Sports Car and NASCAR Racing Career
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.
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.
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 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.
Read more about this topic: Dave Mac Donald
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