When the leader of the Alabama Gang comes, you submit. That was the rule in NASCAR back in the 1980s when Bobby Allison reigned high as one of the most skilled drivers in the sport. He won a great many victories in his illustrious career that still tie fans in awe. The crown jewel of them all came in the 1988 Daytona 500 when he beat his 26-year-old son, Davey.
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Bobby was 50 years old at the time. He was starting his third season with Stavola Brothers Racing and was poised to gun forward to a second championship. The first step was to win the Great American Race. Soon after the race week began, it became clear that both the Allisons had competent cars.
Bobby won the first qualifier on Thursday, and Davey finished third in the second qualifier. The main race on Sunday was all about who drafted better. The father brought forward every inch of experience up his sleeve and executed the job to perfection. He led 70 of the 200 laps, outdoing nearly every competitor.
Davey, on the other hand, led only two laps. But he kept a spot in the front of the field, and it became apparent that the duo were going to finish high in the order. A drawn-out battle unfolded between them in the final laps of the race at the end of which Bobby prevailed by two car lengths. It ended up as the only father-son one-two finish in Daytona 500 history.
Bobby Allison has no memory of the day he defeated his son
Later that season, Bobby suffered a severe crash in the Pocono Raceway. The accident forced him into retirement and caused him to lose many memories. Among the missing voids is the 1988 race and the celebrations that came afterward. Fortunately, there are photographs of the jubilation that show him happily pouring beer over his son’s head.
He once told the press, “The 1988 race at Daytona should be number one [on a list of favorite races], but I still don’t remember 1988. Some day maybe I will, and, if so, maybe I’ll have to change my outlook.” The icon won 84 Cup Series races. This included three Daytona 500s, three Coca-Cola 600s, four Southern 500s, and four races at Talladega.
Davey passed away in 1993 after getting caught in a helicopter crash in Talladega. Life had never been all roses for Bobby Allison, a religious man from Southern Florida, but the immense love that he got from his fans kept him going till his final days. He passed away in November 2024, at the age of 86.
