His name is synonymous with NASCAR. He’s driven it all and for everybody. He’s fought with the biggest names because he is one of the biggest names.
He is a member of the famed Alabama Gang, a patriarch, a rival, a threat, a survivor, a legend, and a NASCAR Hall of Famer.
He is Bobby Allison.
And he’s coming to Drafting the Circuits to be interviewed.
You were either a Petty fan or an Allison one. Yarborough or Allison. Waltrip or Allison. Earnhardt or Alllison. There was even Allison or Allison.
Bobby Allison is one of NASCAR’s success stories. He is also a tragic hero.
His story is long, encompassing, exciting, filled with struggle, victory, and losses of epic proportions.
Allison’s list of accomplishments is overwhelmingly awesome: 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, two time winner of the World 600, three time winner of the Daytona 500, four time winner of the Southern 500, and voted seven times winner of the NASCAR Winston Cup Most Popular Driver Award.
These feats were accomplished over a quarter century of racing in 718 races in Cup.
Some thought him abrasive, aggressive, dirty, and lesser than his opponents, but that was only if you weren’t his fan.
Allison was one of the great wheelman in the sport. Before Tony Stewart earned the term, Allison was called a “racer’s racer”.
Local racing, even when he was running at the national level, kept Allison in touch with the fans who idolized him. He personified grassroots racing and never turned his back on his roots.
Life, however, dealt Bobby Allison a raw deal. From a near-life-ending accident at Pocono Raceway in 1988 that left Allison missing pertinent memories to the death of his two sons 11 months apart in 1992 and 1993, and the death of his best friend Neil Bonnett in 1994, Allison has endured 10 lifetimes of pain and suffering.
Such is the life of this racer.
How did he survive, get through, and find his way back to NASCAR?
What beacon kept Allison going?
And why does he continue to surround himself with the world of NASCAR?
Because he is Bobby Allison and NASCAR is the main fabric of his life.
How did he find his way back to his bride, Judy, when they had separated in the face of fear, money problems, and overwhelming grief?
All of these questions have answers.
Allison is, above all else, a spiritual and deeply religious man.
And, he is, for better or worse, ‘til death do they part, a member of the NASCAR Family.
To some those words ring hollow or cliché, but I assure you they are true and Bobby Allison exemplifies to what extent.
NASCAR kept Allison alive. NASCAR keeps Allison going. NASCAR helped Bobby and his wife Judy find one another again. And it’s NASCAR that surrounds Allison.
Tune in on Wednesday, May 14 at 9pm ET here: http://draftingthecircuits.whoobazoo.com/radio-player/ to listen to Bobby Allison LIVE on Drafting the Circuits and hear in his own words about the racing, the victories, the frustrations, the devastation, and the will to live that keeps the brilliant smile on his face.