Davey Allison(1961-1993)
The son of NASCAR racing legend Bobby Allison, Davey Allison was born
to race. Born in Hollywood, Florida in 1961, the family relocated to
Hueytown, Alabama and became known as the "Alabama Gang" in NASCAR
circles. Davey was the first, second-generation "Alabama Gang" driver
and carried on the tradition established by his father, his uncle
Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnett, and Red Farmer. Davey first raced in 1979
on a Birmingham, Alabama short track, scoring his first win in only his
sixth start. He graduated from high-school early and concentrated
solely on his racing career. His climb to NASCAR's top division started
in 1983 when he competed in the Automobile Racing Club of America
(ARCA) series, and the NASCAR Dash Series. That year, he won his first
superspeedway race in the ARCA event at Talladega. The success
continued in 1984 when he won the ARCA Rookie of the Year, and three
ARCA events at Talladega, Atlanta, and Macon, Georgia. He also made his
first Winston Cup start in 1984, finishing 10th at Talladega in a Hoss
Ellington owned Chevrolet. 1985 brought more wins in ARCA (at Talladega
and Atlanta) and three more starts for Hoss Ellington in NASCAR. In
1986, Davey made five Winston Cup starts, four for the Sadler Brothers
team, and one for Junior Johnson in relief of family friend Neil
Bonnett.
In 1987, Harry Ranier hired Davey to drive his #28 Ford, a ride Cale
Yarborough vacated to form his own team. The team got off to a fast
start, locking down the outside pole position for the season opening
Daytona 500. Pit problems relegated the team to a less than
satisfactory finish, but the performance helped lock up a sponsorship
deal with Texaco-Havoline. The Ranier team ran a limited schedule
during 1987, mainly on tracks over one mile in length. The highlight of
the 1987 season came in the Winston 500 at Talladega in May. The race
featured a terrifying lap 22 crash in which Bobby Allison's car blew a
tire, lifted into the air, and crashed into the grandstand fencing.
Davey's father walked away from the crash and the race was delayed more
than four hours for repairs to the fence. After the restart, Davey had
one of the best cars on the track and was in contention for the win
late in the day. With darkness falling on the Talladega Superspeedway,
Davey took the lead from Dale Earnhardt on a late race restart and
drove to his first Winston Cup win in the event. Later that month,
Davey won again at Dover, Delaware, becoming the first NASCAR Winston
Cup driver to win two events in his rookie year. His performance netted
him Rookie of the Year honors in the Winston Cup series.
In 1988, the Ranier team ran the entire Winston Cup schedule. The year
started fast as Davey finished second to his father in the Daytona 500.
It was Bobby Allison's third victory in NASCAR's biggest race, and he
described the finish with his son as the highlight of his career.
Davey's Ranier team struggled through the early part of 1988 before
tragedy struck the Allison family. During the opening lap of the June
race at Pocono, PA, Bobby Allison's car cut a tire, hit the wall, and
then was hit in the driver's side by another car. Bobby suffered
near-fatal head injuries in the crash that ultimately ended his racing
career. Shaking off the effects of a sub-par season and his father's
near-fatal crash, Davey finally won at Michigan in August, and won the
inaugural race at the new Richmond International Raceway. On October 1,
1988, the engine builder and crew chief for the Ranier team, Robert
Yates, bought the team from the financially struggling Ranier. Thus
began one of the most celebrated owner/driver relationships in NASCAR
history. Davey won two races each in 1989 and 1990, and finished 8th
and 13th in the Winston Cup Championship respectively. The 1991 season
started with Davey winning the pole position for the Daytona 500, but
the team failed to perform otherwise. Five races into the '91 season,
crew chief Larry McReynolds was hired and the team began to perform.
Davey dominated the Winston All-star event at Charlotte, and one week
later won NASCAR's longest event, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. By
the end of the 1991 season, Davey had scored five wins and a third
place finish in the Winston Cup Championship. This performance made the
Robert Yates team a definite championship contender for the 1992
season.
1992 definitely started well. After dodging a mid-race pileup, Davey
drove to victory in the Daytona 500. A second at Rockingham, NC, and
consecutive fourth place finishes found Davey at the top of the Winston
Cup point standings. But a series of setbacks began at Bristol when a
hard crash left Allison with fractured ribs among other injuries. That
week, his grandfather, Pop Allison, died. Shaking off the effects of
the crash and the loss of his grandfather, Davey scored his second win
of the year at North Wilkesboro, NC. He won again at Talladega in May,
making him eligible to win NASCAR's Winston Million bonus if he could
win either the Coca-Cola 600, or the Southern 500 later in the year at
Darlington.
Following Talladega, the series moved to the Charlotte for the Winston
All-star event and the 600. Davey won the pole for the Winston, the
first to be run under the lights, and looked to be in great position to
dominate the event as he did the year before. But the race was much
closer and ended with a last lap duel between Davey, Kyle Petty, and
Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt spun in turn three on the last lap and was
eliminated. As Allison and Petty came to the checkered flag, Allison
nosed ahead to win the event. But contact with Petty sent the #28
Havoline Ford into the wall in a shower of sparks. Davey suffered a
concussion and spent the night in a Charlotte hospital. With his best
car destroyed, Allison failed to win the 600 the following week, but
continued to hold the points lead. He dominated at Michigan in June,
then spent two nights in a Charlotte hospital with a virus prior the
the July race at Pocono. Davey dominated the first half of the Pocono
race, but on lap 149, contact with Darrell Waltrip sent his car into
the grass off Pocono's tunnel turn. The car lifted and began a violent
series of flips. The car finally came to rest upside-down in the Pocono
infield. In an accident that could've been much more serious, Davey
suffered only a broken arm, broken wrist, heavy bruises, and a
concussion. The crash allowed Bill Elliott to grab the points lead from
Davey. The next week, Davey practiced and qualified his car at
Talladega. He started the race and drove until an early caution flag
allowed him to turn the driving over to Bobby Hillin. Hillin drove the
car to a third place finish.
Tragedy struck the Allison family again on August 13, 1992, when
Davey's brother, Clifford, was killed during NASCAR Busch Series
practice at Michigan. Despite the grief, Davey finished fifth at
Michigan and continued his quest for the Winston Cup. On September 6,
Davey led much of the Southern 500 at Darlington in his attempt to win
the Winston Million. Davey was running fifth, however, when rain cut
the event short and Darrell Walrtip was declared the winner. Davey
didn't win again until the next to last race at Phoenix. The win,
coupled with a DNF by Bill Elliott allowed Davey to regain the points
lead. Heading into the final race at Atlanta, six drivers, Allison,
Elliott, Alan Kulwicki, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, and Mark Martin, were
elligible to win the Winston Cup. While Elliott and Kulwicki dueled at
the front of the field, Allison was forced to recover from minor
damaged suffered in an early race incident. The Yates team recovered,
and Davey was running sixth and in position to claim the title when
Ernie Irvan lost control of his car and collected Davey in a late race
crash, ending his chances to win the championship. Elliott would win
the event, but Kulwicki led the most laps and finished second, thus
earning him the Winston Cup by a mere 10 points.
The Yates team was certainly one of the early favorites to win the
title in 1993. Davey scored a win at Richmond in March and collected
six top-5 and eight top-10 finishes through the inaugural Winston Cup
race at the New Hampshire International Speedway on July 11th, a race
in which he finished third. On July 12th, 1993, Davey invited family
friend and racing legend Red Farmer to travel with him to Talladega to
watch David Bonnett (son of Neil Bonnett) test at the superspeedway.
They would be travelling in a helicopter Davey had recently purchased.
An accomplished pilot, Davey had recently completed the requirements
for his helicopter license. But as he attempted to land in a confined
area in the speedway's infield, the helicopter nosed up, then crashed
to the ground. Neil Bonnett, who was assisting his son and witnessed
the crash, pulled Davey and Red from the wreckage. While Red survived
with minor injuries, Davey suffered a serious head injury and was air
lifted to Caraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham. Early on the
morning of July 13, 1993, Davey Allison succumed to his injuries. His
death further shook the NASCAR family, which earlier in the year, had
lost its champion, Alan Kulwicki, in a plane crash near Bristol,
Tennessee. During his brief Winston Cup career, Davey Allison was one
of NASCAR racing's brightest stars. In 191 Winston Cup starts, he won
19 times, collected 14 poles, and 66 top-5 finishes. He also won the
International Race of Champions (IROC) title, which he was awarded
posthumously in 1993. In 1995, Davey Allison was inducted into the
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was named as one of NASCAR's
50 greatest drivers, and headed a list of six drivers, including
Kulwicki, to be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of
Fame in Talladega, AL. In honor of his induction into the IMHoF, Robert
Yates donated the final car driven by Davey to the IMHoF museum.
to race. Born in Hollywood, Florida in 1961, the family relocated to
Hueytown, Alabama and became known as the "Alabama Gang" in NASCAR
circles. Davey was the first, second-generation "Alabama Gang" driver
and carried on the tradition established by his father, his uncle
Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnett, and Red Farmer. Davey first raced in 1979
on a Birmingham, Alabama short track, scoring his first win in only his
sixth start. He graduated from high-school early and concentrated
solely on his racing career. His climb to NASCAR's top division started
in 1983 when he competed in the Automobile Racing Club of America
(ARCA) series, and the NASCAR Dash Series. That year, he won his first
superspeedway race in the ARCA event at Talladega. The success
continued in 1984 when he won the ARCA Rookie of the Year, and three
ARCA events at Talladega, Atlanta, and Macon, Georgia. He also made his
first Winston Cup start in 1984, finishing 10th at Talladega in a Hoss
Ellington owned Chevrolet. 1985 brought more wins in ARCA (at Talladega
and Atlanta) and three more starts for Hoss Ellington in NASCAR. In
1986, Davey made five Winston Cup starts, four for the Sadler Brothers
team, and one for Junior Johnson in relief of family friend Neil
Bonnett.
In 1987, Harry Ranier hired Davey to drive his #28 Ford, a ride Cale
Yarborough vacated to form his own team. The team got off to a fast
start, locking down the outside pole position for the season opening
Daytona 500. Pit problems relegated the team to a less than
satisfactory finish, but the performance helped lock up a sponsorship
deal with Texaco-Havoline. The Ranier team ran a limited schedule
during 1987, mainly on tracks over one mile in length. The highlight of
the 1987 season came in the Winston 500 at Talladega in May. The race
featured a terrifying lap 22 crash in which Bobby Allison's car blew a
tire, lifted into the air, and crashed into the grandstand fencing.
Davey's father walked away from the crash and the race was delayed more
than four hours for repairs to the fence. After the restart, Davey had
one of the best cars on the track and was in contention for the win
late in the day. With darkness falling on the Talladega Superspeedway,
Davey took the lead from Dale Earnhardt on a late race restart and
drove to his first Winston Cup win in the event. Later that month,
Davey won again at Dover, Delaware, becoming the first NASCAR Winston
Cup driver to win two events in his rookie year. His performance netted
him Rookie of the Year honors in the Winston Cup series.
In 1988, the Ranier team ran the entire Winston Cup schedule. The year
started fast as Davey finished second to his father in the Daytona 500.
It was Bobby Allison's third victory in NASCAR's biggest race, and he
described the finish with his son as the highlight of his career.
Davey's Ranier team struggled through the early part of 1988 before
tragedy struck the Allison family. During the opening lap of the June
race at Pocono, PA, Bobby Allison's car cut a tire, hit the wall, and
then was hit in the driver's side by another car. Bobby suffered
near-fatal head injuries in the crash that ultimately ended his racing
career. Shaking off the effects of a sub-par season and his father's
near-fatal crash, Davey finally won at Michigan in August, and won the
inaugural race at the new Richmond International Raceway. On October 1,
1988, the engine builder and crew chief for the Ranier team, Robert
Yates, bought the team from the financially struggling Ranier. Thus
began one of the most celebrated owner/driver relationships in NASCAR
history. Davey won two races each in 1989 and 1990, and finished 8th
and 13th in the Winston Cup Championship respectively. The 1991 season
started with Davey winning the pole position for the Daytona 500, but
the team failed to perform otherwise. Five races into the '91 season,
crew chief Larry McReynolds was hired and the team began to perform.
Davey dominated the Winston All-star event at Charlotte, and one week
later won NASCAR's longest event, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. By
the end of the 1991 season, Davey had scored five wins and a third
place finish in the Winston Cup Championship. This performance made the
Robert Yates team a definite championship contender for the 1992
season.
1992 definitely started well. After dodging a mid-race pileup, Davey
drove to victory in the Daytona 500. A second at Rockingham, NC, and
consecutive fourth place finishes found Davey at the top of the Winston
Cup point standings. But a series of setbacks began at Bristol when a
hard crash left Allison with fractured ribs among other injuries. That
week, his grandfather, Pop Allison, died. Shaking off the effects of
the crash and the loss of his grandfather, Davey scored his second win
of the year at North Wilkesboro, NC. He won again at Talladega in May,
making him eligible to win NASCAR's Winston Million bonus if he could
win either the Coca-Cola 600, or the Southern 500 later in the year at
Darlington.
Following Talladega, the series moved to the Charlotte for the Winston
All-star event and the 600. Davey won the pole for the Winston, the
first to be run under the lights, and looked to be in great position to
dominate the event as he did the year before. But the race was much
closer and ended with a last lap duel between Davey, Kyle Petty, and
Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt spun in turn three on the last lap and was
eliminated. As Allison and Petty came to the checkered flag, Allison
nosed ahead to win the event. But contact with Petty sent the #28
Havoline Ford into the wall in a shower of sparks. Davey suffered a
concussion and spent the night in a Charlotte hospital. With his best
car destroyed, Allison failed to win the 600 the following week, but
continued to hold the points lead. He dominated at Michigan in June,
then spent two nights in a Charlotte hospital with a virus prior the
the July race at Pocono. Davey dominated the first half of the Pocono
race, but on lap 149, contact with Darrell Waltrip sent his car into
the grass off Pocono's tunnel turn. The car lifted and began a violent
series of flips. The car finally came to rest upside-down in the Pocono
infield. In an accident that could've been much more serious, Davey
suffered only a broken arm, broken wrist, heavy bruises, and a
concussion. The crash allowed Bill Elliott to grab the points lead from
Davey. The next week, Davey practiced and qualified his car at
Talladega. He started the race and drove until an early caution flag
allowed him to turn the driving over to Bobby Hillin. Hillin drove the
car to a third place finish.
Tragedy struck the Allison family again on August 13, 1992, when
Davey's brother, Clifford, was killed during NASCAR Busch Series
practice at Michigan. Despite the grief, Davey finished fifth at
Michigan and continued his quest for the Winston Cup. On September 6,
Davey led much of the Southern 500 at Darlington in his attempt to win
the Winston Million. Davey was running fifth, however, when rain cut
the event short and Darrell Walrtip was declared the winner. Davey
didn't win again until the next to last race at Phoenix. The win,
coupled with a DNF by Bill Elliott allowed Davey to regain the points
lead. Heading into the final race at Atlanta, six drivers, Allison,
Elliott, Alan Kulwicki, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, and Mark Martin, were
elligible to win the Winston Cup. While Elliott and Kulwicki dueled at
the front of the field, Allison was forced to recover from minor
damaged suffered in an early race incident. The Yates team recovered,
and Davey was running sixth and in position to claim the title when
Ernie Irvan lost control of his car and collected Davey in a late race
crash, ending his chances to win the championship. Elliott would win
the event, but Kulwicki led the most laps and finished second, thus
earning him the Winston Cup by a mere 10 points.
The Yates team was certainly one of the early favorites to win the
title in 1993. Davey scored a win at Richmond in March and collected
six top-5 and eight top-10 finishes through the inaugural Winston Cup
race at the New Hampshire International Speedway on July 11th, a race
in which he finished third. On July 12th, 1993, Davey invited family
friend and racing legend Red Farmer to travel with him to Talladega to
watch David Bonnett (son of Neil Bonnett) test at the superspeedway.
They would be travelling in a helicopter Davey had recently purchased.
An accomplished pilot, Davey had recently completed the requirements
for his helicopter license. But as he attempted to land in a confined
area in the speedway's infield, the helicopter nosed up, then crashed
to the ground. Neil Bonnett, who was assisting his son and witnessed
the crash, pulled Davey and Red from the wreckage. While Red survived
with minor injuries, Davey suffered a serious head injury and was air
lifted to Caraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham. Early on the
morning of July 13, 1993, Davey Allison succumed to his injuries. His
death further shook the NASCAR family, which earlier in the year, had
lost its champion, Alan Kulwicki, in a plane crash near Bristol,
Tennessee. During his brief Winston Cup career, Davey Allison was one
of NASCAR racing's brightest stars. In 191 Winston Cup starts, he won
19 times, collected 14 poles, and 66 top-5 finishes. He also won the
International Race of Champions (IROC) title, which he was awarded
posthumously in 1993. In 1995, Davey Allison was inducted into the
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was named as one of NASCAR's
50 greatest drivers, and headed a list of six drivers, including
Kulwicki, to be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of
Fame in Talladega, AL. In honor of his induction into the IMHoF, Robert
Yates donated the final car driven by Davey to the IMHoF museum.