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“Donnie Allison: As I Recall”
By Donnie Allison with Jimmy Creed
Foreword by Larry McReynolds
Book Review by Gregg Leary
Category:NASCAR -> Sprint Cup
Larry McReynolds reveals much about Donnie Allison in the Foreword to “Donnie Allison: As I Recall.” “I believe Donnie was as good a driver as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, all of them. He just never got the breaks those guys got that put them in a position to be ultra-successful like they were.” “If ever a person was TOO honest it was Donnie Allison. He was there to do a job driving a race car, and if you were looking for somebody to smile, shake hands, and pat you on the back, you were probably talking to the wrong guy.”
Donnie starts his book with the “infamous” 1979 Daytona 500…the first NASCAR race ever to be televised live “flag to flag” on CBS. (In those days you only had ABC, NBC and CBS to choose from. Most of the Eastern Seaboard was snowed in so many people were stuck in their homes…to watch TV…or “channel surf” the 3 major networks.)
He had qualified second in the #1 Hoss Ellington Hawaiian Tropic Olds. It had rained most of the night. On Lap 31, Donnie was leading. Bobby pulled inside of him and Cale tapped Bobbie’s rear fender and the three of them spun into the soggy infield grass. Donnie went two laps down…Cale three. Donnie’s car actually handled better after the spin. This was BEFORE restrictor plates so Donnie was able to make up 2 laps in only 77 laps…he lead again at Lap 108. On the last lap, Cale and Donnie hit THREE times on the backstretch. When they hit the final time Donnie said, “To hell with it. If we crash up here, we’ll both be wide open.” They crashed…ended in the turn three infield. Richard Petty won the race. They called each other a few unprintable names. Bobby stopped to see if Donnie was alright and needed a ride back to the pits. Cale said the wreck was Bobby’s fault because he’d been blocking all day...and hit Bobby in the face with his helmet. Bobby erupted and “Cale went to beating on my fist with his nose.” The fight erupted and who can calculate how many more tickets were sold to future NASCAR races and how many new fans were created from the telecast. Donnie said Cale caused the wreck and he saw the film that proves it.
Donnie didn’t grow up wanting to be a driver, he wanted to be a jockey, a baseball pitcher or an Olympic diver. He won diving competitions. His baseball coach waited until the last inning of the last game with two men on base in the last inning to give Donnie a try. He struck out the first two hitters and the third one flied out. Donnie’s jockey career ended with a compound fracture of his leg in a motorcycle accident and almost six months in traction and a body cast. He quit school…and went from one horsepower to 600.
Donnie was one of 13 Allison children. (three died in infancy) When they sat down for a meal, Donnie said it “looked like The Last Supper.” Donnie grew up in Miami.
Donnie loved roller skating (like Mel Kenyon), and had to be bribed to go to his first race at Hialeah Speedway. A neighbor would pay Donnie’s way if he would help him crew his race car. Donnie agreed and ended up driving the car in the race that night…and the neighbor gave Donnie the car. The next week Donnie’s car broke, so Bobby let him use his…which Donnie crashed. Bobby said, “You’ll NEVER make a race car driver.”
“At that moment, my main mission in life was to prove him wrong.”
“If you told me I couldn’t do something, well, I would show you.”
In a 1963 race at Birmingham, Donnie spun his brother Bobby out of the lead on the last lap to win. Bobby shook his finger at Donnie when he was going to pick up his trophy. Donnie gave him the #1 sign in front of the grandstand. It wasn’t NASCAR who penalized him...it was much worse. His Dad grabbed him and said, “I didn’t raise you boys like that.” Pop told Donnie to settle it with Bobby right then…and they never had a problem on a race track again.
Donnie and Bobby finished 1-2, five times in their Cup career. Donnie won four of them.
The Allisons have won more races than any siblings in NASCAR history. (Bobby 85 and Donnie 10. Next closest, the Waltrips: Darrell 84 and Michael 4.)
Donnie says “without a doubt” HE is a better driver than Bobby.
Donnie, not Bobby gave Davey Allison his first race car. Davey won two races in it his first weekend.
As far as moving from Florida to Alabama goes…Bobby’s and Donnie’s books tell a different story. Bobby’s book says his Mom asked him to take Donnie with him because Donnie was driving his Dad crazy. Donnie says he wanted to go but Bobby told him he’d have to bring some money…so Donnie pawned his prize shotgun for $35. They bought bushels of peaches for a dollar and ate lots of 29 cent pancakes…before “The Alabama Gang” started winning. In 1962, Bobby, Donnie and Red Farmer won 96 of 106 races…and tried to figure out why they didn’t win the other 10.
Bob Harmon, who owned Montgomery Speedway named the “Alabama Gang,” and Donnie says it was ONLY those three. “ Not Neil Bonnett, Davey or Clifford Allison, Hut Stricklin, Stanley Smith or Mickey Gibbs.” “Those guys who came later didn’t travel the roads and turn the wrenches and win all those races with us in the early years.”
Donnie and Red Farmer had an incident that escalated. Donnie confronted Red and said, “We can do one of three things-we can race, we can wreck, or we can fight, and it doesn’t make any difference to me.” Red said, “It’s all behind us,” and they never had another problem. (Red won a heat race at Tony Stewart’s “Prelude to the Dream” at Eldora last year at age 76.)
Donnie ran 2 Cup races in 1966. In 1967 he ran 20 races and won Rookie of the Year.
In 1968 he ran for Banjo Matthews and the former driver became Donnie’s mentor. ”It’s a race car. Just drive it.” (like NIKE’s “Just Do It.”) Donnie won his first race at Rockingham.
Donnie was the first driver to run at Talladega at a Ford test in August of 1969. Donnie said “It was 12 feet wider than Daytona…but so rough…it needed another month or two to cure.” When the PDA threatened to strike, Donnie questioned Big Bill France. ”I thought the president of an organization should look out for the welfare of the organization.” France said, “You’re individual contractors. NASCAR doesn’t have anything to do with it.” Donnie writes, “So I asked why I had to have a NASCAR license. His response wasn’t too nice.”
The drivers boycotted. France filled the field with sportsman cars, and backmarkers.
“I didn’t understand it at the time, but I’ll admit now, the best thing that ever happened in the entire history of NASCAR was for Bill to run that race. It showed that he ran the show and that you were going to do what HE said if you were a member of NASCAR or were going to run a NASCAR race. He didn’t buckle. He didn’t back down. It’s why NASCAR is the ultra-successful organization it is today. There’s one chain of command, one man at the top who ultimately makes all the decisions, and there’s not a driver’s union. Either do it France’s way, or get the hell out.”
On May 23, 1970 Donnie was 4th in the Indianapolis 500 and was voted Rookie of the Year. He won the World 600 on May 24. He was the first to “do the double” AND the most successful. (Long before John Andretti, Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart.) A.J. Watson told him after the race, “You’re the only stockcar driver I’ve ever seen who could drive these cars.” Donnie completed all 200 laps…something another rookie wouldn’t do until Nigel Mansell in 1993. If A.J. Foyt had offered Donnie a full time ride after Indy in 1971, Donnie would have quit stock car racing. He says AJ is the best driver ever.
Donnie tells that he actually started the DiGard Team in his Hueytown garage, then was cheated out of it. (Darrell Waltrip won 27 races for them later.)
At the 11-5-78 Atlanta race, Donnie made up two laps in 6 laps of racing and knew he had won the race. NASCAR thought Richard Petty had won.16 year old Brian France had been watching and told his Dad that Donnie had won.
Donnie and Dale Earnhardt became close friends. After Dale had run into Donnie in practice in Charlotte early in Dale’s career, Dale started to say something. Donnie told him, “Don’t open your mouth. Don’t say one word. If you ever run into me in practice again, I’m going to wreck you right then and then get out and whip your ass.” They never had a problem on the track again.
Donnie was spotting on May 3, 1987 when Bobby crashed and took down much of the catch fence at Talladega. Donnie wrote that the insurance company had made the track add reinforcing cables to the catch fence just days before the race. Davey won the race. Restrictor plates came back for good. Bobby said he didn’t like restrictor plates “because it made other drivers as good as he was when they weren’t as good as he was.”
The hardest lap Donnie ever ran was July 25, 1993 at Talladega in the #28 Ford. It was a pace lap as a tribute to his nephew, Davey, who had died 12 days earlier in a helicopter crash at the track.
REGRETS: On May 24, 1981 Donnie drove in the Charlotte race in an uncompetitive car. He told his wife, Pat: “I’m going to mess around in this junk and get my ass busted.” How true. He spun and got T-boned. Donnie broke his leg, five ribs, shoulder and cheekbone and suffered a collapsed lung and serious concussion. A priest was called in for last rites. That race essentially ended his career.
Donnie stayed away from the race track after his injury. “Out of sight, out of mind.” He wasn’t as fan friendly or media savvy as he should have been. He didn’t toot his own horn. He let his driving do the talking. He regrets never pursuing a full-time factory ride. He waited for the factories to come to him. Bobby and Davey Allison and Red Farmer were listed in NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. Donnie wasn’t…although:
He had 10 wins and 17 Poles in 242 races. He started in the Top Ten in 163 of 242 races. (63%) and finished in the Top Ten in 114 of 242. (47%) Banjo Matthews said, shortly before he died, “Donnie, you were a helluva lot better race driver than you ever gave yourself credit for.”
Donnie Allison pulls no punches.
He says Dale Junior and Kurt Busch are “spoiled brats.”
Ryan Newman has “no fear” but “somebody who sits on as many poles as he does ought to win a lot more races.”
“Maybe it’s because he reminds me of myself, but Tony Stewart is my favorite. In terms of ability, he’s as good as Jeff Gordon. In fact, if I ever needed a driver to drive my car in a race I absolutely HAD to win, Tony Stewart is the guy I’d want.”
“Donnie Allison: As I Recall” is a refreshing breath of fresh air from someone who “tells it like it was.” I give it four out of five lug nuts.