8 replies to this topic

[JacnGille]

https://www.espn.com...500-winner-dies

[Ray Bell]

Sad news...

[2F-001]

With another win to his credit - the long-unresolved race at Bowman Gray Stadium...

 

https://www.newsweek...ncement-1973955

[Emery0323]

Very sad news, though not unexpected. He did appear to be in failing health in recent years.

 

He was a boyhood hero of mine, my favorite driver in NASCAR during the prime of his career in the 1970's-1980's.  He was very shrewd and innovative technically, as well as very competitive on the track. At several points in his career, the jumped into new teams with unfamiliar cars and was competitive and winning races right from the start.

 

His best years came with established teams like Holman-Moody, Junior Johnson, Bud Moore, DiGard, Penske, and a few others.  A recurring theme in his career was that his independent streak probably held him back - Disputes with team owners resulted in him going off and running his own independent team on multiple occasions, which often resulted in only sporadic competitiveness.  Junior Johnson is famously quoted as saying, “If we'd been able to keep Bobby Allison, we would have won 200 races, and Richard Petty wouldn't have.”

 

For all the vicissitudes in his career, he still managed to win the Daytona 500 three times with three different teams, and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1983.   Weighed against those successes were the traumatic accident in 1988 that nearly killed him, the tragic untimely deaths of his son Davey, a rising star in NASCAR, in a helicopter accident in 1993, and his younger son Clifford in a racing accident the year before.  

 

RIP  to a real competitor who was always exciting to watch on the track. 

Edited by Emery0323, 10 November 2024 - 21:35.

[mariner]

Sad loss, Bobby of course had the famous end of race fight with Cale Yarborough which shot NASCAR to national prominence. Apparently his explanation was " his nose kept connectig to my fist"

 

I had not realised until reading an Obituary in the US media that h was born in Florida and adopted Hueytown to get more racing.. Several ther Florida guys came up t join hima nd form the nucleus of the "Hueytown Gang" 

It now has an historic marker 

 

https://www.google.c...kM&vssid=mosaic

[RS2000]

Sad loss, Bobby of course had the famous end of race fight with Cale Yarborough which shot NASCAR to national prominence. Apparently his explanation was " his nose kept connectig to my fist"

 

 

 

I was too far away, at the opposite side of the track, to see it in detail but it started as a fight between his brother Donnie and Yarborough following their getting together into turn 3 in the lead on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Bobby came round on the slowing down lap and stopped to join in.....

Edited by RS2000, 10 November 2024 - 15:57.

[70JesperOH]

When the FIA finally got their act together by 1976 and held the first Group 5 Silhouette Championship, it was eventually a pair of Porsche 935s and four BMW CSLs - the latter being ex-IMSA Allison cars. Deep respect to the Alabama gang of which Bobby was a prime member.

 

Jesper

[E1pix]

Not all, but some are Heroes for the right reasons.

Race in Peace to Mr. Allison. These last 31 years couldn’t have been easy

[B Squared]

Ex-Team Penske member and friend, Bill Windham, worked with Bobby Allison on both the NASCAR and IndyCar side and has always had nothing but the best to say about Bobby Allison. RIP

Edited by B Squared, 12 November 2024 - 11:43.