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He’s had the trophy for 53 years. Wednesday, Bobby Allison finally got the recognition.
And better yet, he broke out of a tie with former on-track nemesis Darrell Waltrip for all-time victories.
NASCAR announced Wednesday it’s filling the victory void for the 1971 Myers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“For 53 years, the Myers Brothers Memorial was the only race run by NASCAR that did not have an official winner,” said Jim France, NASCAR chairman and CEO.
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Now it does.
How’d that happen in the first place?
Why Bobby Allison was stuck on 84 NASCAR wins
Absolutely the right call. Yet imagine walking into the art department in the year of our lord 2024 and saying “We’re gonna need a graphic – Bobby Allison just won a race.” https://t.co/cAkCDqExb1
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) October 23, 2024
In 1971 NASCAR was still a year away from the beginning of its “modern era,” marked by a streamlined schedule and no more dirt tracks. That ’71 season, six of the 48 races featured cars from each of NASCAR’s top two circuits (known as Cup and Xfinity today, but Grand National and Grand American back then).
Allison drove in both series. In Winston-Salem, N.C., for the Bowman Gray race, he chose to run his Grand American car, a Ford Mustang, and won the race after leading 138 of 200 laps. Richard Petty, the only other driver on the lead lap, finished three seconds behind Allison.
But since Allison wasn’t driving a “big-league” car, the win never counted on the list of big-league winners, even though he got the trophy and first-place winnings — $1,000.
Bowman Gray, a longtime staple of short-track racing and a part of NASCAR’s Cup schedule from 1958-71, returns to the spotlight next February as host to the season-opening Busch Clash. That played a role in Wednesday’s decision, news of which was delivered personally to Allison by France and NASCAR senior advisor Mike Helton.
“As we began preparations for the upcoming Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the topic of that 1971 race returned to the forefront,” France said through a NASCAR release. “We felt it was the right thing to officially recognize Bobby’s win and honor him as an 85-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. We are grateful for Bobby’s lifetime contributions to NASCAR.”
Bobby Allison no longer tied with Darrell Waltrip
Allison gathered those 85 wins in a career stretching from 1961 to 1988, when he was still winning races at age 50 — including the ‘88 Daytona 500, by the way. Serious injuries from a June wreck at Pocono ended his career.
Allison now sits fourth on the all-time wins list, behind only Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93). After Waltrip at 84 wins comes Cale Yarborough and Jimmie Johnson with 83 apiece, and Dale Earnhardt, with 76.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bobby Allison wins again! NASCAR OK’s 1971 win. DW now 5th on win list