Davey Allison - a NASCAR legend

The Allison name in NASCAR is well known. Driver Bobby Allison and his wife had four children, which included Davey, who became a driver himself. In addition, there was Bobby's brother, Donnie, so that makes three very successful racers in the halls of NASCAR. This article will focus on Davey, born David Carl Allison in 1961.

Naturally, growing up as the son of a driver gave Davey a first-hand view of what racing involved and it allowed him to get right in there with his father's team and learn the ropes. It wasn't long once he became of age that the younger Allison began racing for himself. After great success in the ARCA series, he was given his first shot in Cup racing in 1985. That was the Talladega race and he finished a very respectable tenth. He did a lot of racing on a part time basis in '86, and then in 1987 he became the first rookie to start on the front row for the huge Daytona race. Davey Allison was in NASCAR Cup to stay, but it wasn't going to be an easy ride.

His first few years in NASCAR were an up and down rollercoaster ride. He had moments where he shined, and then he had times when disappointment reigned. Allison's achievements were inconsistent. It wasn't until 1991 when he was teamed with new crew chief Larry MacReynolds that Allison really began to click, winning five races that season.

In 1992, Allison received a lot of attention after winning the first race to be run under the lights at a superspeedway. The event was the All-Star race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. On the final lap of the race, Richard Petty and Allison came together, forcing Allison's car into the wall. Allison was taken to the hospital, unconscious, and woke up not even knowing that he'd won the race. After that race, he spoke a lot about having had an out-of-body experience from the accident.

Near-death experience aside, Allison went on to battle for the Cup that year. Ultimately, he finished third, but it was a finish that came down to the final race of the season.

The next year, 1993, Allison had a lot of high hopes. There were ups and downs, but he was hopeful of winning the Cup and was in fact fifth in the standings when he died after a helicopter crash. It really was tragic.

Throughout his short career, Allison had shown his determination to race by continuing to run for the checkers even while severely injured. In his career, he'd had multiple crashes, all taking their toll on his body. His father had gone through horrific crashes and his brother, Clifford, had died during a race. It takes guts to race on through the sadness and reality of harsh injuries, but Davey Allison had a lot of guts.

Davey Allison's career was short, but he still managed to accumulate 19 Cup wins and, not to be overlooked, two International Race of Champions (IROC) victories. That's worth being remembered.