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.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 10, 2024
He was a giant of our sport.
We remember Bobby Allison. pic.twitter.com/c2UKOeL9vs
It was Bobby Allison that taught our Wallace family how to become NASCAR racers.
— Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) November 10, 2024
Bobby will always be in my heart.
My prayers to his family ❤️
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 some of the most legendary owners in NASCAR history: Holman-Moody, Roger Penske, and Bud Moore. But it was a pairing with DiGard Racing from 1982-85 that put him over the top: the duo won 16 races together, including six in 1983 when they fended off Darrell Waltrip by 47 points to earn the Cup championship.
45 years old during the 1983 season, Allison still holds the record as the oldest NASCAR Cup title winner. He was competitive all the way to age 50, spending his final few seasons with another longtime Cup ownership group, the Stavola Brothers. His last victory came in February 1988, winning the Daytona 500 for the third time with son Davey right behind him in second place.
Allison retired from racing in the summer of that same year following an accident at Pocono Raceway, resulting in a broken leg, broken ribs, a concussion, and a traumatic brain injury that would affect him the rest of his life.
After exiting the driver’s seat, Allison went back into Cup ownership but never achieved the success he had behind the wheel. The 1990s were also marked by tragedy: the loss of son Clifford in a racing crash, then 19-time Cup winner Davey in a helicopter one in 1993. The loss of good friend and fellow Alabama Gang member Neil Bonnett came next, losing his life while practicing for the Daytona 500 in 1994. After closing up shop in 1996, he gradually receded from the limelight, spending time in his beloved Alabama.
In 2023, Allison was recognized as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers. Just weeks ago, he was back in the news after getting awarded his 85th NASCAR Cup Series victory for a 1971 race at Bowman-Gray Stadium that, for years, the sport had claimed was not eligible to be counted. The decision broke a decades-long tie with Darrell Waltrip for the fourth spot: only Jeff Gordon (93), David Pearson (105) and Richard Petty (200) have more victories all-time.
Allison was preceded in death by sons Clifford Allison and Davey Allison along with wife Judy.
WAID: It Took Time, But NASCAR Has Finally Given Bobby Allison His Due
From 2023: Former Allison Property For Sale
About the author
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.
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One of the best to ever race, period. More versatile than a lot of people know. Miss him already.
One of the things I loved about NASCAR when I first became a fan was the fact that so many of the legends of the sport were still walking among us. Unfortunately the last few years they’ve started passing away (Pearson, Moore, Johnson, Baker, Yarborough, now Bobby, just to name a few). I knew that would eventually happen because nobody lives forever, but it’s still tough whenever it does.
Bobby has been my favorite since I was a 5 yo kid going to Martinsville with my dad in the early 70’s. Sure glad NASCAR awarded him the 85th win before he passed away.
During the mid 80’s in N Orange County, CA, our apartment neighbor was a relative in the Allison family.
On a visit one day we asked about these large cans of cold Miller she had in the fridge. She told us her relative Bobby was in town with the NASCAR race and that he had dropped by.
Memories of when drivers had time on race weekends.