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10 Questions Bobby Allison talks about Davey, driving and flying
Posted: Sunday February 20, 2000 12:57 AM
Bobby Allison won the 1988 Daytona 500 -- and then everything was taken from him. His career ended in a horrific crash at Pocono later that year. Two sons were killed in accidents -- Clifford in a practice crash at Michigan in 1992; Davey in a helicopter crash at Talladega in 1993. Allison then lost his race team in the mid-1990s. Even with everything that has happened to him, Allison is still upbeat and personable. He spoke with CNNSI.com's Ryan Smithson about flying, tragedy and Bear Bryant. 1. My dad used to be an air-traffic controller in Nashville, and he remembers you flying into there all the time. Flying was more than just a hobby, wasn't it? Flying was really one of the special things for me. Flying the airplane really made me want to recover from my accident at Pocono in 1988. I give the airplane a lot of credit for my recovery. 2. Right off the bat, you mentioned the crash. What was it like in the car during the crash? I have no idea. I still do not have any memory of 1988. The memory I have of my '87 accident -- the one where I nearly went into the stands -- was that it looked very bad but did not hurt me. I remember some of the crash, but none of the violence of it. 3. People still talk about Davey even to this day. What do you think about all the attention that is bestowed upon him six years after his death? What an incredible compliment to any parent to have their child loved around the world, and Davey certainly was. A lot of fathers would give anything in the world to have 10 minutes like I had 24 hours a day with Davey. He was so good to me, for me. He was always saying, 'Dad, what should I do? What would you like me to do? Dad, how can I get better at what I want to do?' Those kind of things. Davey was just incredible. 4. A lot of people do not have a relationship like that with their parents. How did you two do it? I don't know. That's just some of the good fortune I had. It was a gift from God. Davey was interested in what I did, and he wanted to pursue racing, and I had the incredible honor of knowing that Davey thought I was really good at what I did. To have your son think that you are really good at what you do puts a plus on whatever it is you do. 5. Is it difficult to come back to the track? It is okay to come back to the track. It's not hard, but it's not wonderful either. The track represents an area that was a source of a lot of good times for me, and some bad times. 6. Do you ever think about days when you drove? Not about driving. I think about how I went about making the car better, getting the best performance out of the equipment I had, things like that. I think about that a little still. 7. Do drivers come to you for advice? Yeah, people ask me questions, and that is pretty nice. 8. Are you able to help them? The cars have changed quite a bit in the last 10 years. Actually, it's been 12 years since I last drove. Some of the same things are pretty basic -- they are things that make you do good or do bad. 9. For many years, you were the leader of NASCAR's famed "Alabama Gang." Do you still live in Alabama? Yes, I still live in Hueytown, Ala. Things have gone pretty well for me. I have had a few mishaps along the way, but people are good to me, and I appreciate that. 10. Are you a big Crimson Tide fan, and do you make it to the games? What are your memories of Bear Bryant? My brother Eddie gets to go. He's a full-time volunteer coach for Alabama football. He understands every piece of that. Joe Namath has continued to be very friendly to me all through the years. I knew Bear Bryant a little bit. He was a special, special person. He came to the track a time or two, but he was one of the first people who could not go out in public without people taking up all his time.
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