Bobby Allison, Nascar legend and three-time Daytona 500 winner, dies aged 86

Bobby Allison, founder of the Alabama Gang racing organization and a Nascar Hall of Famer, died Saturday. He was 86.

Nascar released a statement from Allison’s family saying he died at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. No cause of death was given, but Allison had been in declining health for years.

Allison moved to fourth on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list last month when chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the 1971 Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina. The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision again, giving Allison 85 wins and moving him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip.

France and former NASCAR director Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. This trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup victories.

Allison was inducted into Nascar’s second Hall of Fame class in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the title race five times and was a three-time winner of the Daytona 500.

“Bobby was the ultimate fan driver,” Allison’s family said in a statement. “He really enjoyed spending time with his fans and stopped everywhere he went to sign autographs and have conversations with them. He was a devoted family man and friend, and a devout Catholic.”

He helped put Nascar on the map with more than just his driving. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the closing laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 was one of the sport’s defining moments.

“Cale started hitting my fist with his nose,” Allison has said repeatedly, often using that phrase to describe the fight. “Cale understands, just like me, that it was a real benefit to the interest of racing. It proves that we were sincere.”

Born in Miami in 1937, Allison began looking for more racing opportunities outside the Sunshine State. He landed in central Alabama, where he found a number of small dirt roads.

He returned to Florida to pick up brother Donnie and good friend Red Farmer. They settled in Hueytown, Alabama, and dominated regional racing throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. They were later joined in the Alabama Gang by Jimmy Mears, Neil Bonnett and Bonnett and Allison’s sons Davey and Clifford.

Allison retired in 1988 after a crash that nearly killed him. In June 1987, he was wrecked on the first lap at Talledega Superspeedway. He hit the outside wall and then got a T-bone in the driver’s side door. He was initially pronounced dead when he reached a local hospital, but was later resuscitated.

He eventually regained his memory, relearned daily activities and attempted a comeback. But a series of tragedies forced Allison to retire. His son, Clifford, was fatally injured in a crash during practice for the second-tier Busch Series at Michigan International Speedway in 1992. A year later, son Davey was killed in a helicopter crash in Talladega.

Three years later, Bobby and his wife Judy divorced. They reconnected four years later at their daughter-in-law’s wedding and remarried in 2000. They remained together until Judy’s death in 2015.

Allison was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the Nascar Hall of Fame along with Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore, Pearson and Lee Petty.

“Bobby Allison personified the term ‘racer,’” France said in a statement. “While he is best known as one of the winningest drivers in the history of the NASCAR Cup Series, his impact on the sport extends far beyond the record books.

Allison is one of 10 drivers to win the Nascar Grand Slam, including the Cup Series’ most iconic races: the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.

Allison made six IndyCar Series starts for Roger Penske, including a pair of Indy 500s.