When NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison competed in the Indianapolis 500

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Bobby Allison was a true racing hero, famous for his incredible NASCAR Hall of Fame career that included three Daytona 500 victories, 85 NASCAR Cup Series victories and the 1983 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Allison died on Saturday. He was 86.

Allison's greatest successes came behind the wheel of a stock car, but his racing skills involved more than just driving a car with a roof and fenders.

Allison competed in two Indianapolis 500s, both for team owner Roger Penske.

On April 4, 2019, I wrote a piece for NBCSports.com titled “When the 'Alabama Gang' took on the Indianapolis 500.” It was an IndyCar feature leading up to that weekend's race at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama, which helped connect the famous “Alabama Gang” to IndyCar racing.

Here is an excerpt from that post to honor the strong-willed Allison, who for many was the epitome of a race car driver:

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Winner of 84 (now adding 85 to his career total with a win at Bowman Gray Stadium in 1971) NASCAR Cup races and the 1983 championship, Bobby Allison remains a legend and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. But the most successful member of the “Alabama Gang” had a miserable experience at the two Indianapolis 500s in which he competed for famous team owner Roger Penske.

In 1973, Bobby Allison was given the chance to compete in the Indianapolis 500. It was one of the worst experiences of his career up to that point.

“Penske was putting his team together, and at the time Mark Donohue was still alive and one of Penske's chief engineers,” Bobby Allison told NBC Sports.com. “They asked me to go to an IndyCar test and treated me like a 'red-headed stepchild' at the test. Mark was there and Peter Revson was there and they told me, 'Don't you dare drive fast.' You have to drive slow or this car will kill you.'

“I went out slowly. I came back and they laughed at me.

“It was 8:15 in the morning and they wouldn't let me out until 3:30 in the afternoon. When they let me back on the track they told me I could go as fast as I wanted, just be careful.”

Allison ran nine laps but didn't know what the speed was until he returned to the pits. One of the engineers approached him over the front of the car, grabbed Allison by the collar and shook his fist in his face.

Allison was stunned.

The engineer was angry because a NASCAR driver had completed as many laps as Donohue and Revson. It was my first time in an Indy car.

“I pushed him backwards, took off my fire suit, got on my plane and came back home,” Bobby recalled to NBC Sports.com. “Donnie had a similar situation, but Donnie came to terms with it. Donnie's fuse is sometimes shorter than mine. I was surprised that Donnie had to put up with Foyt and his cronies.

“Roger Penske stepped in and promised to sort things out. But Roger Penske wanted Gary Bettenhausen to drive my car after all the changes were made. That really annoyed me.”

Allison thought of Donohue and admired the driver who was the foundation of Penske Racing.

To compound the misery of 1973, Allison and his wife Judy were close friends of popular driver Art Pollard. As Allison and his wife entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Pole Day, Pollard was killed in an accident that occurred right before their eyes.

“Judy and I were coming through the tunnel and there was this accident that killed Art Pollard,” Bobby Allison recalled. “Judy wanted to leave immediately, but I had to because I had given my word to Roger Penske.

“All IndyCar drivers and crew members believed they were automatically better than any NASCAR driver. I knew better. I was amazed at this attitude.”

After two days of rain and a horrific accident early in the race on Memorial Day Monday, when Salt Walther's car drove into the tire fence and sprayed hot fuel into the crowd, severely burning dozens of spectators. The race was canceled that day due to further rain and darkness. Tuesday was completely rainy, so race officials rushed to start the race on a Wednesday morning.

Allison's engine broke on the parade lap.

“I was up there all month and didn’t do a single lap in the Indianapolis 500,” Allison said. “Judy was sitting in the stands at the raise and was only a few hundred feet from where Swede Savage was killed.

“She was very unhappy about the whole experience.”

Penske persuaded Allison to try again at the Indy 500 in 1975. Allison drove Penske's AMC Matador in NASCAR, and the combination was a success. But Bobby didn't get along with Penske Racing's chief mechanic, Jim McGee. Modifications were made to Allison's car without his knowledge.

“I missed the field the first day,” Penske said. “I qualified for the top 10, but that was on the second day.

“I started when I was 13^Thand led the 23rd^approx lap of the race. I came into the pits, the fuel system failed and I was doused with alcohol. I was sitting in a tub of alcohol and the crew told me to leave the car running until it ran out of fuel. I stopped it, lost a lap, got a caution and had the car repaired where I felt comfortable. Six laps halfway through the race I went under the green.

“Then my engine broke two laps later.

“I said, 'I don't need that.' I worked hard to do well in NASCAR. I wanted to do good in NASCAR.”

Throughout his career, Bobby Allison often came into conflict with authority figures, be they team owners, NASCAR officials, crew members or fellow drivers.

When Donnie learned of his older brother's thoughts about the resentment he felt at the Indy 500, he took a more diplomatic stance.

“Different personalities and different egos,” Allison said of his older brother and Penske Racing. “When Bobby drove for Penske, he owned his own team and did a lot of engine work and designed the car himself.

“Bobby was just like AJ Foyt – he knew what he wanted, he knew how to get it, and he didn't want anyone to know what he wanted.

“Bobby and I had built racing cars identical to his. I won all the races in that car, but Bobby didn't. He wanted to know what was different in my car and his car and I told him “the driver.” He asked again and I told him what it was.

“He didn’t like that. I beat him in a big race in Birmingham and told him the same thing. He didn't like that answer. I worked a lot for Bobby. Bobby Allison Racing was built by Bobby and Donnie Allison.”

Neil Bonnett attempted to enter the 1979 Indy 500 for team owner Warner Hodgdon, but rain ruined his chance of qualifying for the race. Bonnett was driving for the Wood Brothers and was willing to skip the World 600. But when qualifying hindered the NASCAR race at Dover, Bonnett withdrew from the Indy 500 and had no chance of returning.

Bobby and Donnie Allison are the only two members of the “Alabama Gang” to ever compete in the Indianapolis 500 and are part of the race's history and legacy.

“I feel really good about it,” Donnie Allison said. “I ran pretty damn well there.”

Donnie and Bobby both watch the NTT IndyCar Series races on NBCSN and NBC. Although Bobby is more of a stock car fan, Donnie has become a big supporter of the current IndyCar series, its stars and its racing.

Bobby Allison remains one of the sport's more tragic figures. He lost both sons, including Clifford, in a NASCAR Busch Series accident at Michigan International Speedway on August 13, 1992. Bobby's son Davey was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega on July 13, 1993.

Bobby's career ended when he suffered a very serious head injury in an accident at Pocono Raceway on June 19, 1988, just months after winning his third Daytona 500 in a one-two finish with his son Davey.

Bobby Allison has no memory of the glorious moment in his life when father and son finished first and second in the Daytona 500.

“To this day I watch reruns of it and it's like I'm watching a movie,” Bobby admitted. “It’s not me and Davey on the track, it’s a movie.”

Bobby became a widower on December 18, 2015, when he lost the love of his life, his wife of many years, Judy.

His association with the Indianapolis 500 was not a happy one, but Bobby has something from that race that he is proud of to this day.

“I'm still proud that we both performed well at the speed we ran, Donnie hit his goals and I ran as well as I did,” Bobby Allison said. “To lead these 23^approx Lap of the 1975 Indianapolis 500 – they gave me a small trophy for leading that lap. They used to give lap leaders a trophy for the laps they led.

“I have this trophy in my house.

“There are a lot of guys who are really good racers who don’t have a trophy for leading laps in the Indianapolis 500.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500