Rick Allen has seen several jarring accidents happen in NASCAR over the years from the broadcast booth. One of the worst ever involved Austin Dillon and went down during the 2015 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. The announcer appeared on The Dale Jr. Download recently with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who’d won that race, and spoke about the roller coaster of emotions in the booth when it happened.
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Junior was approaching Victory Lane in the final laps of the day. The crowd was going berserk at the possibility of seeing their hero win, and the energy filled the broadcast booth as well. Allen was there calling the race along with Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. Notably, it was the first-ever booth experience for both Burton and Letarte. The thrill turned dire quickly.
Several drivers, including Dillon, were racing behind Junior, trying to gain spots. As they followed past the finish line, Denny Hamlin got back into Kevin Harvick. This made Harvick push back into Jeff Gordon, and the four-time champion backed into Dillon. Dillon’s car lifted, flew over two to three lanes of traffic, and crashed into the catch fence towards the entrance of Turn 1.
Allen narrated the reactions in the booth, “That’s the first race that Burton and Letarte had ever done. It was kind of funny. It’s a visual, but you won’t be able to see it if you’re listening to this.
“They creeped back like that Simpson episode where you know… goes into the bushes. They creep back away from everything and sit down because they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know what to say.”
Austin Dillon’s No. 3 RCR Chevrolet, which was going at over 200 miles per hour, was reduced to an abrupt standstill, and physics had a field day. His car was crushed into a metal block and led nearly every single person at the track to believe that he had passed away. Fortunately, Lady Luck was in the passenger seat. He climbed out seconds later with some help and waved to the crowd with relief.
Allen’s voice showed signs of a tremor, recalling the ups and downs that he felt in those 30 seconds. From basking in the joy of watching the favorite driver of millions win to fearing the death of an upcoming driver to thanking the racing gods for sparing him, emotions had gone haywire. Needless to say, Burton and Letarte sure got an idea of what life in the broadcast booth is like that day.
