Bobby Allison
One of 12 children born to Mom and Pop Allison,
Bobby knew by age 9 that he wanted to race cars. In 1955
he started his racing career in Hialeah, Florida
racing the local tracks. He, and his brother Donnie were soon to realize
that the real money was to be made in Alabama, so he made the move to Hueytown.
As everyone knows, Bobby, along with Donnie, and Red Farmer were known
as the "Alabama Gang", and with each win, they were hard to ignore.
In 1966, with
a homemade Chevelle, he began racing the Winston Cup circuit, then known
as Grand National. He was told he didn't have much of a chance to win a
race, so that season he went on to win 3.
This started a long prosporous career, that included a fued on the track
with Richard Petty. Not a race went by that those two could not be seen
beating and trading paint somewhere on the track. Bobby drove for a number
of car owners including, Roger Penske, Holman-Moody, Junior Johnson, Digard
Racing, and the Stavola Bothers. One of the best looking cars he
ever drove was the red and gold Coke Machine, while driving for Junior
Johnson.
Bobby's accomplishments in Winston Cup
were tremendous. He is tied with Darrell Waltrip for 4th
on the all-time win list with 84
wins, 5th in
poles won with 57,
and 5th in prize
money won. Bobby was named most popular driver six times-1971,
1972, 1973, 1981, 1982,and 1983. Winner of
the Daytona 500, World 600, and the Winston 500, 3
times each, and the Southern 500 4
times. Bobby was twice award the American Driver of the Year award, and
won the National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year on 3
occasions. In 1983,
Bobby won his only Winston Cup Championship, after finishing runner-up
5 times. In 1988,
Bobby won the Daytona 500, finishing ahead of his son Davey, that was a
special and magical moment we all got share via the television camera.
Sadly, Bobby's career was ended by a near-fatal accident at Pocono that
same year. But through all his struggles, and his faith Bobby came back
to the racing world as a car owner. But as Corporate America, stuck it's
foot in NASCAR's door, smaller operations were shut out, leaving him without
sponsorship for his team. We miss Bobby racing each week, but we are happy
he is still around racing in his own way. The world of NASCAR owes Bobby
Allison a debt of gratitude for the contributions he made through his career.
We miss you Bobby, and wish you well.