Even though the Allisons have not been on the track since the late 1980s, their popularity remains strong among longtime NASCAR fans. Bobby Allison was one of NASCAR’s most talented drivers and biggest stars with 84 victories and the 1983 Cup Series championship. His son, Davey Allison, had every bit as much talent and was on his way to proving it before tragedy struck for both.
Together, they provided one of the greatest moments in NASCAR history when they finished first and second in the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison getting the victory.
Unfortunately, Bobby Allison’s career ended later that season when he was badly injured in a crash at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway.
Davey Allison won 19 Cup Series races and seriously challenged for the championship twice. Had he not died from injuries suffered in a 1993 helicopter crash, many believe he would have claimed multiple championships.
Like his father, Davey Allison’s legend continues to rise as one of the sport’s brightest stars. Bobby Allison enjoyed his NASCAR Hall of Fame induction in 2011, while Davey Allison entered the NASCAR Hall of Fame in February.
“Davey was an incredible young man first and an incredible race driver second,” Bobby Allison said. “To have millions of race fans around the world love and adore him meant so much to me and his mother Judy (Allison.) And that is the greatest compliment a parent can ever receive. I was so proud of his accomplishments, which includes winning the 1992 Daytona 500, a race I won three times during my career. Knowing how much he is still respected as a person is very, very special to me.”
The Earnhardts, Dale and Dale Jr., enjoyed a combined 102 Cup Series victories at 76 and 26, respectively. The younger Earnhardt felt he learned so much from his famous father, a seven-time Cup Series champion. Earnhardt Jr.’s 18th career win came on Father’s Day, June 15, 2008, at Michigan Int’l Speedway. His comments about his father that day were very poignant.
“It’s special,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “You know, my daddy, he meant a lot to me. There’s a lot of people that I look up to that just happen to be great fathers themselves, role models for their sons. It means a lot to me to do well on Father’s Day. It’s a special day for my family, special for my sister (Kelley Earnhardt Miller).
“I know I can’t tell my father happy Father’s Day, but I get the opportunity to wish it upon all of the other fathers out there, and I genuinely mean that when I say it, because that’s what today is all about. It’s for all of the fathers out there.”
And that was before Dale Earnhardt Jr. became a father in 2018.
Bill Elliott won 44 NASCAR Cup Series races, including 11 in 1985. He won the Cup Series title in 1988. Elliott also claimed a pair of Daytona 500 victories and in 1985 was the first driver to capture the Winston Million by winning three of NASCAR’s four crown jewel events.
His son, Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, has four Cup Series victories, including one at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway this season.
“His efforts and his belief in me dates back further than a lot of people,” Chase Elliott said of his dad. “I’m sure he caught a lot of slack for helping me through the times that he did and he has put a lot of faith and confidence in me over the years since I was, I think, 15 years old to try to help me progress and move forward and get me to the point that I’m at today. I don’t know that I would have made it to the Cup Series when I did without him. I know I probably wouldn’t have. So without him, none of this would be a factor.”
Even though some fathers did not race, they still supported their sons behind the scenes.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, began his career on the short tracks near his Chesterfield, Va., home. Without his dad Dennis’ help, his racing efforts would not have been possible.
“The thing that I’m just so in awe of is that the love for his son took him way beyond his financial means,” Denny Hamlin said. “If things wouldn’t have worked out, we would have been in major financial trouble just as a family. You can only take out so many mortgages and only default so many times before you have nothing. They took major, major risk and they took a path to my success that I would never encourage anyone to ever, ever take because the risk is just too big. But they took it.
“I think every day like if one thing wouldn’t have happened in this process, I would be working at my dad’s trailer shop right now,” Hamlin added. “I was OK with that. I liked going to work there. It’s something that I really enjoyed doing because I got to do it with my dad….”