NASCAR Hall of Famer and one of the sport’s all-time greats, Bobby Allison, has died at the age of 86. His family announced Saturday afternoon (Nov. 9) the legendary driver passed away peacefully in his sleep in Mooresville, N.C. earlier that morning. Allison, who recently sold his racing property in Alabama, had been in declining health over much of the past few years.
Allison was a founding member of the legendary “Alabama Gang” that raced at or near the front of the Cup Series grid for decades. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011 after earning one championship (in 1983), 85 wins, 336 top fives and 446 top 10s.
“Bobby was the ultimate fan’s driver,” Allison’s family said in a statement announcing his passing. “He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his fans and would stop to sign autographs and have conversations with them everywhere he went.”
Tributes for Allison immediately began pouring in.
He was more than just a racer.
He was a giant of our sport.
We remember Bobby Allison. pic.twitter.com/c2UKOeL9vs
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
It was Bobby Allison that taught our Wallace family how to become NASCAR racers.
Bobby will always be in my heart.
My prayers to his family ❤️— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) November 10, 2024
Godspeed Bobby Allison. I’ve never known a purer racer but I’ve also never known a man who was forced to endure more pain. No matter, you couldn’t keep him away from the racetrack. As sad as I am he’s passed, I’m so happy knowing he’s back with Judy, Davey, Clifford and Neil. pic.twitter.com/vL2FkkWs32
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) November 10, 2024
Allison’s first Cup start came in the Daytona 500 Qualifying Race back in 1961. He was 31st in the Great American Race that year, an event he’d go on to win three times in what became one of NASCAR’s finest stock car careers.
Earning a maiden Cup victory at Oxford, ME in July 1966, Allison spent much of the next decade as one of the top rivals of seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty. In 1972, Allison was runner-up to Petty in what’s regarded as the first season of the sport’s “modern era”: he won 10 times, including the Southern 500, and posted a remarkable 27 top-10 finishes in 31 starts. Over the course of the 1970s, Allison would finish the year inside the top 5 in points seven times.
Allison spent several periods as an owner-driver but also spent much of the 1970s and 1980s driving for…
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