THE NEW YORK TIMES – Bobby Allison, the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver who won 84 top-level events and became one of stock-car racing’s most popular figures while enduring family tragedy and career-ending injuries, died on Saturday at his home in Mooresville, N.C. He was 86.
Allison won the 1983 Winston Cup championship for most points in a season. He was voted by fans as the Cup Series’ Most Popular Driver from 1970 to 1973 and 1980 to 1983.
He was a three-time winner of the Daytona 500, NASCAR’s season-opening and most prestigious race, and was inducted into the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.
NASCAR named Allison one of its 50 greatest drivers when it presented him with its Award of Excellence in 1988.
His 84 victories tie him with Darrell Waltrip for fourth place on NASCAR’s career list for premier races, behind Richard Petty, David Pearson and Jeff Gordon.
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In addition to his victories at Daytona, in 1978, 1982 and 1988, Allison won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway four times, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway three times and the Winston 500 at Talladega Speedway three times, all of them major events. He finished fourth in the 1970 Indianapolis 500.
But the Allison family was struck by tragedy. Bobby’s younger son, Clifford, was killed in a crash during practice for the 1992 NASCAR Busch Series race (now the Xfinity Series) at Michigan International Speedway. His son Davey died when the helicopter he was piloting crashed while trying to land at Talladega in 1993.
Bobby Allison himself experienced a brush with death when his right rear tire exploded during the Winston 500 in May 1987. His car became airborne and tore up part of a fence separating the Talladega speedway from the grandstands …