Donnie Allison: As I Recall...

by Donnie Allison, Jimmy Creed (With), Larry McReynolds (Foreword by)

Overview

Donnie Allison was always the “other” brother of the famous NASCAR racing duo. Perhaps only true students of NASCAR history know that Donnie Allison won ten races in his career; that he posted top ten finishes in 47 percent of all the races he ever ran; that four of the five times the Allison brothers ran 1-2 in a race, it was Donnie in front at the checkers. Fewer still may know that he was Rookie of the Year in the 1970 Indianapolis 500. Little is known about Donnie Allison because he wasn’t much of a talker. Donnie lived by the philosophy that his driving did his talking for him. Over the years, his being so tight-lipped led to many misconceptions, twisted tales, and outright falsehoods about Donnie Allison, his racing career, and his life. In Donnie Allison: As I Recall . . ., he sets the record straight on a variety of subjects he’s wanted to clear up for years, including the 1979 Daytona 500 and the famous fight in the infield with Cale Yarborough; the win NASCAR tried to steal from him and give to Richard Petty; and his ultra-competitive, often-combative relationship with a racing brother who didn’t like to lose to anybody. “I’ve got lots of stories to tell, and I want to tell them the way I remember them,” Donnie says. In Donnie Allison: As I Recall . . ., he’s done just that.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613214398
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	05/01/2013
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Donnie Allison is one-half of the most successful duo of racing brothers in NASCAR history and a founding member of the famed “Alabama Gang.” He won 10 Grand National/Winston Cup races in his career and 17 poles. Before that he won hundreds of races at short tracks all around the Southeast and helped put Hueytown, Alabama, on the map. He’s still active in racing, helping his sons Kenny, Ronald, and Donald in their business, the Allison Legacy Racing Series. And even into his 80s, he’s still a regular fixture at tracks both small and large across the country, advising the future generation of racers and serving as a statesman for the sport he loves. Donnie lives with wife, Pat, in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Jimmy Creed is a freelance writer and the former award-winning sports editor of the Anniston Star in Anniston, Alabama. His 2003 retrospective on the 10th anniversary of Davey Allison’s death in a helicopter crash at the Talladega Superspeedway was chosen the country’s Best Sports Feature in the under-40,000 circulation category by the national Associated Press Sports Editors organization. He lives in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword xiii

Devastated in Daytona 1

A Jockey, a Pitcher, or a Diver 9

The Big Crash 15

One Big, Happy Family 20

Mr. Mischievous 26

One Cool "Pop" 30

How It All Started 35

"Straighten It Out" 40

Bobby's Way…Or the Highway 46

Fair and Square 49

Setting the Record Straight 54

The Alabama Gang 59

Pat and the Kids 68

The Perfect Mate 74

A Close-knit Family 78

That Banjo Sounded Pretty Good 82

A Good Dance Partner 89

Talladega and the PDA 92

A Taxi Driver at Indy 99

The Greatest Driver Ever 107

DiGard Disaster 111

Two Trips to the White House 120

Hot Time in Hot'lanta 124

"Make Them Show You the Tape" 130

"The Intimidator" 134

Old Jabber "Jaws" 139

Saddling up with "Hoss" 145

Busted Up Bad in Charlotte 152

The Road to Recovery 156

Thank You, Pat. 161

Bobby Goes Airborne 164

Remembering Davey 173

NASCAR: Then and Now 179

In Good Hands 186

Past, Present, Future 192

Final Thoughts 203