Donnie Allison

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Donnie Allison
status not active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement 16.- (1967)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10
242 10 18th 115
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement 34th - (1987)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10
20th - - 5
Data status: November 9, 2015

Donald "Donnie" Allison (born September 7, 1939 in Hueytown , Alabama ) is a former American racing driver who was active in NASCAR . He was a member of the Alabama Gang , a group of NASCAR drivers, and is the brother of the 1983 Winston Cup champion , Bobby Allison , and the uncle of the late Davey Allison .

Career

Donnie Allison began racing in the Grand National Series, now the Sprint Cup , in 1966 . He made his debut on October 16, 1966 in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord , North Carolina . Allison finished the race after 186 laps with an engine problem. He also took part in the American 500 , which was held two weeks later at the North Carolina Motor Speedway , and came in ninth.

In his entire career in NASCAR's top division, he was never a full-time driver. Allison drove a maximum of 21 races per season. His best final position in the overall driver standings was a 16th place, which he finished in the 1967 season, in which he took part in 20 of the 49 races. On June 16, 1968, Allison first found his way into Victory Lane of the Grand National Series when he won the Carolina 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. In total, he won ten times in his career. He scored three of these victories in the 1970 season.

Most likely, however, it is not his successes that still make him famous today, but the Daytona 500 of 1979, in which one of the most legendary finishes in the history of the Daytona 500 took place. Donnie Allison led the race on the final lap. Cale Yarborough drove in his slipstream and tried to overtake him at the end of the back straight, but Allison drove to the battle line. Not wanting to lose ground, Yarborough decided to overtake Allison on the inside, but his left wheels went off the track. He lost control of his car and hit Allison in the side at the end of the back straight. When both drivers tried to keep their cars on the track, they touched several times before they finally collided with the wall at turn three. After both cars stalled on the grass, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough began to argue violently. After they had clarified the situation, the already lapped Bobby Allison drove over to the two and defended his brother. A fight then broke out. Richard Petty won the race.

Donnie Allison ended his NASCAR career in 1989. Until then he had competed 242 times in the Winston Cup and 20 times in the Busch Series . In the Winston Cup, Allison won ten races, 78 times he was in the top 5 and 115 times he was able to finish the race in the top 10. In the Busch Series, Allison can only make one place in the top 5 and five times in the top 10.

In 1970 and 1971, Allison took part in the Indianapolis 500 . In 1970 he crossed the finish line in sixth and in 1971 in seventh.

statistics

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season team race car 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13
1978 Rany Hoerr Datsun 510 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MUG United StatesUnited States VALLEY FranceFrance DIJ United KingdomUnited Kingdom SIL GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM ItalyItaly MIS United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States WAT ItalyItaly VAL United StatesUnited States ROD
DNF

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