Waid’s World: It Took Time, But NASCAR Has Finally Given Bobby Allison His Due

On Oct. 23, the announcement by NASCAR that it had, after many decades, decided to officially reward Hall of Famer Bobby Allison with the 85th victory of his long, storied career, was met with widespread approval — even, in some cases, outright elation.

It was almost as if a man in prison so many years for a crime he did not commit was acquitted and set free.

That might be overstating the case, but in reality, NASCAR media and fans were pleased that the sanctioning body had righted a wrong it had committed in 1971.

The circumstances were somewhat strange, but then, given the NASCAR legislation enacted 53 years ago, perhaps not that illogical.

The verdict that disallowed an Allison victory at that time was based upon a competitive situation NASCAR created. 1971 was the first year of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. sponsorship of NASCAR’s premier series, which was to be known as the Winston Cup Grand National Series.

Late in the year, the sanctioning body announced that its Winston Cup races would include cars that competed in its fledgling Grand American Series, which was created for the smaller muscle cars produced by Detroit such as Ford’s Mustang and Chevrolet’s Camaro.

“We feel the sport will benefit from fans seeing the smaller cars compete against the larger cars on the short tracks,” was the official word from NASCAR.

Not everyone believe that would be the case. Especially Martinsville Speedway President Clay Earles.

“I will not allow Grand American cars in my races,” he said. “Nothing against those drivers, but it is a separate division and should not intermingle with Winston Cup.”

By no means was he alone.

The polarizing event came on Aug. 6, 1971, in the Myers Brothers Memorial at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., one of the most legendary short tracks in NASCAR history.

It was a combination Grand American-Grand National event. And, as you might think, the smaller, quicker, more agile Grand American cars didn’t get much opposition.

Allison, whose later career was the elevate him into superstardom, led the smaller car domination with a victory in a Mustang. Seven of the top 10 finishing spots were occupied by Grand American cars in what could easily be described as a rout.

“You know, I thought this would happen,” runner-up Richard Petty said. “They have the edge on short tracks. That’s obvious. Still, they race for a hobby and we race for a living.”

Apparently NASCAR felt the same way. It refused to grant Allison the victory, a decision it made because it could not allow a Grand American car to be victorious as it was merely an exhibition vehicle in a Cup race.

Said Allison, “No one told us we were just an exhibition.”

No one told anyone else, either.

At Bowman-Gray, there was no official Cup winner. And that’s the way it would be for the next 53 years.

As unfairly as Allison had been treated in the minds of many, in a very short time the situation was exacerbated. NASCAR’s competitive policy of separate but equal, as it came to be known, was ignored — and by the sanctioning body itself.

Tiny Lund competed regularly in a Grand American Camaro owned by Ronnie Hopkins. Lund won on the short tracks in Hickory, N.C., on Aug. 29 and at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Nov. 21.

He wasn’t denied a Cup victory in either event. NASCAR’s record book clearly shows that he earned two of his five career Cup victories in 1971 at the aforementioned tracks.

Then there was the case of Ray Elder, a veteran West Coast competitor. He won Winston Cup events at Riverside Speedway in 1971 and 1972, but since he was competing for the Winston West championship, his victories were attributed to that circuit.

NASCAR’s record books from 1972-75 listed Elder’s victories as part of Winston West. But in 1976, they were correctly changed to Cup.

Considering that, first, Lund easily retained credit for Cup victories, and second, that NASCAR itself altered its record book to accommodate Elder, and there’s reason to understand concerns and questions over Allison’s snub.

Over the years, questions about the 1971 race remained. The thought that NASCAR had been unfair to Allison (or perhaps had extracted a punishment for reasons never explained) persisted. 

Allison said himself many times that he should have been credited with a Cup victory. But I can say that as many times as I broached the subject with him, he was never belligerent or hostile to NASCAR.

And now, 53 years later, why has NASCAR relented and given Allison that 85th victory, which puts him in fourth on the all-time list?

Perhaps it was because Bowman-Gray will be the site of the 2025 Busch Light Clash and the last thing NASCAR wanted was to be bombarded by fans and media about the fallout from the 1971 race; certainly not the best public relations situation.

Or perhaps it has sensed the right thing to do was to grant an aging Allison, 86, justice. 

In reality, it doesn’t matter. The vast majority of the NASCAR fraternity, competitors, fans and media, agree the sanctioning body has done the proper thing. 

It has made right a wrong. It has corrected an error.

And for that, it deserves all due recognition.

Steve Waid

Steve Waid has been in  journalism since 1972, when he began his newspaper career at the Martinsville (Va.) Bulletin. He has spent over 40 years in motorsports journalism, first with the Roanoke Times-World News and later as publisher and vice president for NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated.

Steve has won numerous state sports writing awards and several more from the National Motorsports Press Association for his motorsports coverage, feature and column writing.  For several years, Steve was a regular on “NASCAR This Morning” on FOX Sports Net and he is the co-author, with Tom Higgins, of the biography “Junior Johnson: Brave In Life.”

In January 2014, Steve was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame. And in 2019 he was presented the Squier-Hall Award by the NASCAR Hall of Fame for lifetime excellence in motorsports journalism. In addition to writing for Frontstretch, Steve is also the co-host of The Scene Vault Podcast.