Okay, so I grew up being a Dale Earnhardt fan. We used to hate Davey Allison. Matter of fact, we used to cheer that he would wreck, etc... I know, it's just how deep you get into NASCAR. I got to meet Davey Allison that Sunday in March, in 1992 at Richmond. I still remember those boots he had, either Alligator or snakeskin, but they were fancy. What a class act, quiet, polite, just a southern fellow. Even though we were Earnhardt fans, he treated us kindly, shot the breeze with us for a few minutes, and generally, took time out for even non fans. I guess that's why I feel racing lost a great on that fateful day.
David Carl "Davey" Allison (February 25, 1961- July 13, 1993) was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver best known as the driver of the #28 Texaco-Havoline Ford. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the eldest of four children born to NASCAR driver Bobby Allison and wife Judy. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobby's brother Donnie, family friend Red Farmer, and Neil Bonnett, became known in racing circles as the Alabama Gang.
(Okay, this part is a little long, but I think it builds up to the superior talent Davey Allison really was...)
Prior to the 1987 season, car owner Harry Ranier tapped Davey to replace veteran driverCale Yarborough in the #28 Ford THunderbird. Ranier negotiated a sponsorship deal with the Havoline motor oil brand, a deal that was signed during the NASCAR edition of SPeedweeks at Daytona International Speedway. On qualifying day, Davey qualified an unmarked, but Havoline painted #28 Thunderbird second for the 1987 Daytona 500. becoming the first rookie ever to start on the front row for NASCAR's most prestigious event.
May 13, 1987, would become an infamous day in NASCAR history. Earlier in the week, Bill Elliot had qualified at a record 212.809 mph (a record which still stands today) for the Winston 500 at Talledega Speedway. Davey Allison would qualify third, while father Bobby would start second alongside Elliott in the #22 Miller Buick. On lap 22 of the event, Bobby ran over a piece of debris, cutting his right-rear tire. The car turned sideways, lifted into the air, became airboirne, and crashed vertically into the frontstretch spectator fence near the start finish line. The car landed back on the track and collected a number of other competitors. Davey was ahead of his father at the time and saw the crash unfold in his mirror. Bobby Allison was not injured, but the crash slightly injured several spectators and the race was red-flagged for nearly four hours. When the race resumed, Davey continued to run up front and when Elliott exited the race with engine failure, Davey's toughest competition was eliminated. With darkness falling on the race, the decision was made to end the race 10 laps short of its 188 lap distance. Running second on the restart, Davey passed leaderDale Earnhardt on the backstretch and pulled away for his first Winston Cup win. In winning the race, Davey became the first rookie since Ron Bouchard in 1981 to win a Winston Cup event.
Davey would better that feat just 28 days later by winning the Budweiser 500 at Dover International Speedway becoming, at the time, the only rookie to win two Winston cup events. In all, Davey started 22 of the 29 Winston Cup races in 1987, winning twice, and scoring nine top-five and 10 top-ten finishes. He also won five poles in his rookie season.
Fast forward to 1992....
The Winston all-star race of 1992, one year after his dominating experience, Davey was ready to take the spotlight again. But this time around, there was more focus on the event itself. Over the winter, a lighting system was installed at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Billed as "One Hot Night", The Winston was the first superspeedway race to be held under the lights. Davey would drive the same car that he used to dominate the event one year earlier, affectionately known as "007".
In the final, 10-lap segment of the race, Dale Earnhardt led, followed by Kyle Petty and Davey. In the third turn on the final lap, Petty nudged Earnhardt's car, resulting in a spin. Davey took advantage of the contact and jumped into the lead. But Petty charged back and as Davey crossed the start-finish line to win the race, the two cars came together, sending the driver's side of Davey's car hard into the outside wall in a shower of sparks. An unconscious Allison was taken from his car and airlifted to a Charlotte hospital. The crash left him with a concussion, bruised lung, and a battered and bruised body. His car, "007", was totaled.
Allison would later say to have sustained an out of body experience after the crash. He claimed to have awoke to see his crashed car below him as he rose away from it, and to have turned his attention away from the frantic work of the emergency workers to a bright light above, which faded and left him in darkness until he awoke later in the hospital.
Davey raced the next week at the Coca Cola 600, and finished 4th, with all of his injuries from the week before. But it gets better....
The return to Pocono, Davey won the pole for the event and led 115 of the first 149 laps. But a lengthy pit stop during a caution flag sent him to the middle of the pack. On lap 150, Allison was charging back through the pack, followed closely by Darrell Waltrip. The two cars made contact and Davey went sliding into the grass off Pocono's "tunnel turn". The car went airborne and began a series of violent flips before landing on top of an infield guardrail. Miraculously, Davey survived the crash. He was airlifted to the hospital with a severe concussion, along with a broken arm, wrist, and collar bone. His 33rd place finish left him nine points behind Bill Elliot for the series title, but that seemed insignificant at the moment. Especially traumatizing was the fact that Pocono was the site of Davey's father Bobby's career-ending crash a few years earlier.
With his body healed enough to allow him to drive an entire race, Davey headed to Michigan where he had dominated the track's earlier event. But tragedy struck as the Michigan events began. While practicing for the weekend's Busch race, Davey's younger brother, Clifford, crashed hard in the third and fourth turns of Michigan INternational Speedway. He would die on the way to the hospital. Davey drove to a fifth place finish in the race, then went home to Hueytown for Clifford's funeral. The following weekend, Davey crashed again at Bristol, finishing 30th. Though still in second place in the Winston Cup standings, he now trailed by 109 points.
Davey did not win the Winston Cup in 1992, it came down to the last race, where he needed to finish 5th or better, regardless where anyone else finished, and unfortunately was involved in a late race crash. Kind of sad, when you see all of the hardship he went thru to get to that point in a season.
1993 was going to be his year though, until....
Monday, July 12, 1993 Davey Allison boarded his newly acquired helicopter to fly to Talledega Superspeedway to watch family friends Neil Bonnett and David Bonnett test a car for David's Busch series debut. He picked up another family friend, legendary racer Red Farmer en route to the track. Allison was attempting to land the helicopter inside a fenced-in area of the track infield when the craft nosed up suddenly, then crashed. (The NTSB blamed the crash on Allison's inexperience in helicopters, coupled with the decision to attempt a downwind landing) Neil Bonnett was able to free a semi-conscious Red Farmer from the wreckage, but could not reach Allison. Paramedics arrived and freed Allison, who was alive but had suffered serious head injuries. He died the next morning, July 13, 1993.
Here's a link to the NTSB report on the accident...
http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_i...93FA127&akey=1
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Originally Posted by fultondyke
