Hickory wasn't kind to Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison was one tough cookie.

Even more than David Pearson, Allison usually was Richard Petty’s arch nemesis. The Florida boy who became famous in Alabama was smart, tough and talented, and he often made The King (and everyone else) suffer.

Strangely, the leader of the Alabama Gang never had much luck in Grand National (now called Sprint Cup) races at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Allison, who is on the track’s Wall of Fame, had four DNFs (did not finish) in eight starts at HMS. He started on the pole once but wound up 20^th in that race. His other starts at HMS were better, starting third and finishing the same in 1970, starting sixth and finishing fourth in 1971, starting fourth and finishing fifth in 1967, and starting fifth and finishing seventh in 1966.

In his four DNFs, he went out with an oil leak in 1970, a sway bar in 1968, general engine trouble in 1967 and a crash in ’71 (after being on the pole). He averaged a 4.9 start and an 11.1 finish, with three top-five finishes, at the little track.

Although HMS wasn’t among Allison’s best tracks, it would be impossible to argue that he didn’t belong on anybody’s Wall of Fame.

From 1961 to 1988, Allison ran in 718 Cup races. NASCAR lists his win total at 84, tied with Waltrip for fourth all time behind Petty (200), Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (85); he says he won 86.

In an era when Petty won seven championships and Pearson and Yarborough won three titles each, Allison won one title, 1983.

His most famous moment, of course, came in the 1979 Daytona 500, memorable because, one, it was the first stock-car race run from flag to flag on TV, and, two, the ending. Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were battling for the lead on the last lap when they crashed in turn three. They got out of the cars and Bobby, who was still among the leaders, got out and lit into Cale.

Petty, unconcerned about fighting, crossed the finish line with Darrell Waltrip in tow for his sixth Daytona 500 victory, and Cale and the Allisons battled on into history.

Yarborough says he's since patched up his relationship with the Allisons.

"I'm an honorary Allison," Cale once said, laughing.

Allison is also famous for the 1988 Daytona 500, with him winning and son Davey finishing second.

And, sadly he’s also known for the 1988 Pocono race, with the horrific crash and the years of recovery.

"It took away my life," Allison has said. "I was 50 years old, but I had won Daytona that year for the third time. I felt like I was still very, very competitive."

But Allison was so much more than a great driver who has endured a lot of physical and mental anguish. For one thing, in the 1980s he steered budding Winston Cup car owner Jack Roush to driver Mark Martin.

"I owe a part of what I do today to Bobby," Martin has said.

After retiring, Bobby was a car owner from 1990 to ’96 and had some good runs with Jimmy Spencer, Derrike Cope and others.

Through it all, he was a battler.

Humpy Wheeler, the former president and promoter at Charlotte Motor Speedway, said that Allison and Dale Earnhardt butted heads a few times.

“Bobby Allison was one driver nobody could intimidate,” Wheeler said in the book “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.” “There was no way to do that. He had a lot of intimidation himself.”

One year at Nashville, Tenn., Yarborough was declared the winner, but Allison thought that he had won. Bobby had a good argument. Cale was lapped while fixing a tire, and he and Charlie Glotzbach both picked up laps under caution. NASCAR moved Glotzbach back, a lap down, but left Yarborough up front.

Right after the race, Yarborough and Allison talked over the public-address system, and the crowd booed Cale soundly. He muttered, "It's obvious I'm in Allison country."

Four days later, NASCAR admitted that Yarborough shouldn't have gotten that lap back, but he kept the winner's purse and the victory. And to this day, Allison still counts that as a victory for himself, not Cale.

There’s a story that says that Allison supposedly once tried to pass the pace car to get his lap back, and that just might be the race.

Perhaps the best Allison story dates to July 16, 1966 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. And it shows a lot about the Allison the battler.

Allison and another hall-of-famer, Curtis Turner, slammed and banged their way around the tiny track. Turner, an established star, may have taken umbrage at the upstart Allison, whose Chevelle didn’t compare with Turner’s Ford.

He and Allison were like Ali and Frazier with metal gloves.

It started when Turner hooked Allison's rear bumper, spinning him out on lap eight of the Myers Brothers 250. Allison lost a lap, then rejoined the battle with Turner.

At one point, Turner slowed and waited for Allison's Chevrolet. Allison sensed an ambush, so he rammed Turner's Ford from behind. The next 10 laps, the hostilities escalated, and the race almost became an afterthought.

Finally, Turner was waiting for Allison when Bobby aimed his limping car at Turner’s Ford and rammed it.

Police intervened (no charges were filed) and the combatants were ejected; by then both cars were dead. NASCAR also fined each man $100 for "rough driving."

Rough driving? Ya think?

Turner was scored 17^th in a 24-car field, with Allison 18^th (he was behind Turner when he rammed him).

Pearson won the race, and Allison and Turner eventually mended fences.