KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE SINCE 1999
Bobby Allison
3/12/1937
14159
One of the first NASCAR drivers and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. Born in Miami, Florida, he entered his first race as a senior in high school, but was ordered to quit by his father after a few accidents.
After high school in 1959, Allison took his brother Donnie and friends along on a quest for more lucrative racing than was available in south Florida. His searching led him to the Montgomery Speedway in Montgomery, Alabama, and he was told of a race that very night in Midfield, Alabama near Birmingham. Allison entered and won that race, along with two others races that week. He had found his lucrative racing. Bobby and Donnie set up shop in Hueytown, Alabama with another friend (Red Farmer), and they began answering to the name Alabama Gang.
Bobby Allison also worked as a mechanic and an engine tester, but eventually came into his own as a driver and won the national championship in the modified special division in 1962. He moved to the Grand National circuit in 1965 and got his first victory at Oxford Plains Speedway on July 12, 1966.
During the course of his career, Bobby Allison accumulated 84 victories, which ties him for third all-time with Darrell Waltrip, including three victories at the Daytona 500 in 1978, 1982 and 1988, where he finished one-two with his son, Davey Allison. He was also the NASCAR Winston Cup Champion in 1983.
On June 19, 1988, Bobby Allison nearly died in a crash at Pocono Raceway, but was left with injuries that forced his retirement from NASCAR. He was elected to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993, tragically, the same year as his son Davey died in a helicopter accident at Talladega Superspeedway.
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Spencer Wishart 1889 - 1914 -
Bertrand Faucigny-Lucinge 1898 - 1943 -
Roberto Mieres 1924 -
Gaetano Starrabba 1932 -
Rick Mears 1951
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Ronnie Bucknum 1936 - 1992
Ronnie Bucknum was a Formula One driver who participated in 11 Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1964 driving for Honda. After Formula One, Bucknum drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing between 1967-1970 with 23 starts. He had one win, the 1968 Michigan 500. He also drove a Carroll Shelby GT40 to third place at Le Mans in 1966. He died from complications from diabetes. -
Jim Hall 1935
A former F1 driver, Jim Hall was the owner and driving force of Chaparral Cars. An early adopter of aerodynamics applied to race cars, he was the leading proponent of that technology for an entire decade. He dominated sports car racing in the USA in 1965 winning 16 races. -
Peter Revson 1939 - 1974
Revson was heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was one of the best American sports car drivers of the 1960s. He raced in F1 for McLaren winning the British and Canadian Grands Prix in 1973. He was killed in testing for the 1974 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. -
Derek Bell 1941
A former Formula One driver from England who raced for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno. Bell is best know for his sportscar racing, winning Le Mans five times and the Daytona 24 hour race, three times. -
Bob Bondurant 1933
Bob Bondurant was a Formula 1 driver who raced for the Ferrari, Lotus, BRM and Eagle teams. Now famous for his racing schools where he continues to teach, time permitting, and race in select vintage racing events.