In the 1979 Daytona 500 (the first ever professional stock car race
televised in its entirety), he and
Donnie Allison were battling for the win in
the final laps before colliding on the backstretch on the last lap
after Cale attempted to pass. Both wrecked cars ended up on the infield
and Cale and Donnie proceeded to climb from their cars and exchange
punches, with
Bobby Allison joining in. A national TV audience was treated to
this, and to this day the broadcast of the 1979 Daytona 500 is credited
with creating the first spark of nationwide interest in stock-car
racing.
