Bobby Allison, founder of racing's "Alabama Gang" and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, has died. He was 86. NASCAR released a statement from Allison's family that said he died Saturday at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. A cause of death wasn't given, but Allison had been in declining health for years, the AP reports. He nearly died in a crash in 1988 at Pocono; he was declared dead at a hospital but resuscitated. Allison's son Clifford was fatally injured in a crash during practice in 1992, and his son Davey was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega. "Racing has been good to me in a lot of ways," Allison once told the Orlando Sentinel. "It's been very unfortunate in other ways. The way I look at it, life, not racing, has presented me with some difficult times."
He wrote that he became hooked on racing as a boy when his grandfather took him to the Opa-locka Speedway in Florida, per the New York Times. He remembered it as "wild and the greatest thing I had ever seen in my life—at the age of 10, anyway." He reached a career milestone last month, when Chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the Meyers Brothers Memorial in 1971. That put Allison fourth in NASCAR's Cup Series victory list and gave him 85 wins, ending his tie with Darrell Waltrip. He now trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105), and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup wins, per the AP.
Allison was inducted into NASCAR's second Hall of Fame class, in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the series title race five times, and a three-time winner of the Daytona 500. He helped put NASCAR on the map with more than his driving. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the 1979 Daytona 500 served as one of the sport's defining moments. "Cale went to beating on my fist with his nose," Allison used to say. "Cale understands like I do that it really was a benefit to the interest of racing. It proves that we were sincere."
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"As a driver, he won races and championships across several NASCAR divisions," France said in statement. "But as the leader of the famous 'Alabama Gang,' Bobby connected with fans in a profound manner." The Alabama Gang, which included Allison's brother Donnie and veteran modified racer Red Farmer, made its mark dominating the short-track scene in Hueytown, Alabama, early in his career, per NPR. Allison is one of 10 drivers to have won NASCAR's career grand slam that includes the Cup Series' most iconic races: the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. (More obituary stories.)
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