Davey in Retrospect – 25 Years
|
February 25, 1961 - July 13,
1993
(Author’s
note: This piece originally ran on the pages of www.maclouridees.com in 2002
under this, the original title. It was written at the request of my friend
Mike, whom many of you have seen commenting here over the years as “Mike #28.”)
It's mid-July of yet another year, and it's time once
again to mark the passing of a young man that might well have become NASCAR's
biggest star, if only… As you'll read later, I have a special reason to
remember exactly when Davey's helicopter crashed at Talladega. It's been 25
years now, a quarter-century that Davey's been gone. Can it really be that
long? Strange… I can still see Davey in my mind as if the accident were
yesterday… he left that kind of impression on folks… and there will be new fans
reading this that never knew him or saw him race. Some may not even know his
name, which is why this is offered again today.
For my gentle readers not familiar with Davey Allison,
or those that would like to refresh your memories, let me take you back, down
that time-worn path called Memory Lane. He was the first-born son of stock car
racing great, Bobby Allison and his wife Judy and had three siblings, sisters,
Bonnie and Carrie, and brother, Clifford. He entered this world as David Carl
Allison, on February 25, 1961, in Hollywood Florida, the night before Bobby
raced his very first Daytona 500. A couple of years following Davey's
birth, Bobby and Judy moved their family to Hueytown, Alabama, where eventually
the legend of the "Alabama Gang" would unfold.
Considering who his father was, Davey was probably
destined to become a racer in his own right, and he surely didn't disappoint,
although in his early years he did try other sports. He dabbled in baseball,
basketball and football, but racing was always foremost in his mind, and at the
tender age of 12, he began to work at Bobby Allison Racing.
Bobby was a bit of a tough taskmaster, and insisted
that Davey could not go racing until he'd gotten his high school diploma, so
along with working at the shop, Davey managed to attend summer school for extra
credits, which allowed him to graduate well ahead of others in his class.
Diploma in hand, and with a racecar he'd built himself in his "spare"
time, from scrap materials at the shop, Davey Allison was ready to go
racing.
From 1979 through 1983, Davey would compete and win in
several series including Limited Sportsman, NASCAR Grand American, NASCAR
Dash, ALL-PRO, ASA, DIRT and finally ARCA, where he won his first Talladega
pole and race. The following year, 1984, Davey would become Rookie of the Year
in the ARCA series, and by the end of 1985 became that Series' all-time leader
on superspeedways. That year also saw his first Winston Cup start, driving for
Hoss Ellington and managing a 10th place finish at Talladega. He continued in
ARCA through 1986, making a few scattered starts in Winston Cup, most
notably filling in for an injured Neil Bonnett, in Junior Johnson's #12,
and finishing 7th, again at Talladega.
The year 1987 would be Davey's career making year,
when he was offered a ride with Harry Rainier in the #28, replacing the great
Cale Yarborough in that seat. Davey put up some very impressive stats that
year, becoming the first rookie to sit on the front row in the Daytona
500. By the end of the year, he had claimed five poles, three outside
poles, and two wins (Talladega and Dover), a feat never before accomplished by
a rookie. He finished an amazing 21st in points, despite the fact that he'd
only run 22 of the 29 races on the schedule. Needless to say, Davey was named
“Rookie of the Year”, while setting a record for rookie earnings as well.
To say that Davey Allison had a large fan base would
be like saying that a sheepdog is a little hairy. In the short time he was with us, he had
grown immensely popular with the fans. They loved him and he responded by
loving them back. In the style of a true champion, Davey was never too busy to
cater to requests for autographs or pictures, and went far out of his way to be
warm and friendly, especially to children. The young man with the infectious
smile and the slouchy black hat was the darling of the race fans, which made
his tragic death so much harder to come to grips with.
At the start of 1988, Davey and Bobby gave the racing
world quite a thrill when they raced for the win, door handle to door handle
for several laps in the season-opening Daytona 500, with Bobby winning the
closely fought battle and son Davey coming in second. It was a wonderful start
to what should have been a wonderful season, but we just never know what fate
may hold in store around that next corner.
This time, the next corner came at Pocono Raceway in
June. We were at that race, and I have two memories to share with you, gentle
readers. Both are bittersweet. The first
of course, was witnessing the horrible accident that occurred at the very
beginning of the race, when Bobby Allison cut a tire and spun into and off the
wall in turn two, then was T-boned in the driver's door by Jocko Maggiacomo, who had no warning and nowhere to go. A lot of
us are familiar with the hushed feeling that comes over a crowd when something
of that magnitude happens. We watched as Davey drove around to the crash site
and stopped his car to check on his father, and held our collective breath
until he pulled away and rejoined the race. After what seemed like hours, we
watched them drag back to the garage what was left of Bobby's car, and it
wasn't much. Then, of course, with silent prayer, we all shared that chilling
feeling as the helicopter lifted off from the infield. That accident and the
resulting head injuries would be the end of Bobby's racing career, but
ironically, only the start of the pain that family would come to know.
The second memory from that day was a chance meeting
in the infield, before the race, with a young man we didn't recognize at
first. He and a couple of friends were all decked out in Havoline colors, and
since we were all moving in the same direction, we talked along the way, as
race fans do. In the course of conversation I praised how well Davey was doing
for such a young man, and then mentioned that this one actually resembled Davey
quite a bit, which brought forth peals of laughter from all three of the young
men. I guess he might well look like Davey, since it was his younger brother
Clifford, who, besides being a delightful conversationalist, was an aspiring
young racer in his own right.
Despite his father's injury and the extra burden put
on Davey because of it, he still managed an 8th place finish in the points for
that year, even with car owner Rainier selling the team to his crew chief,
Robert Yates, before the year was over. 1989 saw Davey marry his second
wife, Elizabeth 'Liz" Mayson, and on Christmas Eve of that year the couple
became the proud parents of Krista Marie, the first of their two children.
(Robert Grey would follow on July 30, 1991) Davey would finish 11th in the
points that year, and 13th in 1990.
In 1991, Larry McReynolds left the #26 team of Kenny
Bernstein to take over as crew chief for Davey. The two quickly developed a
father-son type relationship that seemed to benefit both. Always a good driver,
Davey improved greatly with McReynolds’ guidance, and the end of that year saw
five wins and another in the Winston All-Star race behind the pair, and a third
place finish Winston Cup points.
The following year, 1992, was all about toughing it
out against adversity, and Davey came through like a champion. In the spring of
that year, the Allisons lost "Pop", Bobby's father and longtime
family patriarch. On the track, it seemed Davey was plagued by injuries
throughout the year, with the first sustained at Bristol, and another at
Martinsville, but a win at North Wilkesboro sandwiched in-between.
May 16 of 1992 brought the All-Star race, then known
as “The Winston”, and though Davey won it, he did so in the most difficult of
fashions… injured and unconscious… not to learn he’d won until awakening in the
hospital. This short video will show what happened that “One Hot Night” better
than all the words this scribe could muster.
Later that year, fresh from a hospital stay for a
viral infection, Davey arrived at Pocono in July and promptly put his car
on the pole; he then led a good portion of the race before being touched on the
rear fender by Darrell Waltrip and completing 11 frightening barrel-rolls in
the infield. It was back to the hospital for a broken arm and assorted
injuries, but even worse, in Davey's eyes, was the fact that he'd lost the
points lead for the first time that year. That would be rectified later,
through pure grit and determination.
On August 13, the word came to the racing world that
young Clifford Allison had been killed in a practice crash at Michigan. Now, I
was just a fan, hearing the news on my kitchen radio, and I was absolutely
heartbroken as I remembered the cheerful youngster I'd been fortunate to
meet once. Imagining what his family felt, especially when piled on top of
the long and arduous recovery of Bobby and the loss of Pop, is just beyond my
comprehension. Surely, this good family had suffered more than their
share of grief for one lifetime. One would think that God would have something
good in store for them now, wouldn't one? As the racing year progressed, it
seemed like that might be the case, as Davey continued to race well and
regained the points lead at Phoenix. The final race at Atlanta is one that most
race fans remember well as being perhaps the most exciting and meaningful race
ever run in Winston Cup.
With six drivers mathematically eligible for the
Championship, it was Davey's race to lose, and he needed only to finish fifth
or better in order to claim the Winston Cup. Sadly, Davey didn't finish. A
spinning Ernie Irvan crashed into Davey and dashed his dreams, as we heard
Benny Parsons, almost in tears, saying, "Oh No! Davey Allison! That's
Davey Allison! Well, maybe it's not too bad. Nope folks, it's bad."
Independent owner-driver Alan Kulwicki went on to claim the Championship for
1992, by the narrowest of margins over Bill Elliott. For young Davey
Allison, the third place finisher, there was always next year.
Well, next year came, and on the first day of April,
Alan Kulwicki, the new Winston Cup Champion, was tragically killed in a plane
crash while approaching Bristol Motor Speedway for a landing. The racing
community mourned as one, even those from other venues. A Champion was gone!
Just when you think things can't get worse, somehow they manage to.
It was July 12, 1993, which was my 55th birthday and I
was watching the late news on TV when I heard that a helicopter had crashed at
Talladega Speedway. On board were the newly licensed pilot, Davey Allison and
longtime family friend Red Farmer, the oldest member of the "Alabama
Gang." They had been going to the Speedway to watch Neil Bonnett's son,
David, practice for a race, and the helicopter had evidently encountered wires
near the ground and become entangled, sending the craft careening wildly into
the air and then straight down. Reports were still sketchy that night, but by
the next day, we learned that Red Farmer would survive, but Davey had died from
head injuries sustained in the crash. It was not a happy birthday!
I am a race fan, and I've dealt with death a time or
ten, but this couldn't be real, could it? It had been horrible
to live with the death of the reigning Champion, but here was the heir
apparent, gone also. It was hard, and still is, to sort out feelings from that
time. Certainly, there were no good ones! We mourned Alan, the
Champion, and then in a heartbeat, we mourned Davey, who many felt would
have held the title, but for a stroke of fate. Certainly, the people most
deserving of sympathy and prayers were the Allisons, Bobby, Judy and their
daughters and Davey’s young wife Liz and their babies. Believe me; they were
forthcoming in great quantities, as were tears. So great was the impact
of his loss that there were tributes to Davey everywhere, but foremost were
those from venues dealing with Winston Cup. He was immortalized by his longtime
friend Neil Bonnett on a special edition of the "Winners" show, which
Neil hosted on TNN, and received like accolades from his friends at ESPN.
Perhaps the most poignant were the Havoline ads, which ran a full two weeks
after Davey left us, one of which showed only a haunting video of Davey walking
away from the camera, with his name and years of birth and death inscribed
below. "David Carl Allison ~ 1961-1993" Attempts to locate that
one have failed, but this is another from the same time:
It should be noted that over the brief time he was
with us, Davey set a plethora of Winston Cup records, many of which are still
unbroken, or at best tied by the young guns of today. He was the first of
the “super rookies”; the “young gun” of his time, which was cut short twenty five
years ago, and one has to wonder how many records and Championships would be
recorded differently today, if God had not called him home so soon.
I only hope, gentle readers, that I've managed to give
you a real sense of the man and the racer that made up Davey Allison, because
as both he was first class; a rare talent in a very special human being. He is
sadly missed by family, friends and race fans alike.
Rest well David Carl Allison. You are loved and
remembered.
Post
Script: Some ten years after Davey's death, a ruling was issued by the NTSB
(National Transportation Safety Board) concerning the crash. The Board found
the cause of the crash to be "a
stress break in the collective yoke", the device that controls the
pitch of the rotor blades on the helicopter. It never was pilot error as we
were led to believe for all that time.
PPS: On
December 18, 2015, Judy Allison passed away due to complications after surgery.
She rests now with her two sons, Davey and Clifford. Rest in peace dear lady;
you have more than earned it.
Today’s Classic Country Closeout will consist of just
two special songs offered in memory of Davey, and will close with a TNN
Tribute, “The Life and Times of Davey Allison.”
Both songs are sung by T. Jae Christian, from the
album “Racing’s Country Roots” (Songs of the Alabama Gang)
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling.
It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay