Born in Hollywood, Florida, Davey Allison was the oldest of four children born to Bobby and Judy Allison. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobby Allison’s brother Donnie, Red Farmer, and Neil Bonnett, became known as the Alabama Gang. Growing up, Allison preferred football to racing, but ultimately settled on automobile racing.
After graduating high school, Allison began working for his father’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series team and built his own race car, a Chevy Nova, with friends known as the "Peach Fuzz Gang." He began his career in 1979 at Birmingham International Raceway, winning his first race in his sixth start. By 1983, he was racing in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series, winning two ARCA events at Talladega Superspeedway that year and being named ARCA Rookie of the Year in 1984, finishing second in the series title. He also married his first wife, Deborah, in 1984.
Allison continued in the ARCA series in 1985, winning eight races, four at Talladega Superspeedway, and competed in some of NASCAR's lower divisions. He made his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut in July 1985, driving for Hoss Ellington in the Talladega 500, qualifying 22nd and finishing tenth. In 1986, he made four starts in the No. 95 Sadler Racing Chevrolet, with Tom Pistone as crew chief, and substituted for an injured Neil Bonnett in Junior Johnson’s No. 12 Budweiser Chevy, finishing seventh in the Talladega 500.
Prior to the 1987 season, Harry Ranier tapped Allison to replace Cale Yarborough in the Ranier-Lundy No. 28 Ford Thunderbird. Ranier negotiated a sponsorship deal with Texaco’s Havoline motor oil brand during Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway. Allison qualified second for the 1987 Daytona 500, becoming the first rookie to start on the front row for NASCAR’s most prestigious event.
On lap 22 of the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega, Bobby Allison crashed after running over debris, becoming airborne and crashing into the frontstretch spectator fence. Davey, running ahead of his father, witnessed the crash. Though Bobby was not injured, the incident led to the requirement of smaller carburetors, and later, carburetor restrictor plates, at Daytona and Talladega to reduce speeds. Allison went on to win the race, becoming the first rookie since Ron Bouchard in 1981 to win a Winston Cup event. Just 28 days later, he won the Budweiser 500 at Dover International Speedway, becoming the only rookie to win two Winston Cup events at the time.
In 1988, Allison again started outside the front row for the Daytona 500, the first race using the new carburetor restrictor plates. He finished second to his father, Bobby, in that race. Later that year, his father suffered a near-fatal crash at Pocono International Raceway. Crew chief Joey Knuckles was fired and engine builder Robert Yates replaced him. Allison won at Michigan International Speedway and the inaugural race at Richmond International Raceway. He finished eighth in the final Winston Cup standings.
The 1991 season saw the hiring of Larry McReynolds as crew chief, leading to a significant improvement in performance. Allison won five races, including the Coca-Cola 600, leading 263 of the 400 laps, and secured three pole positions. He finished third in the final Winston Cup standings, only four points behind champion Dale Earnhardt.
Statistically, 1992 was Allison’s best season. He won the Daytona 500, and also won at Talladega. He led 127 laps in the Daytona 500, joining his father as a Daytona 500 winner. He won the Winston 500 at Talladega, his third victory at the track. A crash at Pocono, and another at Michigan, hampered his championship run. He finished third in the final standings, despite leading the points for much of the season.
On July 12, 1993, Allison boarded a newly acquired Hughes 369HS helicopter to fly to Talladega Superspeedway to watch Neil Bonnett’s son David test a car. He was attempting to land the helicopter inside a fenced-in area when it crashed. Allison sustained a critical head injury and was pronounced dead at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) blamed the crash on Allison's inexperience in helicopters, coupled with a poor in-flight decision to land downwind.
Allison was leading the IROC series championship at the time of his death, with one race remaining. Terry Labonte drove the final race in his place and secured the championship for him. His championship money was set up as a trust fund for his children. Allison was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2021.
Gallery · 3 related images
