Racing icon Bobby Allison has died at age 86
Racing legend Bobby Allison has passed away at the age of 86. Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
NASCAR icon Bobby Allison, whose Hall of Fame career included two Indianapolis 500 starts with Team Penske, died Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Mooresville, N.C. Mr. Allison was 86.
A self-described “Racer’s Racer,” Allison’s 85 victories rank fourth on NASCAR’s all-time list _ with that 85th win ironically accompanied by a recent asterisk that broke him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip. Allison trails only “King” Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.
In addition, Allison’s 336 top-five finishes are second only to King Richard. Allison also logged 440 top-10 results and qualified on-pole 57 times. Allison won the 1983 Cup Series championship and finished runner-up five times during a career that began in 1961 and continued through life-threatening injuries suffered in a crash at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in the summer of 1988.
Allison excelled in NASCAR’s highest-profile events, winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in 1972, 1982 and 1988. He also won the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway four times and the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., three times.
Allison was a member of the second class inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte in 2011.
“Bobby Allison personified the term ‘racer,’^” NASCAR Chairman/CEO Jim France said in a statement. “Though he is best known as one of the winningest drivers in NASCAR Cup Series history, his impact on the sport extends far beyond the record books. As a driver, he won races and championships across several NASCAR divisions. But as leader of the famous ‘Alabama Gang,’ Bobby connected with fans in a profound manner.”
During the mid-1960s to early 1970s, less-restrictive team contracts and sponsor commitments allowed drivers to cross-over to rival series. Stock car star Cale Yarborough _ like Allison a NASCAR Hall of Famer _ qualified for four Indy 500s between 1966 and 1972. Similarly, NASCAR regular Lee Roy Yarbrough competed in three Indy 500s between 1967 and 1970.
Allison was drawn to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” after team-owner Roger Penske took note of his speed in a Shadow Can-Am sports car powered by a fuel-injected Chevrolet 427 cubic-inch engine. Allison strapped into the open-cockpit beast during a test in late 1972 on the road-course at Riverside, Calif.
“I did a few laps and was promptly fired because I went faster than the regular driver,” Allison told author Tim Packman in the 2003 book entitled Bobby Allison/A Racer’s Racer.
Penske suggested that Allison next test an open-wheel car. Allison proved impressively quick during a trial run at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway, which had identical dimensions to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
That session opened Allison’s eyes to the possibility of competing at IMS. Indeed, the family’s open-wheel “speed genes” had been confirmed in 1970, when brother Donnie finished fourth in the No. 83 Greer Eagle/Ford and was named Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. Donnie Allison also competed at IMS in 1971, finishing a solid sixth. Bobby’s younger brother completed 399 of a possible 400 laps during his two Indy 500 starts.
Roger Penske added Bobby Allison to his Indy 500 lineup in 1973 as teammate to defending champion Mark Donohue and veteran oval specialist Gary Bettenhausen. Allison qualified 12th in the No. 12 Sunoco DX McLaren/Offenhauser with a four-lap/10-mile average of 192.308 mph _ then the fastest speed ever posted by a rookie _ albeit aided by the second year of cars featuring huge, bolt-on rear wings to substantially increase downforce.
However, that promising qualifying run went awry on the ill-fated Race Day of May 30, 1973. A connecting rod broke in Allison’s Team Penske entry on the first of the scheduled 200 laps, relegating him to a 32nd-place finish in the traditional 33-car field. The rain-delayed race, which was contested on a Wednesday, had been red-flagged on Monday, May 28, after a massive Lap 1 accident. Driver David “Salt” Walther was critically injured and numerous spectators in the track’s boxes and first few rows of the Paddock grandstands suffered burns from a fireball ignited by an 11-car accident accident.
Rain also washed-out racing on Tuesday, May 29, leading to a pair of tragic events on Wednesday. The first incident was triggered by driver David “Swede” Savage; the second involved pit crewman Armando Teran, who was struck and fatally injured by a safety truck on pit lane. Both incidents occurred on Lap 59, after Savage lost control of his refueled car, crashed in Turn 4 and exploded into flames. A friend of Allison’s, Savage subsequently died in July from various burn injuries suffered in that fiery crash.
Allison did not return to Indy in 1974 but joined Team Penske’s 1975 lineup along with lead driver Tom “Gas Man” Sneva. Allison qualified 13th in the No. 16 CAM2 Motor Oil McLaren/Offy and spent nearly the entire first half of the race running in the top-10, including leading Lap 24 during pit stop cycles. He was running eighth when a gearbox failure ended his day after 112 laps. Allison was credited with a 25th-place finish in his second and final Indianapolis 500 start.
Allison made four other U.S. Auto Club Championship Trail starts in 1975 for Team Penske, with a best finish of sixth at Ontario Motor Speedway.
A native of Florida, Allison then focused on NASCAR as leader of “The Alabama Gang” _ a group of drivers who had moved to Hueytown, Ala., in the late 1950s to compete for higher purses on the state’s short tracks. Early “gang members” included brother Donnie and Red Farmer, with Jimmy Means, Neil Bonnett, Bobby’s son, Davey, and Hut Stricklin later affiliated with the group.
Bobby Allison, then age 50, memorably held off Davey for victory in the 1988 Daytona 500 behind the wheel of the No. 12 Miller High Life Buick Regal Coupe fielded by the Stavola Brothers. That was Bobby’s final recorded victory until Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, when NASCAR named Allison official winner of the Cup Series Myers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium contested on Aug. 6, 1971.
The race was one of six that season featuring a mix of Grand National (Cup) and smaller Grand American cars. Allison, who competed in both series, drove the Grand American No. 49 Ford Mustang on loan from friend Melvin Joseph to victory, leading 138 of 200 laps around the flat, quarter-mile oval in Winston-Salem, N.C. While Allison was presented a trophy during a Victory Lane ceremony, the win never was counted toward his Cup total until last month.
Allison also famously drew national attention during CBS Sports’ telecast of the 1979 Daytona 500 _ the historic first NASCAR race carried live, flag-to-flag on network television. The finish of “The Great American Race” saw the Oldsmobiles driven by Donnie Allison and Yarborough crash-out on the 200th and final lap, allowing Richard Petty to steal the win. The wrecked cars of Donnie Allison and Yarborough came to rest in a muddy infield, where Bobby eventually headed to offer his brother a ride back to the garage area. At that point, Bobby said Yarborough began yelling and blaming him for causing the wreck _ moments before whacking Allison in the face with his helmet.
“It stunned me and it hurt,” Allison said in Packman’s book. “I looked down in my lap and there were a few droplets of blood. I said to myself, ‘I have to get out of this car and address this right now or run from him the rest of my life.’ So, I got out of the car. And, with that, Cale went to beating on my fist with his nose. That’s my story _ and I’m sticking with it.”
While Allison’s driving career ended in 1988 in that crash at Pocono, he fielded a Cup Series team from 1990-96 with marginal success. Still, he was among the multitudes drawn to Texas Motor Speedway in March 1997 for the track’s inaugural NASCAR weekend in Fort Worth. Working as lead reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I found Bobby walking through the Cup garage just before the initial practice on Friday morning. During the ensuing, impromptu interview Bobby explained that he was curious to see what all the hub-bub was about O. Bruton Smith’s newest facility.
The lead of my column that appeared in Saturday morning’s Star-Telegram read: Bobby Allison doesn’t need an excuse to be at a racetrack. He’s Bobby Allison.
Bobby and wife Judy endured the losses of two sons who had followed their dad into racing. Clifford Allison was killed in a crash during practice for a NASCAR Busch Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 13, 1992. Clifford Allison was 27.
Davey Allison was a rising Cup star for team-owner Robert Yates when he was killed while attempting to land a helicopter at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on July 13, 1993. Davey Allison was 32.
“In the most significant ways, Bobby gave his all to our sport,” Jim France said. “On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I offer my deepest condolences to Bobby’s family, friends and fans on the loss of a NASCAR giant.”
Allison retired from the cockpit as a five-time NASCAR champion _ Cup Series (1983), Modified Division (1964-65) and Modified Special Division (1962-63). Those accomplishments earned Allison induction into several racing Halls of Fame, including the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.
Allison was recognized as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers during the sanctioning body’s 50th anniversary season in 1998 and was cited as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers during the 75th anniversary celebration in 2023. Allison also was named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver six times.
Author Packman asked Allison how he wanted to be remembered by NASCAR Nation, say, 100 years down the road.
“On the serious side,” Allison said, “100 years from now I would like for them to say, ‘There was a guy who contributed, heavily, to the popularity of this sport. It was a pretty young sport when he started. It wasn’t brand new, but it was still pretty young. He worked hard, put his own earnings back into it and contributed heavily to the great success that it became.
“On the fun side of things, somebody could say, ‘There’s a guy, if ever he had all his stuff together at one time, would have been way, way ahead of where he was.’ A long time from now, when people are looking at this whole picture, I just really hope they call me a ‘Racer’s Racer’^.”
