Five years after he won the race and 13 years after Bobby Allison was inducted into the Hall of Fame, NASCAR recognized Allison’s victory at Bowman Gray Stadium in 1971. The move comes just months before the NASCAR Cup Series returns at Bowman Gray Stadium in February 2025 for the first time since Allison’s controversial victory. “For 53 years, the Myers Brothers Memorial has been the only NASCAR race without an official winner,” said Jim France, NASCAR president and CEO. “As we began to prepare for the next clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the subject of the race on August 6, 1971 came back to mind. We felt it was only right to officially recognize Bobby’s victory and honor him as the 85th NASCAR Cup Series winner. “We are grateful for Bobby’s lifelong contributions to NASCAR.”
The 1971 Bowman Gray race was one of six races that combined NASCAR Grand National and Grand American Series cars. Allison drove the Mustang to victory in the Grand American Series. After the complaint, NASCAR decided there would be no official winner for the event. That wasn’t until France and NASCAR senior adviser Mike Helton visited the 86-year-old Allison on Wednesday and presented him with a plaque recognizing Allison as the event’s winner. NASCAR’s decision gives Allison his 85th career Cup win, moving him into fourth place on the all-time wins list, passing Darrell Waltrip, who has 84 career wins. This decision also means that the NASCAR Hall of Fame will have to make some changes. Ellison’s Hall of Fame tower should be updated to reflect his new win count.
