On February 18, 1797 at the Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR as we know it kicked into a higher gear. For the first time, every lap of a 500 mile race was beamed to television sets across the nation. And what America saw was one of the greatest and most important races in the history of stock car racing.

Sports fans love a great finish and this one was a doozy. Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough, running 1-2 on the last lap, took each other out of the race in the backstretch with a controversial crash, leaving Richard Petty to beat Darrell Waltrip and A.J. Foyt. But before King Richard took the checkered flag there was "The Fight." Bobby Allison had stopped his car near the wrecked remains of his brother Donnie's car and Yarborough's. Suddenly fists were flying as Bobby and Cale charged each other with brother Donnie and television viewers across the nation looking on.