LIVE: NASCAR legend and Hueytown hero Bobby Allison to be laid to rest
Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, will be laid to rest Saturday.The 86 racing legend died at his home in Mooresville, North Carolina last Saturday, just a month after being moved to fourth on NASCAR’s Cup Series victory list last month when chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in 1971.The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision, giving Allison 85 wins and moving him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip.>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for freeFrance and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. With it, Allison trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup wins.Before his burial at Highland Memorial Gardens, residents of Hueytown, the place where Allison’s racing career took off, were asked to line the streets of Brooklane Drive and Davey Allison Boulevard to pay their respects as he rolled on to his final resting place.”It’s a loss to everybody that calls Hueytown home because the Allison name with Hueytown, they just went together,” Hueytown Mayor Steve Ware said. According to Ware, Allison put Hueytown on the map. He saw that impact firsthand at a sporting goods store over 2,000 miles away in Vancouver, Washington.Ware recently recounted his first run-in with the NASCAR star, saying it’s a moment he’ll never forget.>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube “I’m starting to put gas in my truck, and lo and behold, there’s Bobby Allison. He comes out, and he’s putting gas in his truck, and I thought, man, I want to ask him for an autograph so bad, but I was shy, you know, 16 years old,” he said.Ware did get Allison’s autograph that day and some advice.”While he was writing, he said, ‘Don’t ever think you’re bothering me, if it wasn’t for people like you wanting autographs, I don’t know if I’d have a job.'” “He was good to everybody he ever met, and he made my mother and daddy really, really proud,” Allison’s brother, Eddie, said. “I loved to watch him win, and we did win good.”Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class, in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the series title race five times, and a three-time winner of the Daytona 500. Stay updated on the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.
Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, will be laid to rest Saturday.
The 86 racing legend died at his home in Mooresville, North Carolina last Saturday, just a month after being moved to fourth on NASCAR’s Cup Series victory list last month when chairman Jim France recognized him as the winner of the Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in 1971.
The sanctioning body updated its record books to reflect the decision, giving Allison 85 wins and moving him out of a tie with Darrell Waltrip.
>> WVTM 13 ON-THE-GO: Download our app for free
France and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. With it, Allison trails only fellow Hall of Famers Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup wins.
Before his burial at Highland Memorial Gardens, residents of Hueytown, the place where Allison’s racing career took off, were asked to line the streets of Brooklane Drive and Davey Allison Boulevard to pay their respects as he rolled on to his final resting place.
“It’s a loss to everybody that calls Hueytown home because the Allison name with Hueytown, they just went together,” Hueytown Mayor Steve Ware said.
According to Ware, Allison put Hueytown on the map. He saw that impact firsthand at a sporting goods store over 2,000 miles away in Vancouver, Washington.
Ware recently recounted his first run-in with the NASCAR star, saying it’s a moment he’ll never forget.
>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
“I’m starting to put gas in my truck, and lo and behold, there’s Bobby Allison. He comes out, and he’s putting gas in his truck, and I thought, man, I want to ask him for an autograph so bad, but I was shy, you know, 16 years old,” he said.
Ware did get Allison’s autograph that day and some advice.
“While he was writing, he said, ‘Don’t ever think you’re bothering me, if it wasn’t for people like you wanting autographs, I don’t know if I’d have a job.'”
“He was good to everybody he ever met, and he made my mother and daddy really, really proud,” Allison’s brother, Eddie, said. “I loved to watch him win, and we did win good.”
Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class, in 2011. He was the 1983 NASCAR champion, finished second in the series title race five times, and a three-time winner of the Daytona 500.
Stay updated on the latest sports stories with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.
