Davey Allison

Davey Allison

NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	3rd - (1991, 1992)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 191 19th 14th 92
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	29- (1986)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 86 - 2 31

David Carl Allison (* 25. February 1961 in Hollywood , Florida ; † 13. July 1993 in Birmingham , Alabama ) was an American NASCAR - racers . He is the son of 1983 Winston Cup champion , Bobby Allison , and the nephew of Donnie Allison and brother of the late Clifford Allison . He was a member of the Alabama gang along with his father, uncle, Red Farmer , Hut Stricklin and Neil Bonnett .

Career

Allison, who grew up in Hueytown , was quick to follow in his father's footsteps. After graduating from high school in 1979, he began his professional racing career.

Allison made his NASCAR debut in 1983 in the Busch Series and took part in four races at a Pontiac Grand Prix that season , of which he finished three in the top 10 and one in the top 5. He finished the season as 46th, while his father won his first and only title in the Winston Cup Series.

In 1984 Allison took part in seven Busch Series races and was 33 overall.

In 1985 Davey Allison finally made his debut in the Winston Cup, initially driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Branch Ragan Racing . He tried both the Daytona 500 and the Coca Cola 500 , but did not qualify for either race. He then moved to Ellington Racing and drove into the top 10 on his first start in the Talladega 500 . He took part in two other races, which he did not finish and was 70th in the final ranking.

1986 Allison drove now for Sadler Brothers Racing and tried again on the Daytona 500, but missed the qualification again. After four more races he entered the Winston 500 for once on a Buick LeSabro , but missed the qualification. After all, it was the last time he'd miss out on qualifying in a cup race. Allison's last Winston Cup start in 1986 was in the Talladega 500, this time on Junior Johnson's team and again on Chevrolet, and like last year, finished in the top 10 with seventh place. In the final ranking he climbed to 49th place.

1987 Allison took part in 22 of the 29 season races in the Winston Cup, now with Ranier-Lundy Racing and on Ford Thunderbird ; he would drive the same car for the rest of his career. He qualified for the first time at the Daytona 500 and was 27th in that race. In the subsequent Goodwrench 400 , he took pole position for the first time and was ninth in the race. Two races later he finished in the top five for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway . After skipping three races, he took his first NASCAR win in the Winston 500, in which he failed to qualify the previous year. The same race was marked by a serious accident of his father, who fortunately survived almost unharmed. Two races later, Davey Allison took his next win in the Budweiser 400 . During the remainder of the season he achieved six more top 5 placings, including three in second place, making him 21st in the overall classification at the end of the season and NASCAR Rookie of the Year , like his uncle Donnie 20 years before him.

In 1988 Allison took part in all races of the season for the first time, won two more races and once again improved to eighth place overall. In addition, he and Bobby took the first two places in the Daytona 500, making history the only father-son duo to take the first two places in the Daytona 500. At the Miller Life High 400 on the Pocono Raceway, however, the father's career came to an end in an almost fatal accident.

In 1989, Davey moved to Robert Yates Racing after Yates took over Ranier-Lundy Racing, which was his final team change. Again he took two wins, but deteriorated to eleventh place overall. In 1990 he was 13th overall. and won two races of the season (including the Winston 500) for the fourth year in a row. He still didn't look like a serious hope for the title, but looked more like a second-tier driver, similar to his uncle Donnie.

1991 was the year that changed. Allison won five races and at times came very close to championship leader and later champion Dale Earnhardt over several races of the season. In the end he was third overall, just four points behind the runner-up, Ricky Rudd .

1992 was Davey Allison's best and most moving year in every way. He started the season with a victory at the Daytona 500, making him the second driver after Richard Petty to have managed to win the Daytona 500 like his father, which Dale Earnhardt junior later also succeeded in doing. He also finished the next four races in the top 5, with one second and three fourth places. Bill Elliott had won all of those four races, but was only 27th in the Daytona 500, which Allison defended his lead. At the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, however, Allison's streak broke when he had a serious accident and bruised his shoulder. He was ranked 28th, but luckily Elliot was also only 20. Despite his injuries, Allison took part in the seventh race of the season in North Wilkesboro just a week later and took his second win of the season in front of Rusty Wallace and Geoff Bodine , while Elliot again only on 20th place at the finish. The next race at Martinsvielle, however, ended in an accident again, this time injuring his ribs while Elliott was tenth. But already in the next race in the Winston 500 he started the full distance again and defeated Elliott in a duel for victory.

This was followed by the non-championship The Winston . And here one of the strangest finishes in NASCAR history was shown. At the start of the final lap, Dale Earnhardt was leading ahead of Kyle Petty and Davey Allison. At Turn 3, when Petty tried to overtake, Earnhardt's Chevrolet spun. Davey took the chance and took the lead. However, Petty, who was driving on the outside in the last corner, managed to counter, Davey, however, caught the better speed on the inside and came just ahead of Petty over the finish line and won. Right on the home straight, however, the two touched as close as possible, and as a result, Petty put Davey's Ford into a spin, whereupon it flew against the right wall. Davey Allison suffered a concussion and bruised lung in the accident. He was taken to the hospital unconscious and only found out there that he had won. Due to his injuries, he was absent from Victory Lane.

This accident did not stop Davey either, and in the tenth race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 , he was fourth again, while Elliott was only 14. In Dover he was only eleventh, but there, too, he had slightly increased his lead, as Elliott only finished in 13th place. The Toyota / Save Mart 350 did less well, finishing only 28th and losing significantly ground to fifth-placed Elliott. In the Pocono 400 he was fifth again, but Elliott third. On the Miller Genuine Draft 400 , however, he clinched his fourth win of the season from pole position and extended his lead over Elliot (tenth) again. In the Pepsi 400 , Davey lost ground again in tenth place to fifth-placed Elliot.

Until then, Allison had led the championship after every race, despite his accidents. The Pennsylvania 500 seemed to continue like this. Allison was in the lead after 149 laps and had led 115 laps by then. But then there was a contact between him and the eventual winner Darrell Waltrip . While Waltrip's car was spared, Allison slid into the grass, his car flew through the air and landed on a guardrail. This accident reminded viewers of his father's accident four years earlier. His injuries were less dramatic, but he still suffered a broken arm and collarbone. Now he had lost the lead for the first time to Elliott, who was 13th.

Against all odds, Allison appeared again on the Talladega Superspeedway the next race weekend , wearing sunglasses to hide his bruised eyes. When a reporter asked him about it, Davey replied that he could see it even though it was ugly. Despite his arm he was able to drive, but after the first few laps he left his car at the pit stop to Bobby Hillin junior , who had won his only Winston Cup race on the same track six years earlier. According to NASCAR regulations, the driver who wears the green flag is the one assigned to the points for all drivers who drive that car during the race. Hillin eventually finished third despite a mistake in the pit stop, bringing Allison's lead back after Elliott crossed the checkered flag in fifth. Also at Budweiser At The Glen Allison was not able to go the full distance, but since Hillin this time was not on site, he was selected by Dorsey Schroeder represented, this, however, came only 20th place finish, while Elliot 14th and took back the overall leadership.

Allison experienced the greatest stroke of fate at the next race at Michigan International Speedway when his younger brother Clifford had a fatal accident while training for the Busch Series race. Despite the grief, Davey took part in the race (before leaving to attend Clifford's funeral) and finished fifth, but continued to lose points to Elliott, who had finished third. In the next four races, Allison always crossed the finish line behind Elliot, finishing 30th, fifth, 19th and fourth, while Elliott was sixth, third, 14th and second. With six races to go, the championship seemed already decided in Elliot's favor, as Davey was 154 points behind.

But again the tide turned. Davey did not make it into the top 10 in any of the next three races; he was 16th, eleventh and 19th, but at the same time Elliot missed the top 25 in every race with a 26th and two 30th places. This brought Davey up to 39 points and the title was realistic again. At the same time, Alan Kulwicki was also only eight points behind Allison (and 47 behind Elliot) with three races to go, after finishing fifth, twelfth and second in these three races.

The next race took place at Rockingham Speedway . Here Allison (tenth) and Kulwicki (twelfth) again lost points to Elliott (fourth). Now Elliot was 70 points ahead of Davey and 85 points over Kulwicki. But at Phoenix International Speedway Davey drove to his fifth win of the season, while Kulwicki was fourth and Elliott was only 31st. Before the season finale, the Hooters 500 , at Atlanta Motor Speedway , Allison now had 30 points ahead of Kulwicki, who had now taken second place overall, while Elliot was 40 points behind. Since none of the three had been constant throughout the season, three other drivers had theoretical chances for the title: Harry Gant (97 points behind), Kyle Petty (98) and Mark Martin (113).

The Hooters 500 would later be remembered as one of the most important NASCAR races, especially as Richard Petty drove his farewell race while the later four-time Cup Champion Jeff Gordon made his debut. A fifth place was enough for Davey in each case. But there were already problems in the early stages when Dale Earnhardt pushed the two leaders Brett Bodine and Rick Mast against the wall. Davey himself came into contact with the wreckage and easily damaged his car. Fortunately, there was an opportunity to fix it at the pit stops, especially since they were played under yellow, first after a spin by Michael Waltrip , then after a mass collision, in which all the title contenders were not spared.

With 100 laps to go, Davey was eighth. With Elliott now leading over Kulwicki, this would have been enough for Allison to win the title. But on lap 254, when he had improved to sixth, his fate was sealed. The Ernie Irvan lying in front of him turned and Davey could no longer avoid it, whereupon he collided with the wall. He managed to get to the pits and have the car repaired, but in the end it was only enough for 27th place and (again) third place in the overall standings behind Elliott and Kulwicki, who was second in the race, but because of the five bonus points with the most leadership laps had won the title. Despite the defeat and disappointment, Allison did not blame Irvan in the interviews and said he would try again next year.

In 1993 Davey was fifth overall after 16 of 30 races and had won the Pontiac Excitement 400 .

death

On July 12, 1993 Davey wanted to visit his friend Neil Bonnett with his helicopter on the Talladega Superspeedway, where Bonnett and his son performed a test drive for the Busch Series. Red Farmer, another member of the Alabama gang, was also on board. Allison tried to land off the track, but made a fatal mistake and crashed. While Farmer was quickly rescued by Bonnett and ultimately survived with serious injuries, Davey was passed out and Bonnett had to wait for rescue workers to arrive. However, they failed to bring Davey back to consciousness and he succumbed to his injuries the following morning at the age of only 32.

He left behind his wife, Deborah, and two children, Robert and Krista.

Aftermathɲ

Davey's death was a major blow to the sport as reigning champion Alan Kulwicki was also killed in a helicopter crash just three and a half months before him. Now nobody knew who should follow in their footsteps, this question was resolved in 1995 when Jeff Gordons won the title.

The next race after Davey's death was won by Dale Earnhardt, who looked unusually emotional in the winner's interview. When he became champion at the end of the season, he and the winner of the last race, Rusty Wallace, held a “Polish lap of honor” in honor of Allison and Kulwicki.

In his hometown of Hueytown, a street is dedicated to him and Neil Bonnett, who was killed in a training accident in the Daytona 500 just seven months after Davey's death.

Davey is an unlockable driver in two NASCAR video games from 1999 and 2000 that were released for Nintendo 64 and PlayStation .

Web links

Commons : Davey Allison  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info