Bobby Allison, the 1983 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the age of 86.
Allison won 85 times in NASCAR’s premier series between 1986 and 1988. The 1983 champion also finished second in the season standings five times.
The following are some of Allison’s most iconic and memorable races that can be watched for free in the NASCAR Classics Library.
1972 Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Allison had 19 victories heading into the 1971 season, his eighth season on the Cup Series tour.
He almost doubled his career wins total in one season, notching 11 victories in 1971 while finishing fourth in the final standings.
The 1972 season saw Allison continue cementing his place as one of the best drivers on the circuit.
He kicked off the season with a second-place finish at Riverside before eventually grabbing two more runner-up finishes over the first four races of the season.
The series arrived at Atlanta for the sixth race of the season, and Allison continued his success by putting his No. 12 Chevrolet on the pole.
He backed that up with a dominating effort in the race, leading 142 laps en route to his first victory of the season. Allison had to hold off a handful of motorsports legends to do so, as AJ Foyt, Bobby Isaac, David Pearson, Donnie Allison, Richard Petty, Benny Parsons and Buddy Baker finished behind him.
This is Allison’s oldest victory in the NASCAR Classics Library.
1975 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway:
A trip to South Carolina to the famed Darlington Raceway was always something Allison had circled on his calendar.
The Hueytown, Alabama driver was at a point in his career where he found success at almost any track but Darlington was almost a given that he would be up front, if not finishing in Victory Lane.
The 1970s saw Allison hit his stride at the track, starting with his first victory in the Southern 500 in 1971 in dominating fashion. Allison led 329 laps en route to Victory Lane. It didn’t take long for Allison to make it back to the checkered flag first at the track, winning the iconic event for the second consecutive season in 1972.
Fast forward to the spring of 1975 and Allison found himself in Victory Lane yet again at the track, continuing an incredible stretch at the track which saw him finish seventh or better in seven of the previous eight races at the track. This included three victories, as he also managed to lead the field in all eight of those events.
The 1975 Southern 500 came during an interesting period of Allison’s career, as he was driving the No. 16 car for Roger Penske. The tandem was only competing in a partial schedule, making each and every race that much more important for the future success of the team and driver.
The summer months saw them struggle through trying times, finishing 22nd or worse five times over a six-race span thanks to a handful of engine failures.
A trip back to Darlington was exactly what the doctor ordered for the duo, who were looking to defend their spring victory at the track, ironically where their season started to derail following that victory.
The race featured a legendary battle between Allison and Richard Petty, as the two traded the lead back and forth throughout the afternoon. They combined to lead 265 laps but it was Allison who triumphed and took home his third Southern 500 trophy.
1978 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway:
For as much success as Allison had over the first half of his career, he seemingly had no luck at Daytona.
It didn’t matter what car owner was signing his checks or what car number was on the door; whenever Allison strapped into a stock car at Daytona, luck wasn’t on his side.
His first 16 races at the track saw Allison able to grab just three top-10 finishes, a third and a pair of sevenths. The next few seasons saw Allison lead a plethora of laps but various engine issues robbed him of taking the checkered flag.
To top that off, Allison entered the 1978 season with a long victory drought that spanned back to the 1975 season.
He ended his partial season of 1975 with three victories, giving him 47 for his career. In the next two seasons, Allison drove all 60 races but was unable to find Victory Lane, bringing his winless streak to 66 races to end the season.
Hope was on the horizon for the driver, thanks to a new partnership with legendary car owner Bud Moore.
Would Moore be able to help Allison break his 0 for 34 record at the superspeedway?
It seemed like a movie script was playing out in front of Allison’s eyes as contender after contender experienced many of the same issues that kept him from Victory Lane at the track over his first 34 starts there.
Richard Petty led 39 laps but blew a tire, collecting Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson in the process.
Defending race winner Cale Yarborough was next on tap, leading 39 laps before losing an engine. Enter Buddy Baker, who led a race-high 76 laps before suffering engine issues of his own as the final laps quickly passed by.
This allowed Allison, who was lurking near the front the entire day, to take advantage of the struggles of the other stars and finally capture the first Daytona 500 victory of his career.
1979 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway:
Allison’s defense of his first Daytona 500 victory was the perfect storm, literally, for NASCAR and all of the viewers around the country.
It marked the first live superspeedway event broadcasted by a major outlet in its entirety, as CBS was scheduled to carry all 200 laps of The Great American Race for the first time.
The timing of their first huge event on TV couldn’t have come at a better time, as a giant snowstorm had most of the East Coast stranded at home, most with nothing to do or watch as other sports along the coast were postponed.
This put NASCAR in the spotlight and the 41 starters in the event, combined with the CBS broadcast crew, didn’t disappoint.
Allison started seventh and led early on before contact from Cale Yarborough sent both Allison and his brother Donnie through the infield.
Bobby never recovered from the accident, but that was not the case for his brother or Cale. The two drivers found themselves at the front of the field, with Donnie leading the way for the majority of the last 20 laps of the race.
On the final lap, the two cars made contact multiple times before crashing into the infield, ending both drivers’ chances at glory.
This allowed Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and AJ Foyt to pass by and finish 1-2-3 in the event, the only three cars that finished on the lead lap.
As Petty was working his way to Victory Lane for the sixth time in the event, CBS broadcaster Ken Squier’s booming voice echoed through the microphone, proclaiming that there was a fight between Yarborough and the Allison brothers.
The three drivers, who all had a shot at victory but were harrowed in defeat, were involved in a bloody brawl in the grass, as helmets swung while the drivers had to be separated from each other.
Donnie and Yarborough finished fourth and fifth, while Bobby was credited with a seventh-place finish.
1983 Winston Western 500 at Riverside:
Allison entered the 1983 season at 45 years of age but was far from washed up. If anything, it looked like part of his second prime after he found struggles in the middle portion of his career.
He won five, five, four and five races between 1978 and 1981, finishing third or better in the standings three times as he still chased that elusive first NASCAR Cup Series title.
Allison was even stronger in 1982, winning eight races but it wasn’t enough as Darrell Waltrip was also in the midst of a career season. Waltrip captured 12 race victories and won the championship by 72 points over Allison, who sat with a comfortable 200+ points advantage over third-place Terry Labonte in the final standings.
The two drivers continued their dominance into 1983, as Allison’s chase of his first title resembled his tough chase of capturing a Daytona 500 victory.
Would this finally be the season he broke through?
Allison led the point standings for the majority of the season but could not pull away from Waltrip, as the two were locked in a heavyweight battle for the championship down to the final races of the season. Allison led Waltrip by 64 points as he looked to finally hoist the championship for the first time as they arrived for the season finale at Riverside.
Bill Elliott, who had yet to win a race in his Cup Series career, sat third in the standings, 425 points back of Allison, setting up a two-horse race for the title.
Waltrip won the pole for the race, while Allison qualified sixth. It seemed like Waltrip had the speed to win the race, as he led a race-high 34 laps. Allison hovered near the front of the field, pacing the other 41 cars for one lap, before settling for a ninth-place finish.
This was more than enough to clinch the title for the Hueytown native, as he won the championship by 47 points over Waltrip, who came home sixth.
The story of the Allison family was full of immense amounts of triumph and success but also incredibly painful hardships through the years.
Looking back, it was only fitting that the 1988 Daytona 500 might have been the greatest moment for the family of them all.
The season kicked off with Davey and Bobby Allison finishing second and third in the Busch Clash exhibition race. Bobby won his Daytona 500 qualifying event, while Davey finished third in his after putting his No. 28 car on the outside of the front row in qualifying for the 500-mile event.
The green flag waved on Valentine’s Day for The Great American Race and there weren’t many people watching that didn’t love seeing Bobby and Davey, father and son, check out from the field and battle for the victory between themselves over the final 10 laps.
Bobby led the final 18 laps of the day, holding off his son in the process to capture his third Daytona 500 victory.
The race marked the 85th and final victory of Bobby’s Hall of Fame career.
Fast forward to the middle of the 1988 season, Bobby’s career came to a premature end following a serious crash at Pocono Raceway. The 1992 season saw his son Clifford pass away in a practice crash at Michigan International Speedway. Davey passed away in a plane crash not even 12 months later.
The pain from tragedy after tragedy will always outweigh the happy times but it was more than fitting that the last great memory that Bobby and Davey shared on the track together was them battling for the victory in the biggest stock car race in the world, more importantly, celebrating together in Victory Lane in iconic images and videos that will live on forever
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