NASCAR's Allison Family Legacy: Grace Under Pressure 16 Years Later

Like the words to one of Rush’s famous songs, “The world weighs on my shoulders, but what am I to do? You sometimes drive me crazy, but I worry about you.”

It kind of makes one wonder, how much worrying did Bobby do watching his sons Davey and Clifford take up the same sport that he so much excelled at?

Probably never once knowing, that the sport that he loved so much would one day take his other love—that being not one, but both of his son’s.

Looking back, where would the hands of time actually stop to reflect the remarkable Allison legacy?

Would it be the 1988 Daytona 500, when Davey chased his dad around the track, just falling short of what would be his first 500 victory? Instead, he got to see up close his dad win his third 500. That year, both father and son won the 500.

Or would it be 1993, four years after winning his third 500? For Bobby to be able to celebrate in victory lane Davey’s one and only 500 win? Never in racing history has one state been so close to a racing family, as Alabama was to the Allisons.

Along with Neil Bonnett and Red Farmer, Bobby and Donnie Allison started the famous Alabama gang. Later on, Bobby’s sons Davey and Clifford would also become part of the gang.

As Bobby and Donnie were carving their way around the Nascar circuit, Davey and Clifford were also trying to make names for themselves.

But then a near-fatal accident at Pocono some 27 years and 84 race wins later, Bobby’s career was over. Meanwhile, Davey was out making history of his own. Trying so hard to follow in his dad’s footsteps, to keep the Allison legacy alive.

Sponsorship back then didn’t come easy. They were few, and just because you had a famous last name, it didn’t mean that they were lining up at your door to sign you.

You had to not only prove yourself, but you also had to show them that you really wanted it. If not, they would drop you as fast as they signed you.

Davey had a special racing talent. In his rookie season he won two cup races. In his short nine years of cup action, he had already visited victory lane an astounding 19 times—including five victories in 1991.

He came back in 1992 and equaled that feat. 1992 was on of his best seasons, but it also turned out to be one of his worst. Along with his five wins came some pretty violent wrecks.

And on that one fateful day at Michigan, Clifford would succumb to what is every racing family’s nightmare. During practice for a Busch race, the racing god’s came down and took his life.

It was a beautiful July day in 1993, the sun shining brightly on Davey’s career. With Bobby, Davey, Robert Yates and Larry McReynolds all getting together to plan out Davey’s rise to stardom, it looked like the Allison legacy would continue through Davey.

Then the very next day, 11 months after the death of Clifford, the racing god’s would once again come knocking at the door of the Allison’s.

Tragedy would once again strike them, as Davey would die in a helicopter crash. The Allison legacy would end on a tragic note.

The state of Alabama would go into mourning in honor of their fallen hero. Headlights burned throughout the day on the highways and byways of Alabama. Tragically, only a year later, the Alabama gang would become a memory with the death of Neil Bonnett.

Davey was well on his way to beating the odds of following in his dad’s footsteps. Many have tried. And many have failed.

This is the 16 year anniversary of the day that shook the racing world. But the memory of the Allison legacy and the Alabama gang lives on, in each one of our hearts.