Davey and Bobby Allison’s Historic Talladega Race
by Tom Jensen April 18, 2024
The 1987 Winston 500 saw Davey Allison’s first victory and Bobby Allison’s horrific crash. Together, they changed NASCAR forever.
After a record-setting pole run, Bill Elliott led Davey Allison and the rest of the field in the 1987 Winston 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center /CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images
When a key moment in history happens, its significance is not always recognized right away.
Such is the case for the 1987 Winston 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway, the track that today is known as Talladega Superspeedway. The Winston 500 was a race of milestones for NASCAR as well as for five members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame: Bobby Allison (Class of 2011), Bill Elliott (Class of 2015), Robert Yates (Class of 2018), Davey Allison (Class of 2019) and Jack Roush (Class of 2019).
The front two rows at the start of the 1987 Winston 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway featured only NASCAR Hall of Famer drivers: Bill Elliott on pole, Bobby Allison on the outside of Row 1 and Davey Allison and Darrell Waltrip (Class of 2012) in Row 2. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
In those days, NASCAR Cup Series cars raced at the fast, 2.66-mile Alabama track without restrictor plates, and as result they turned in some incredible speeds. In qualifying, Elliott put car owner Harry Melling’s Ford Thunderbird on the pole with a lap of 212.809 miles per hour. Not only did Elliott’s lap set a track record, 37 years later it remains the fastest single qualifying lap in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The race began with Elliott on the pole, Bobby Allison on the outside of Row 1 and rookie Davey Allison on the inside of Row 2. But on Lap 22, Bobby lost an engine in his Stavola Brothers Buick, cutting a rear tire, which sent the car spinning. When Allison’s car got sideways on the frontstretch, it got airborne and hit the catchfence, tearing down nearly 100 feet of fencing and causing a red flag period of more than two hours for repairs. Fortunately, the elder Allison was uninjured in the crash.
Bobby Allison’s wrecked race car sat on the frontstretch after his horrific crash in the 1987 Winston 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
Once the race resumed, the two fastest cars in the field were both Thunderbirds: Elliott’s No. 9 Melling ride and Davey Allison’s No. 28, which was fielded by Ranier Racing and powered by a Robert Yates-built engine.
Although he led 48 laps, Elliott’s car appeared to drop a valve after 150 laps, knocking him out of contention. As he sat dejectedly in his wounded car, Dr. Jerry Punch walked up to Elliott and asked him if he had the measure of Allison on the race track. “I don’t feel like I could have beaten Davey,” Elliott said. “He was running too good.”
Asked if anyone else could catch Allison, Elliott added, “No. Not a soul.”
Ahead of the field at his hometown track, Davey Allison raced to his first premier series victory during his rookie season. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
With 10 laps to go, Allison made what would prove to be the race-winning pass, going past Dale Earnhardt (Class of 2010) to score his first of 19 Cup Series race victories. Allison would go on to lead 101 of 178 laps, with the race shortened 10 laps because of impending darkness brought on by the long red-flag period.
“This thing’s just been awesome all day,” said Allison as he sat in his car after the race. “These guys did a super job on this car and I could do anything I wanted with it. I’m going to tell you what, I’m just tickled to death.”
Winning at Talladega was especially sweet for Allison, a native of Hueytown, Alabama, about 60 miles from the track. Allison would win again at Dover International Speedway, making him the first driver in NASCAR history to win two premier series races in his rookie season.
Davey Allison and his Ranier Racing team celebrated in Victory Lane at Alabama International Motor Speedway following Allison’s first premier series victory in the 1987 Winston 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
The Talladega race would prove to be a watershed moment in NASCAR safety efforts. The prospect of a car getting airborne brought immediate changes to NASCAR in order to slow the cars at the high-speed, high-banked oval. When NASCAR returned to Talladega for the second time in 1987, smaller carburetors were mandated to reduce speeds. Starting in 1988 NASCAR instituted restrictor plates to reduce the flow of the fuel-air mixture into the engines, thereby drastically cutting horsepower.
Later on, NASCAR would enlist the help of Roush, an experienced pilot, to develop roof laps to keep the cars on the ground if they spin at high speeds. Roush’s roof flaps, which have subsequently proceeded through several generations, are still in use today.
And some 37 years later, Davey Allison’s first Cup Series victory, along with Bill Elliott’s record-setting pole run, will forever live in NASCAR lore.
