acegear
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Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 973
Location: Enumclaw, WA
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 Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:13 pm Post subject: Classic Driver: Bobbie Allison |
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Bobby Allison entered his first race when he was a senior in high school, finishing 10th. However, after a couple of accidents, Bobby’s father ordered him to quit. But Bobby didn’t quit racing altogether. After testing engines for a while, Bobby became a NASCAR mechanic, then started racing in the Sportsman class.
Bobby won his first national championship in 1962 in the modified special division. He won that title again in 1963, then won the national modified title in 1964. Bobby then moved to Cup racing in 1965. In 1966 he won 3 races out of 34 starts. By 1970, Bobby was finishing in the top-5 in more than 35% of the races he entered, and won his first major race , beating Cale Yarborough by 3 car lengths to win the Atlanta 500.
In 1971, Bobby replaced David Pearson as driver for the Holman-Moody racing operation. After a narrow loss to his younger brother Donnie in the Winston 500 at Talladega, Bobby won the World 600, the Dover 500, the Motor State 500 and the Riverside 500. He lost another close race, to Richard Petty, in the Dixie 500 and then closed out the year with wins in the Michigan 500, Talladega 500, Southern 500 and National 500. His eight victories in races of 500 miles or more is still the NASCAR record.
Throughout his career, Bobby Allison had remarkable success in superspeedway races. He won the Mason-Dixon 500 and the Budweiser 500 five times each; the Southern 500 four times; and the Coca-Cola 500, Atlanta Journal 500, World 600, and Carolina 500 three times each. After going 55 straight starts without a victory, he won his fifth Winston 500 at Talladega in 1986, and in 1988 he won the Daytona 500 for the third time, just edging out his son, Davy. That was Bobby's 84th Cup win, third on the all-time list behind Richard Petty and David Pearson. Despite all his Cup victories, the championship eluded Bobby until 1983, when he finally won it at the age of 46.
Bobby’s last race was the Miller High Life 500 at Pocono, PA, on June 19, 1988, when he was involved in a nearly fatal crash on the first lap. But he survived and received a standing ovation at the NASCAR annual banquet that year when he and his wife Judy received the association's Award of Excellence.
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A win is a win, and second place is never good enough |
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