NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary all throughout the 2023 season.
In 1998, NASCAR had a panel select a list of its 50 greatest drivers for its golden anniversary.
Likewise, we at Frontstretch decided to put together our own list of the 75 greatest NASCAR drivers in honor of this year’s milestone. Seventeen of our writers weighed in to pick the final 75, and we’ll be releasing four to seven drivers from that list every weekday for the next three weeks.
Similar to the one in 1998, this list is not a ranking of the top-75 drivers. Instead, we’ve broken the list down into categories, with a new category released each day (see the full list below). Within those categories, the drivers are listed in alphabetical order.
As we kick off the final week of articles on the 75 greatest, we look back at drivers whose NASCAR careers ended tragically early.
Davey Allison
What could’ve been.
Born into racing royalty as the son of the great Bobby Allison, Davey Allison was a fast learner. He took the NASCAR Cup Series world by storm in his freshman season at Ranier Racing in 1987, scoring two wins at Talladega Superspeedway and Dover Motor Speedway despite competing in only 22 of the 29 races. His two victories remained a rookie record until Tony Stewart won three in 1999.
Robert Yates purchased the team from Ranier in 1989, and Allison continued to impress, earning eight wins across his first four NASCAR seasons with a best points finish of eighth in 1988.
And then, in 1991, the magic began. Allison was paired with crew chief Larry McReynolds in the fifth race of the season, and the results were instantaneous: the duo ended 1991 with five wins (including the Coca-Cola 600) and a third-place points finish.
The team picked up right where it left off in 1992. Allison won the season-opening Daytona 500, the first of four triumphs in the first 14 races, and he was scored as the points leader for the first 15 races of the season.
In the sixth race of the year at Bristol Motor Speedway, Allison injured his ribs in a crash. He then drove through the pain to win the following week at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Allison also was victorious in the All-Star Race in May despite getting taken to the hospital after a crash coming to the checkered flag with Kyle Petty.
Then, at Pocono Raceway in July, Allison flipped violently and was transported to the hospital again with a concussion and numerous broken bones but…
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