He quickly earned popularity for driving demolition derby cars, and appeared on ABC's Wide World of Sports.
The impact with the butt end of the concrete sheared off the whole front of the car, up to the firewall; the engine was thrown 100 feet (30 m) from the wreck.
The Mercury then spun around and wound up facing oncoming cars in the middle of the track surface, with MacTavish completely exposed in the driver's seat.
It was then struck by Sam Sommers, who was unable to see MacTavish's car due to smoke and flying debris from the accident.
[1] Three months after his death, the first annual 100-lap "Don MacTavish Memorial Race" was organized at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.