring international endurance race. It was the highest ever finish for an American team. In April MacDonald won the inaugural race at Phoenix International Raceway while driving the new King Cobra-Lang Cooper and then followed that with a King Cobra victory on May 10 at the United States Road Racing Championships at Kent Washington. This would be MacDonald's last victory before his death three weeks later in the Indy 500.
MacDonald had become one of America's top drivers when Mickey Thompson hired him to drive the radical #83 "Sears-Allstate Special" in the 1964 Indy 500. The car was a Ford-powered rear-engine design specifically built to run on low-profile 12" tires.[5] Thompson debuted two of these revolutionary cars at the '63 Indy 500 and they became known as the "Super Skates". They were far ahead of their time, but badly designed, poorly built and difficult to drive.[6] Graham Hill tested the car before the '63 Indy race and refused to drive it because of its poor handling, a condition made worse for 1964 when Thompson was forced to completely redesign the cars to accommodate the new USAC-mandated 15-inch (380 mm) tires. Several top drivers declined Thompson's offer to drive the cars in the '64 race including Mario Andretti. Andretti though turned it down over concerns of his lack of experience and the fact that the ride was only for Indy. Thompson selected MacDonald, Masten Gregory & 15-time Indy 500 competitor Eddie Johnson. Johnson was assigned the #82 car, MacDonald the #83 car and #84 went to Gregory, all three cars crashed in practice. When Gregory took the #84 car out for its initial test with the larger tires he quickly lost control and crashed into the wall. He told Thompson the larger tires made the car too high, causing it to lift in the turns. Gregory then abruptly quit the team. Thompson found it difficult to find a replacement as other available drivers took the advice of Gregory and stayed away. Days later Eddie Johnson nearly totalled the #82 car when he took it into the wall during a practice session. Jim Clark, the 1963 world driving champion, was out practicing with MacDonald on Carb Day when he noticed strange movement from MacDonald's car. Clark followed him into the pits and urged his friend to "Get out of that car, mate - just walk away." According to long-time motor sports journalist Chris Economaki, MacDonald never practiced with a full load of fuel due to Thompson's focus on high speeds.[7]
MacDonald qualified the Thompson #83 car at an average speed of 151.464 mph, good for the middle of row 5 and in 14th position. Johnson qualified Gregory's rebuilt #84 car and placed it on the outside of row 8 and in 24th position. Ironically, Gregory returned to the Thompson team in the final days of qualifying but was unsuccessful in his attempt to put the #82 car in the field. Neither he nor the #82 car ran the race.
On the first lap of his first Indy 500 race in 1964, MacDonald passed at least 5 other cars. As MacDonald passed Johnny Rutherford and Eddie Sachs, Rutherford noticed that MacDonald's car was very loose. Rutherford later said that, watching the behavior of MacDonald's car, he thought, "Whoa, he's either gonna win this thing or crash."[8]
On the second lap, MacDonald spun coming off the fourth turn. As the car began to slide, he came across the track and hit the inside wall, igniting the 45 gallon fuel load which caused a massive fire. His car then slid back across the track and six more cars became involved. Ronnie Duman crashed, spun in flames and hit the pit lane wall. He was burned but survived. Bobby Unser hit Johnny Rutherford's car on its left rear tire and crashed into the outside wall. Chuck Stevenson and Norm Hall also crashed. Popular driver Eddie Sachs, blinded by the smoke, broadsided MacDonald's burning car and died due to blunt-force injuries. Dave MacDonald died two hours later at Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis. Eddie Johnson retired the other Thompson car after only 6 laps.
The crash was well documented on film and still images, and shown worldwide. For the first time in its history, the Indianapolis 500 was stopped because of an accident. Partially in response to media pressure, USAC required that cars carry less fuel, a change that also led every team to switch from gasoline to methanol prior to the next year's Indy 500.
Carroll Shelby, Mickey Thompson, Bill Stroppe and Don Steves served as pallbearers at MacDonald funeral.
| Year | Races | Wins | Top 3 Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 15 | 3 | 10 |
| 1961 | 23 | 14 | 17 |
| 1962 | 23 | 10 | 14 |
| 1963 | 32 | 14 | 20 |
| 1964 | 12 | 4 | 6 |
| Totals | 105 | 45 | 67 |
| Year | Car # | Qualify | Started | Finished | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 83 | 151.464 | 14 | 29 | 1 |