The Dale Jr. Download - 472. Donnie Allison: A Sport Worth Fighting For

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

The legendary Donnie Allison joins Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis in the Bojangles Studio to share never before told stories at the table. Donnie recounts the iconic 1979 Daytona 500, and the famous fight he was involved in from the race that put the sport on the map. Donnie details a diverse racing career that includes multiple starts in the Indianapolis 500, and reveals who he believes is the greatest race car driver to ever live.The group also discusses Allison's relationship with Cale Yarbrough after the '79 Daytona 500, a crash that altered the trajectory of his career, and a confrontation between Donnie and Dale Earnhardt that you don't want to miss. Dale Jr and Allison also discuss Donnie's nomination for the NASCAR Hall of Fame's pioneer ballot, and what it would mean for him to be voted in to the prestigious group. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Calling is a production of Dirty Mo Media. There he is. Come on in here, buddy. Have a seat. Hey, everybody. Glad you tuned in. It's time for another episode of the Dale Jr. download. Mike Davis, Dellenhart Jr., the Bojangl Studio.

You've got a great guest today. Well, how you doing, Rhiz? I'm doing fine right now. This is every week, okay, Bob? buckle in. You died on that hill. Your career died on that hill and you were hardheaded. I was a bigger idiot.

I didn't even think about it. You thought about it and didn't ask it. That makes me the bigger idiot. I think so. Hey everybody. It's Dale Jr. back again. Another episode of the Dale Jr. download. And I'm here in the Bojangles studio surrounded by these lionel die casts.

So pretty. Still, waiting on the late, uh, late, model stock diecast to come out. The new late model stock diecast coming out this year. Can't wait to see it. I come in here every week with my co-host Mike Davis and I'm waiting on it, Mike. You're looking for the die-cass. I'm looking for it. Anyways, we got a great guest for you today on the show and obviously always presented to you by Ally, Ally, a big supporter of NASCAR and of the Dale Jr. download here bringing us these guest segments every single week. This week's guest interview is Donnie Allison.

Legend. He is. One of the members of the Alabama gang. He's had an incredible career. In fact, he is one of the members of this year's Pioneer Ballad. He's been, you know, considered for the Hall of Fame for many years, but again, the voting has began. Fans can actually vote now. We'll talk about this a little bit later in the show, but I want to thank Ally for their continued support, and Donnie's going to be a lot of fun to talk to. I got a really unique connection with Donnie and his family that I really didn't see coming in my life, but it was something that I really needed, and we'll touch on that as well. Should we just get him on in here? Well, I will say this. You know, we were working on this 1979 project becoming Earnhardt,

and Donnie Allison, as you go through those scraps and those headlines, he's in everything. He was so prevalent in all the stories, and we don't even need to talk just about the Daytona 500. We can talk about the whole season. I can't wait just to talk to Donnie about 79. He's got Right. Opinions and he's sharp as a whistle. That's right. So, again, thank you to Ally, and we'll bring Donnie in here and get started. Donnie Allison on the Dale Jr. Download.

Donnie Allison, how are you? I'm great, man. I'm good. It's good to see you. Good to see you. I've known you a really long time, obviously. You've been around this sport for almost all of it, right? And so we're thankful to have you here.

Where do you live? I live in Salisbury. Okay. Yeah, I live there since. 89. Yep. I came up here to run Nemechek's Bush Steel his first year

his rookie year and stayed ever since. Gotcha. And so how often you get back down to Alabama? Well, not as much as I'd like. I have a farm down there and speaking of that,

I spend quite a bit of time down there during the wintertime hunting season and of course, you know, my boys and everything, all of us hunt, so. Yeah. But I don't get down there as much I like to.

Yeah, that's an interesting segue. So Mike might know parts of this, but I was 16 years old and got a job working at Kenny Allison's shop, which is your son. And there were two twin boys, Ronald and Donald. Right. And I didn't know your boys at all. I knew you and I knew who you were but they built at the time Legends cars. They were the only manufacturer

of Legends cars at the time. I mean, Legends cars had only been around maybe five years or less. And so I was still driving a black and silver S-10 so this is probably, I'm probably 17 years old. And I drove like the third ever Legends car built. So I mean this is pretty early in the Legend's Car. car in the legend's car world. I went over there and started working on things with Kenny and helping.

He was just teaching me about how to use a torch and how to clean parts and how to weld. In the back of the shop, they actually built Davies' Cup cars for Robert Yates. And that was pretty incredible to go back there and see. you know, the Texaco Havillian number 28 car getting a new front clip or getting, you know, a brand new car being built. And so I don't know that they built all of the cars for Yates then, but I know that there were several of them back there always getting worked on. And so, and I remember, and it was in Salisbury.

Out up on 70 or 40. Highway 70, right? And I just, I mean, it's literally five miles from my house today. And, uh, um, but anyways, I got a. I got to know Kenny and Ronald McDonald I loved them. I still have my paycheck stubs and a print out of my first

paychecks from them. Kenny gave it to me in a frame. Do you remember how much? It wasn't much, but it was enough. It was more than I ever made. That's right. Let me tell you a little bit about that. Okay. Pat got that ready. We went down to Talladega and did the presentation on the back straightaway. We gave Dale that

the canceled paycheck for six weeks. And the total thing wasn't but 800, something dollars that I amy was sitting in there at time I was a little bit different now than it amy no I tell you what though that eight hundred dollars I mean that's more than what you would have had now what was he like as an employee well I think he did all right Kenny he talks about him a little bit of course Kenny talks about all of them but it was really unique the way that all transpired Dale senior called Kenny and said can you give Dale Jr. a job he said I can't do anything

with you. Kenny said send him up, that's how he came up there. Talking about that, Dale, talking about those cars in the back to 28, Kenny built some pretty good Bush cars at the time and quite a few good Winston Cup cars.

You know, he built the 30 car that Michael Walter said on the pole at Richmond with, and you know, then they brought it back home and cut it up. And Kenny was close to Banjo because of my relationship with Banjo. But anyway, Kenny Allison was the first one to manufacture

Legends cars. What happened, Humpy called me. They were trying to have that race at Charlotte. And Roddy Combs was building the cars at his time, and they weren't going to have the cars ready. And he wanted to know, could my son do it? I said, you'll have to ask him, not me. Well, Kenny agreed to do it. They finished the last car one hour before the race started at Charlotte. You know, the Legend race with me and Bobby and all the old guys driving. But anyway, Anyway, Kenny Allison and Ronald Donald, Allison Brothers, race cars built 780

Legends cars. And then another 75 frame after Humpey took it away from them. Yeah. Now it's 600 racing. That's big. Yeah, well, you know, it was a bad deal for the legacy car, which is being built now 30 years. Allison Legacy car. They're still racing.

They're still running. Pat does the whole series. and, you know, they're really a good car for a youngster to learn to drive in. Better than a legend's car. I like the legend's car. It was very, very unique to drive because it had a lot of horsepower and a little bitty car. But a legacy car teaches you how to drive. And in order to run good in a legacy car, you've got to have your gas pedal mass to the floor.

So, I mean, it's a little different, but it's not. Yeah. So the rumor is, so, I'm... I ran, the car that I ended up driving when I was 16 was the third car ever built, and the rumor is that that car is still out there somewhere. I've heard that it's sitting in a building somewhere that y'all have. Either you own it, you own the building or Kenny owns it. Yeah, Pack could probably tell you better than that, me, but it is still in existence.

I believe me. You know, we have several cars in a museum and North Carolina Museum in Morghville. Okay. I don't know for sure where your car is, but it's somewhere around. Somewhere. So anyhow, I wanted to tell you, and you might have heard, I don't know, but I started working on a project here recently about the 1979 season. And you play a big role in that year.

And I wanted to talk about that. But before we get to 1979, I want to kind of encompass your car. Cup career to that point. You raced for Banjo Matthews into 27, a beautiful race car, had a lot of success, run for different people. You raced in the Indy 500 twice, running into top 10, top 5 one time. I think you finished fourth and sixth in the Indie 500. Yeah, fourth to six.

Yeah. Best finishing rookie in that race for a long time, all the way to 93. All right. So we know today, we know today what it's like for, um, you know, um, a cup driver to go do that or an indie car driver to come do NASCAR. What was the transition like back then? Was it totally foreign to you to go drive something like that? No, it really wasn't, Dale.

You know, I spent three years actually driving supermodifies and Mobile, Pensacol and everything. You know, I had a 1,4126-pound car with a three-quarter-stroke Chevrolet injected engine in it with a wing-on. top and if your belt was tight enough you can run as fast you want to run and I loved it I won a ton of races and in a super and I just felt like I wanted to drive an Indy car and it's unique because I see AJ and I'd say to him when you're going to let me drive one of Indy cars oh you're a stock car driver and 1970 at Daytona 500, you know, he was driving for the Woods Brothers. And I was driving for Banjo.

And I said, when are you going to let me drive one of your Indy car? He said, you really want to do that, don't you? I said, yes, I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't want to do it. He says, I'll call you. Well, I heard that BS before, you know. But anyway, the phone rings and it was AJ. He said, come to Houston. You and Tony.

talking about his daddy, are going to get a car ready. So I go to Houston, and we go back in a warehouse, and up on top rack here, this frame sitting there. He said, that's your car there. He said, get it down, and you and dad put it together. So we got it down. It was a 1968 eagle.

It wasn't even a coyote car. It was an eagle car. And Tony and I put it, well, I didn't stay the full time we were putting it together. In fact, I got cuss out about it, about, about 50 times because I left Tony with a little work left to do because I went back to racing. Anyway, this car is the one I ran in 1970. And believe me, I had a rough time at Indy. What happened?

Well, I went there and they had a driver orientation, rookie driver orientation. They told me when I went out on a racetrack, I better not go on the track. I better stay in those ripples in the apron and all this kind of stuff. AJ told me, he said, do not run in those ripples. Well, USAC's telling me to run the ripples. And they're going to give me my rookie test. I'm getting ready to start a rookie test now. And I go out the first time and I go down and turn one,

the ripples and I spend out. I get to bouncing all around. Dale can tell you, he knows he's been in them. He's been in the ripples. Anyway, so then the war started. AJ and you sacrificial. Oh, I mean, it was terrible. And here I am standing there with my shoulder up around my ears, you know,

because I wanted to hide. And when it got done, AJ turned around to me, he said, you listen to what I tell you to do, not what they tell you to do. Well, I'm the only rookie that I know of, or ever heard of, that ran their whole rookie test without coming in. I went out the next time, and I finished a whole rookie test that time. Well, then it was pretty good.

I ran some, and I got a custom car pretty good, and I kept hollering in AJ. I wanted some wings on the nose of my car. See, that eagle was a round nose with no wings. Everybody had wings on their nose. AJ says, you don't need wings on that nose. Yeah, I got it happened. So he told the sheet metal man to build me some nose wings.

Well, they did. Well, I go out, and this is another lesson, was very, very hard to learn. You better look at that windsockets who is where the wind's blowing. Right. Because it definitely has an effect on the car. Anyway, I spend 360 degrees going in turn 3 and hit the wall straight ahead. I don't know how fast I was going, but I hadn't slowed down very much when I started spinning.

Anyway, I bit my tongue. And I was bleeding in my mouth a little bit, and I'd be it. I hit my knees a little bit, but I was all right. Well, A.J. met us at the infield care center. And when I came out, he said, you're right? I said, yep, I'm fine. I said, I bit my tongue. I had a little blood on my lip, I guess, or whatever.

But anyway, he said, bit your tongue. How did you bite your tongue? I said, well, just before I got to the wall, I said, oh, yeah. They took eight days and fixed the car. They had to put a new bulkhead in and everything like that. My first time lap after the wreck was the faster lap I'd run to that time. And from that time, it was clear sailing.

Yeah. So while you're running this race at Indy, do you, are you surprised how were you doing? Or are you expecting to do that good? No, I really wasn't, Dale, because, like I said, my life in the end of the soup modifies. I felt very comfortable. In fact, the last 15 laps of the race, the last 10 laps anyway, Bobby Unster and Mary Wundready,

and I passed each other at least three times before I finally got in front of them and was able to say in front of them. After the race, I got paid the best compliment in the world. AJ was all mad because he tore a transmission up or something. And I think you remember Big Chester Honeycup used to go with me everywhere.

He put him on the door and told him, and let nobody in. They had a big party set up. But anyway, I'm over there changing my clothes, sitting on a bench. And Floyd, he's probably about, there was three stalls in that garage, or he was the last stall over anyway. And somebody got knocked on the door. Well, Chester opened a little bit. It was A.J. Watson, which was Bobby Munster's crew chief.

He said, AJ, sorry, he had trouble. He said, I want us to talk to Allison. He walked over me just as straight as he could. He's two eyes and hands. I want to shake your hand. the only stock car driver ever seen a good drive one he's saying. And now, that compliment to me was probably as good as I've ever had in my life. You know, here's a guy that, well, he knows he had good race car drivers,

come and say that to me. It took time to come around in the garage area and say that to me. Yeah. And, I mean, I liked it. 71 was a horse for a different color. Yeah. 71 was probably worse than 70 as far as getting ready to race. I was in an old coyote.

I wasn't going to run fast enough. I'd qualified. I was going to get bumped by Steve Chrysloff and in a Granitelli's car, which that was a fiasco. And AJ had a brand-new, straight-sided coyote sitting there, and he'd run three laps, and he'd run 173-mile an hour in it. and it was sitting there and Foight said to me

he said, fold a blanket up and take it. That was his favorite thing. Fold a good year blanket up, put it in the seat and take a ride. See, he was way bigger than I was anyway and at the time I was pretty little. But anyway, I folded up my first lap is 174.5.

So when I came in, he said, go back to the garage and make it fit. You know, you move the pedals. You don't move the seat. You move the pedals and steering and everything. So I did. And I come out and I go out of pit road and as I go through turn one, the cost light comes on. Well, I come in pit road and they're running down pit road facing me,

motioning me to get in the qualifying line. Now hang on I run this car two laps. So I pull over in a qualifying line and a boy comes over and he squats down and he says, I'm going to just, he's going to withdraw that other car, you're going to qualify this one. Wow. So him and Granitelli are up there at that little podium in the pit, pit road arguing and fighting I say arm flying. Granitelli wanted to bump AJ's car.

Not necessarily Donnie Allison, but AJ's car. And AJ didn't want that to happen. And Chris off was going to bump it, no question. So he gets this all done. He comes back over and he squats down beside me. And he says, when you leave pit road, you run as fast as you can run because when the time you're the first lap, and if it's not fast enough, I'm going to throw the yellow flag.

So you have four laps The end of the fourth lap You've got to qualify Or they can throw a yellow flag And call it off Well I said very politely You can stick that yellow flag Or the sun don't shine

I said if it's ain't feel good I ain't driving Anyway they had Tying marked off and stopwatching everything And AJ said If you see a number on a magnetic board Put your hand up and take your time Well my first lap was

174.9 My second lap was 175-2 and my third lap I put my hand up I didn't wait for no sign on the board I knew how fast it's going I got a tack-armament sitting right there well I ran all my lap's over 174 mile except the last one and I slowed down about almost a mile an hour a j didn't say good job or anything when I come in he said how in the hell come you slow down and swam your last lap yeah that's foote for you yeah I was going to say is that not quintessential foight right like not he's not going to Well, I'm going to tell you something about Floyd, okay?

All right. That is the best race car driver I know. I know a lot of them. Yes, you do. And I've known a lot of them. But let me tell you something. That man, everything he got in, he won in. Did you feel that way then?

Pretty much, I would say, pretty much. You know, I always felt like I was a good race car driver, probably as good as there was. I knew I was as good as my brother I knew as good as Red I knew as good as Dale Senior The difference in our careers and our lives were the way they race

and the way I race But as far as driving ability And 71 After O'Foyd Why don't you let me run for the championship If you want to win the race four times The only way you're going to do it is

Concentrate on one car Not put four in the race He'd put four in a race every year. And so I taught myself out of a ride for 72, and then he put three cars in anyway. Yeah. So after 70 to 71, he never ran again. Did you go back up there and try to qualify?

No, no. Never again. I never went back. 72, Dale, while in Muscouse, he called me. He was on my crew, and he was with another car, and he wanted to know what I come drive it. I said, no, I said, no disrespect or anything else. If I don't feel like I could do better than a fourth.

I never would get in another one. That makes sense. Well, the boys that drove that car got killed next year. Oh. Banjo Matthews, number 27 car. What was Banjo like? What was driving that car like? That was probably the best part of my career.

Really? I never forget it. See, I went to Daytona in a home of Moody car and 68. Yep. And one race deal. And I was on Firestone tires, and I busted the tire and turned one near the wall. And I kept the car on the wall to keep causing a wreck. And so here I'm out.

I'm very dejected. You know, it's my only chance, and I crash. Well, they called me over to the Home Moody office, and I said, oh, no. So I go in there and John Cowley, which was the second in command of Ford, which didn't care for me. I didn't think too much. And he said, you want to drive Banjo's car at Rockingham? I said, yes, sir, I sure do.

He said, well, he says, Banjo's over in the Indyfield Care Center. Go talk to him. Why was he in the infield care center? He was always in the infield care center. Was he driving in red? No, no, no, no, no. He was just a car owner at the time. Okay, so he had a driver in the infield care center.

He was in there because he didn't feel good or whatever. Oh. He had his own issues. So I go over there and he tells me that they got him to Atlanta for a test next week and then I could drive him to Atlanta. He said, we're going to run Rocket Amm. He said, well, we've got to run a 427.

That was the first year earlier, had a 390 and a weight break. I had to run a 427 and I didn't give a damn what I did as long as I could run. So anyway, we go to Atlanta for this tire test. and you know Dale you've been there

and the ice across the back straight away where the gate was at the time and everything and it was pretty cold well by the time they got my seat adjusted to where I AJ Ford drove that car before I did but anyway so I get ready to go out

and I'm sitting up here on the bench and Banjo who says just go out there and take it easy find out where you want to go and I said well I probably need some he said just a race car go drive it. So I go out there and I run the first time and Leroy's there, Leroy in a junior's car. And he outruns me probably a couple mile an hour or

whatever the first time on the racetrack. Second time on the racetrack I'd run in by about three-tenths of a second. Well that opened eyeballs up then. The whole test, the rest of the test, Leroy never runs as fast as I ran. And so I'm going to run Rockham. Rockham gets rained out. Well, I'm, you know, the good Lord's showing me where I belong, I guess. So they want to know, do I want to run Bristol? God, yes.

So anyway, I go, I run Bristol. We run pretty good. Go back to Rockingham. I won my very first cup race. That was your very first win. In 68, right. So how many, so is that like a limited deal? They just ran here?

Yeah, see, I never ran. ran Dale in all my career. I never ran a full season. Never ran for a championship. Was that on purpose? Not really, not really. Partly because I felt like I had a very good short track car, I wanted to win. You know, the money was one thing, but I wanted to win.

And I didn't want to drive a car that I didn't think I could win in. You know, if I thought I could win in it, I'd be glad to get in. Yeah. And so I think that's the reason. My only regret in racing, my only regret in racing that I didn't get a good car to drive for a championship. A full-time deal. Because I probably would have won it. Yeah.

And so you race short tracks a lot and ran cup when you could find a car that you knew could win, and that typically would be a car that would only run 15 to 20 races a year. And so in 1972 to 76, you drove from Monty Myers, Budmore, Pinsky, Crawford Racing, DiGuard, Hauss Ellington, Howard Egerton. Talk about the DiGuard deal. So you talk about you wanted to be in cars that could win,

but this is a brand new team. Well, let me tell you, let me start from beginning on that because, see, I'm in Alabama, and I got my own race cars. my own shop. In fact, I still own a house and shop where it's at. Really? But anyway, Bill Gardner comes to me, and he said, I want to start a team.

He said, I want you. Do you know him? No, I didn't. I didn't know him. He comes from Connecticut. He was in the special metal business or whatever. I don't know what the old business is in. But anyway, he had a brother-in-law named Mike DeProspero.

And that's where the dieguard come from. Everybody thought that was a product. It wasn't. It was two boys' name. Yes. Mike DeProspero and Bill Gardner. So anyway, we go to Riverside, California, we have a meeting with Bobby.

Bobby who? Allison. Oh. And Bobby says, nope, I don't want a teammate. I don't even want my brother's teammate. I don't want to be a part of that. They were going to put you both in cars? Yeah, he wanted a team with Bobby and I both.

Damn. So anyway. We go back and we start talking about what he wants to do. And he tells me, okay, he said, we're going to take all your stuff and put it into the company and give you stock in the company. So Pat and I, we talk a little bit, and we don't know what the hell we're doing. So I agree to it. So I put two race cars, a drive-on-600 Ford truck I had bought from Banjo to pull all my equipment,

my welders, and I had air co-welders at the time. I had everything good. All the pit equipment, I had everything to run a race car. I put it into the stock for stock and dieguard. Well, then it comes to me and said, I want to move to Daytona Beach. He said, I think we need to be down there by NASCAR. I said, Bill, it doesn't matter if you move in the office, you're not going to be by NASCAR. I said, you don't get by NASCAR.

So anyway, yep, we went down. Fenders Boulevard, bought that building. In Daytona. In Daytona. My dad and I put the lifts in the floor as my dad's business when we were kids. And we do all the work in that shop, build a race. I sell my house in Hueytown. I had a place on a river.

I owned the property. I wasn't a lease property. Stupid sold it. Moved to Daytona one year. You live there for a year? Yeah, 74 to 75. I got fired. on the back of a boat.

Wait. They fired you? In 1975 in July, after July 4th race at Daytona, I got fired. Why? On the back of a boat. And Bill Gardner said, you can't drive anymore. Why were you on a back of a boat? That's what he was in, a yacht.

Okay, he was doing well. Yeah, it was like your dad's yacht. And he called you over to the boat to tell you you were done. After the race? After the race. What had happened in that race? Weren't you running good? Yeah, I think I finished 6th or 7th or I was running 5th or 4th.

I don't know, something happened. But anyway, I got fired. I get a letter from Pete Penzer. That's the lawyer. I won't forget this or I'll let it be 150 now. And I know that lady back there won't forget it either. She's shaking her head, to be honest with you on this. I get a letter.

They offer me $250 for my stock in the company. Now this is to buy all my racing stuff And everything else they offer me 250 bucks So I got pretty upset I guess And so I go to Bobby and we go to a real good friend of our lawyer In downtown Birmingham one big deal And he reads all the stuff He said Donnie he said well

He says you might well take the 250s Because the stock ain't worth nothing You know the company stock ain't worth nothing Yeah So I told Pat, I said, uh-uh, I wrote a letter back to Pete Pinser, $500, and they sent me $500. That's what I got for my stock. They bought the whole damn race team for $500. Yeah.

Here I am in Daytona Beach with a wife and four kids. I got to go back to Alabama. I ain't even got a crescent ranch to my name. Right. I have $2,300 in a savings account, which I'll never free it. A good friend of mine in Alabama and his wife say you can move in with us. Who's that?

Hars Gray was his name. Nell and Hars Gray. They didn't have any kids. They were older people. They were the ones that was supposed to go with Bobby today he crashed the helicopter. Horace was. He didn't go.

But anyway, so he moved in with him. I went to Bobby and I said, Bobby, I need a place in your shop to build me a race car. Okay, 100 bucks. I charge you. Well, Neil Salter had a late mile there number 87. It was a Nova. I go to Neil and say, you want to sell that car? He said, yeah. How much you want for? He said, $8,700. So I go to Pat, and I say, Pat, where are we going to get $8,700?

She says, I have a clue, that alone. So I go to the bank. Sam Nielsen is ahead of the bank, and I said, Sam, I need some money. He said, how much you need? Now you want to try to pay it back. I said, I need $9,000, and I don't know how in the hell I'm going to pay it back. So he said, okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to give you a 90-day note. In the 90-day, you pay the interest, and we renew it. So I buy this race car. The first week of this race car, I put half of these rings under the back.

John Lacerra, Pat's brother, younger brother, is working for me. He came from Dye Garden. And I go to BIR, I win. I go to Montgomery. I win. come back the next week I put a new Allison stout on the front. Well, the next week at BIR Friday night is a free feature night. They said Neil did it, but he didn't.

I'm the only one that won three features on the same night. I won the three features. And I won 99% of the rest of them that year. And then you could probably pay your back. I paid your note back. Yes, I did. I paid it back in time. And it was very rewarding.

Yeah. But the most rewarding. The sporting race I ever run, I think, was the National 500 in the hostage car when I won in the black and gold car. Yep. And after the race, I walked over to Bill Gardner and I punched him in the chest hard enough to make a hole. And I said, I'm the son of a b-h-ha-can't drive, remember? Yeah. I thought you run for them for more than you did.

So that was a really short period of time driving for DiGuard. Yes. And that ended very badly. And I didn't know it was, I didn't know that ended the way it did. From, I guess, through 70, when did you get with Hoss in 78? 76. 76, you start driving for Hoss. And y'all are running 14 to 20 races a year?

Yeah, I think the most races we run was 18. Yeah. In 79? Yeah. So I'm reading and doing research about the 79 season as a total. you. And obviously, the Daytona 500 is a big part of that year. Probably what people say, and I agree with this, that that race is probably the most important race in the history of the sport because it's the race where we've got flag-to-flag coverage, which was unique.

We never really had a full four-hour TV window. We got 16 million people tuning in, snowed in on the West Coast. You know this story. You lived it. And I'm sure, how many times do you think you've told the story about going down the back straight away with kale? And ended up in the grass and your brother coming along and the fight and everything else. How many times do you believe you relive that story? There's no telling. Yeah. It's one thing that I say every time it's brought up, just like you just said, it's one of the most important.

It is the most. there you go important race in NASCAR it is the most talk about race in NASCAR i don't care about richard petty david i don't care about none of that and they're very important yep but the 79 daytona is the most talked about and the most important race in NASCAR history i agree with you um so with that said how um you know how many times do you relive that moment about what I could have done different how could have that ended better or differently for me I mean do you do you remember coming off the turn two I remember every bit of I mean I remember walk us through I remember every bit of it you know on the 29th lap of that

race I was leading got spun out I don't know by Bobby or by kale I don't know which one of them did which, I don't know. I just know that we went down through the infield in the mud and bent my front ended up, not my toe out. Well, Bobby actually helped me get it straight and back out when I went back out.

You know, they kept coming in and setting their toe back and everything like that. And the last restart, Haas come on the radio, and he said to me, he said, don't worry about kale, NASCAR says he's at least five laps down. Okay.

Well, we come to the next caution, and he almost wrecked me going into the trial to make a lap back up. And I said, oh, you don't wreck somebody five laps down. So anyway, we restart the race, and I'm leading killed one of the second. And I'm going to tell you this, at that time, as different it is now, a guy could draft by somebody, not necessarily could outrun him. You know, he might drive by and he'd get passed right back or whatever. My car, after that wreck, the first wreck,

was the best race car I ever had at Daytona Beach. What it bent, and that was another thing that upset me after it was over, then I'll get into that a minute. But anyway, five laps to go in the race, I said to Haas on the radio, Haas, don't talk to me. I know where I'm at.

I know what's going on, because I also get on the radio and you'd be asking about having chicken dinner or something crazy. And I knew, and I was prepared for what might happen coming off turn four. I was not prepared for what happened coming off turn two.

Okay? And I don't know if Dale did. Did I have in a car? I never looked at anybody in my mirror in the corner at Daytona Beach. I never did. Never looked up to see where anybody was. For some reason, I was going to turn one, and I glance up, and I see him going down.

And I said, no way, buddy. Well, we come around to turn two, and he ran into the back of me. When he did, it knocked me a little bit sideways, and that's when he hit me in the door, and we got side by side. So anyway, then the rest of the crashed over. We get down there in the infield, and I can't answer to this day why. I didn't whip his ass. You know, I was the one in the family that had the reputation.

I was in seven fights at the racetrack of my lifetime, and Bobby started five of them. And I have no idea, except for the fact, Dale, I was so hurt. You know, this I can say to your dad, okay, the many times that he had the race one at the end and something happened, he wasn't mad, he was hurt. I mean deep hurt. and here I am the third, maybe fourth time I should have won the Daytona 500,

and I'm in the damn grass, three-quarters of a mile from the start finish line, and I'm not going to win it again. Well, Bobby shows up, and Kail and I had already pretty well had the words we were going to have, and Kail goes over to Bobby, and I see him, you know, hit Bobby with his helmet through, what the hell is this about? So I go over and I grab kale by the arm, and I spun him around, I said, if you want to fight, I'm the SOB you need to be fighting with, buddy. And how Bobby Allison got out that fast that day, I have no clue.

You don't get out of a race car strapped in with radios on and all as fast as Bobby Allison got out that day. Here he come, and I've seen that look before because he's my brother. And I never touched the man, and he never touched me. And I said, the good Lord looked out for us twice that day. one time in the wreck one time he didn't touch me. If he'd ever touch me,

I'd have probably killed him. And, I mean, it was a, I didn't think about the fans. I didn't think about none of that at that time. Not until after it was all over with. And after the race, I was down in the garage area

and Bill Fance Jr. said to me, you should have let him have had the apron. When he got to turn a tree, he would have to back off. I said, bull's a shit. I said he wouldn't ever back off anyway, and I didn't put him in the apron. I said, he ran in the back of me first.

Bill Jr. said, well, the film didn't show that. I said, by God, that's what happened. Well, but people don't know Dale. Does Bobby Allison appeal that? They find me, Bobby, and Cale $6,000 a piece. Going to give us $1,000 back a race for being good behavior. They're going to keep $1,000. but they put Bobby and me on probation, not kale.

And that really hacked Bobby Allison all. So he appealed it. Well, we get a notice they're going to have the appeal at the Red Roof Inn in Atlanta. I didn't appeal it. Bobby did. I go over there. We go in this motel room. We got a big camera thing set up with a video and all that stuff.

And it's Les Richter, John Riddell, Lance Shelders, Joe, Captain, Bill Gazzaway, and so everybody shook hands, how you all doing and everything? I had a big round table set up in the corner over here and two chairs sitting right here. And Gadsway, after the formalities, Gazzaway says to Bobby and I, I'd like to ask you a favor. We'd like to show this wreck one at a time.

We have a room running across the hall, and one can stay in that room, we always show the other one. Bobby says, or it showed a film. Bobby says, I didn't appeal to wreck. I don't see the wreck. He said, well, you sit across the hall. Bobby said, yeah.

Well, the day before this happened, the day before this deal all got started, I get a phone call. Pat calls me to the phone, some of you want you on the phone. Well, I answer the phone and they say, Donnie, they have a film that shows a wreck and make them short to you. Who is this? They have a film that shows, The recommendation and show you, Click.

That was 1979? This is 19, I mean, 20, 23. I still do not know who that person was. I thought it was Jackie A Root. I cornered Jackie. Nope, it wasn't me. He said, I know where the film came from. And he said, Bill France Jr. sent it up there.

The film came from Jacksonville. So anyway, then we gathered away. said that we have five films. We'd like to show this in the entirety, and then you comment on it. You know, it's just a wreck. It's not the whole race. So they show the first one,

which is across the end, feel like everybody saw. Just two cars crashed. They can't tell what they'll have happened. The second one was a little bit more from turn three and four. You could see the cars more coming at you, crashing like this. Third film was one I was looking for.

And when it got over with, I said the Gazeway, I said, can you run that in reverse? I'll tell you to stop. He said, yeah. So he put it in reverse, and when the first contact was showed him hitting me in the back bumper and my car doing it like that, I said, stop. Well, it went a few frames past. And I said, can you back slow motion until I tell you to stop?

He said, I come back frame by frame. So at the first contact, I said, stop. I'll never forget what happened if I lived to be 200 years old. Les Richter popped out of his chair. And he says, why in the hell hadn't we seen that film? End of appeal. Now, I heard they put kale on probation. I heard he appealed.

I never talked about that. I don't have any idea. That was the end of the thing, period, paragraph, the end. So after that. That's your whole. That's the episode. So, so. I am researching in articles and so forth.

I thought that was really, really interesting. And actually really funny because y'all go to Rockingham, which is the next race. Crash. And, well, yeah, you did crash. We'll get to that a minute. But y'all go to Rockingham after the appeal. Y'all, you know, Kale leaves Daytona. He's like, I'm good with the fine.

You know, I'll pay it. y'all went and appealed and get y'all's probation cut in half and kale shows up to rockingham with three months a brand new probation that he didn't even have when he left atona and he was like madder to horn it because he's walking around thinking yeah i'll pay this fine everything's good and he gets to the day uh rockingham they're like hey guess what man the allisons have won their appeal they're going to cut cut their probation um from six months to three months or whatever, and hey, by the way, you're getting three months. You didn't know you had because we watched the film, right? And I just feel like that's so funny, like Kail walking around in the garage just stomping his feet because he's now got this new part of the penalty

that he didn't think he's ever going to have. You guys end up going, it sounds like, by the articles and things that I've read that you and Kale, did the best you could to give NASCAR the opinion that it was over with. Y'all went fishing, went to dinner, you know, whatever, you know, y'all at, y'all talked like, hey man, yeah, we're good, pals, we're good. There's pictures you y'all hang, you know, smiling together in the garage at Rockingham a couple weeks after the race.

Yeah, there's pictures. And so you and him are like, oh, yeah, we're good, no problem. All that's in the past. and then you go out in the first lap or the fourth lap of the next race. It was further than that. Right. Well, it wasn't much. It was a lie about all the rest of that stuff, though.

Yeah, right. It's a lie? Was that forced? I wasn't after kale. I had no use for the man because of what he did. I always respected kale as a race car driver. But after the Daytona 579, I didn't respect him as a man. I had no intentions

of getting another wreck. But we happened to go to Rockingham, which I always ran good at Rockingham. I liked the place. And I got under him about four times down the back straightaway where you pass people at Rockingham you got under him coming off turn two

and went in turn three under him. And he was stuck on the outside. He knows he'd been there. And honestly and truthfully, We crashed because I tried not to hit him. I crashed because I got in an apron with the left side instead of staying in the race track. What I should have done, and this was, I told Bill France after the race, it's your fault because you put me on probation. If I hadn't been on probation, I didn't just run into him and knocked him a hell out of the way.

And, I mean, that's the gospel truth. I mean, that's on, that is all I can tell you about that. Yeah. And so you and him both, y'all get out of the car and you're like, man, that's a racing incident. Both of you both remarked that it's a race, you know, just racing. We're not trying, you know, that wasn't anything intentional. Kail even agrees, you know, that it wasn't, y'all were both trying to make sure that there's no new fines, there's no new probation. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And so y'all moved on. And what's interesting, I guess, about that year is later on, you're going, you know, there's

some remarks in these articles about you sort of hinting and sharing in the garage that, man, I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing next year. Haas and Tropic is going to cut back. And I don't want to cut back. I want to run 15, 20 races. Haas doesn't want to run that many races. He's scaling back. Y'all had planned starting 79 to run the full season.

And as you got about eight or ten races in, Haas says, hey, we're not going to do it. It's too much. And you're a little frustrated by it in some of the comments, but it is what it is. And then, you know, three quarters away through the year, you're already thinking, you know, he's going to scale back even more for 1980.

I'm not sure I want to do that. Hey, is there other opportunities out there for me? You'd end up staying, I think, with Haas. But how did that deal end up splitting up? Because eventually you did leave. Well, actually, Dale, it really started Daytona 500. Well, people don't know. Yeah.

What people don't know is Hoss Ellington drove Kil Yarbrough home after the race. He did. I've got some articles about that. I find it out later on. And I said to myself, what? and, you know, how come? But anyway, things started to deteriorate because of the way Haws kept talking. You know, he didn't want to run all the many races.

He didn't want to run it. Now, let me tell you something. I don't know how many people know the man. Shelton Pitten called Run, Hoss on the race. Let me tell you, that man was responsible for that race car running like it ran. The two main guys was Run and Jackie Rogers. And I promise you, when I drove that car, If I came in and told them we turned the roof upside down

and would run better, they'd turn it upside down. That's the way they felt about me. And I felt the same way about them. Well, things started getting sideways. And as Dale Jr. knows, it started to talk, conversation. A lot of things that I said or Haw said that really we didn't say. But I saw the end coming. I didn't really like it, but I saw it coming.

And, you know, I just, I can't answer the question why I didn't go into it deeper and put it to bed. I let it fester up until it got to the point that I did leave. And it was a mutual agreement. Yeah. Well, why did he take Kell Yarbrough home? So this is what I learned in the article. This is what I learned. So, Kale flies down there from Timmonsville, where he lives.

The storm comes, so Daytona's fine, but nobody can really get home unless they're going to drive. And Kale's got his plane down there. Saturday before the race, he asked Hoss if he could ride home with him because Hoss had a van, and Hoss said, yes. They go wreck on the back straightaway, and Hoss sees Kale in the garage after the race and says, I know you wrecked my car, cost me $60,000. I'm pissed off at you, but you still got to ride home. everybody, I believe, stayed the night Sunday and went home Monday morning. Yes.

Right? And so because it couldn't, there was no rush to leave out of there. And so they end up, Hoss in the articles comes out like, hey, man, I'm a man of my word. I told you you get her out home. You still got one. Yeah, but he didn't say in them articles. What the guys felt like, they wanted to bury his butt. Right.

He's riding home with the enemy. And so the funny part is, is that they're about, you know, they're getting. into South Carolina and Kales driving at this point and says, Haas, there's a little ice on the road. I'm going to take it easy. And Haas says, just keep it out of the damn grass is all I care about. And so, which is pretty funny. But now that hearing from you that it was like, you know, that was a bit annoying, you know,

why the hell would you do that? Well, it, naturally, it didn't sit with me too well, but it was a couple guys on the crew, Norman, for one, it infuriated him. Wow. And, you know, those guys on that crew, Dale, were a little bit different, unique guys. They all had jobs. The only guys that worked there all the time was Jackie and Run. And they were very dedicated.

They wanted to win. They didn't care who it was. You know, they wanted to win. And the biggest race of your lifetime, and he knocked you out in the end. Yeah. Yeah. And then I'd throwed him home. How would you define the relationship with kale before that race between you and him? Between me and him? I never had a problem with kale.

You know, I always felt for a better explanation that he was greedy. You know, he would do whatever it took to win a race or make the money. I never raised for money. I always got paid, but I never looked at a payoff sheet in my life. life ever that I know what first place paid. I raised a win. Bancho Matthews told me one time, he said you're the best-raged car driver I had but you drive your car too damn hard. I said, well, it was my feeling that that's you supposed to do every time you get in the car driving that hard. I want to see you tell Dale Sr. He drove his car too hard. I mean, that's why I got in it. and but a lot of times it hurt me yeah you go through 1980 but in 1981 world 600 you had this

crash it seriously injured you what do you remember about that wreck only i know i was coming two four-lap-down or how much it was uh neil was fixing a lat me again and what i was doing driving that car i don't know the year before i parked when i could go out of a pit stop way in the back and come back and get the lead and it blown to wheel Cronkite and every time we make a pit stop I'd go from first or second to 31st or second

and so I parked and here I am in John Reuben's car and Harry Hyde the crew chief and can't drive it you can't drive this thing in the whole Charlotte City must a race track and I'm still running

and I can tell you this month I didn't spend that thing out for trying to hard because I got more sense than that. But I spun out and Dick Brooks hit me and the rest is history. I don't know myself. I don't remember. The next thing I really remember is in Birmingham in the hospital was Steve Meal, Kyle Petty and him coming to see me in the hospital.

Damn. All the way down in Birmingham. I was when I was back and back. That's what I can really actually tell you I remember. So what were your injuries? Well, I had a pretty bad head injury. I broke my leg real bad, my cheekbone. And I guess that's about enough.

Yeah. That's plenty. So that wreck in 1981 was pretty much the, end of your racing career. Did you race short tracks or anything after that? I mean,

I know you ran a couple more cup races. Oh yes. Yeah, I did. But where you, you know, did you,

when you think back to that time, I mean, back then you're like, you know, it was such a different culture. It was even different when I started racing.

Like, you know, you'd bang your head. I remember wrecking at Daytona and getting a concussion and laughing about it. You know, oh, man, I run my bell.

Wow, I'm dizzy. I'll be fine. And, you know, you got you got hurt you hurt your head you probably thought uh this will go this will i'll wait this will get better when it's better i'm going to race right that's exactly what i felt yeah it wasn't wasn't going to race again it was when i'm going to race again yeah and so you know what was the

process what was that like you know when you go back i'm i guess there were fewer opportunities um never after that wreck dale did i have the opportunity to get in a good car right and And this hurt me. Now, the best thing I had going was the bush car that my son, Kenny, built, took care of. That was that 23? 23 that red and white car. That erected Daytona at the end of the race that time. That race, I should have won.

You know, Patty Moise called that wreck. But I got a lap down. At that time, I was on Hoosier tires, and I restarted a race, and went down and turned one in the Hall of Kenny. I got a flat, Kenny. That was the first lap, just had got the green. He said, which one is it, Dad? I said, I'm not sure.

I said, I'll try to tell you before I get there. Well, I came and made a pit stop. I changed four tires. I lost a lap. I ran the whole rest of the race, so 12 laps to go or whatever it was, a lap down. I was in the front, but I was a lap down. Well, I got a caution, and, you know, Bobby was running good. Rusty Wallace was running good.

Jeff O'Don was running good. And on the restart, I tell my son Kenny, Kenny, if I can dodge all these bullets, we'll win this race. Well, I didn't dodge them all. You know, that's when I crashed real bad, and the hood went like a fist to be up in the sands and all that. But at that time, Dale, I never got back in a good cup car because I'm not sure that people knew how bad I was hurt

or how well I got over it. Right. So they just didn't know. No. And you couldn't convince them. No. You know when you got a hit injury, you know the first thing they do. They're damaged goods to everybody.

Very. Were you running a short track car anywhere? Oh, yeah. Yeah, my first race back at BIR. I never forget. I come down the front straight away and I won the race. and I looked out the wind and I said, thank you, God, thank you.

Yeah, yeah. And I'll never forget that, long as I live. I was probably, Pat could tell you, probably better than anybody. I was probably pretty honorary sometimes because I won the race and I couldn't. When did you run your last competitive event?

Do you remember? No, my last competitive cup event was an 88. 1988. What about short tracks? In the 90s. Really? Yes. When B.I.R. went away.

Birmingham International Raceway. And it was, I mean, were you racing at BIR all the way up until then? Which would have been the... No, no. At the very end, no, I didn't. Probably in my last race in B.R. was... Well, David got killed. until the 93, so it was probably 91.

Yeah. Early 90s, right. So what was the deciding factor for, I mean, I always love to ask this question about drivers because it's such a curious thing for me, but like, how did you make the decision when you got out of the car the last time, whether it was at a short track or wherever? How did you make the decision that that was the final time for you? I didn't. It got made for you?

I guess. I don't really know. I can't answer that question because I thought about many of the time after I had been out of car a while get back in and show somebody what they were doing wrong, which I was good at anyway.

But, you know, it's just like Namichek's cars when I had crew chief's his cars. He was a good race car driver or anything like that, but I ran his car five times and he never ran as fast as I ran. I swapped cars with my brother six times, and he never ran as fast as I ran in his own car. Yeah.

What about when you see Red still getting it done and still driving and racing at his age? I mean, what is your thoughts to that? Well, I have two. First of all, he's not going to win. You know, he won a heat racing in the dirt track last this past year. He did, yeah.

and somebody told me that their driver let him win it, but who says what? I give him credit. Where's a 90-year-old man? I went last year to the little town, Dago Shorth Track, and I hadn't been down around his cars in a long time. And he's got a footstool, one of them little stools to get in the car. So I give him a heck about that for all the time.

I said, it's pretty bad when you need a damn stool or a bench to get in your damn car. and but I give him credit and you go to the shop he'll tell you everything about all the cars see he's one of the last of the mohegans that can tell you every piece of that car plus work on a plus drive the hell of it yeah yeah how close are you and your brother throughout your whole career oh very close very close very close what was the um what was that experience like watching him go through his crash and You having went through something somewhat similar in 81, but his obviously much more severe, I imagine. What was that like for you to have to watch him go through that?

And maybe how did you help him? Well, it was really devastating to me. Ironically, when Navy got hurt and poking hole, I was at the same golf course on the same hole when both of them. got hurt. Damn. Oh, wow. And I used to play a lot of golf, and it was on Sunday, and I was at Lening Country Club on the eighth hole, part three.

And they didn't come get me when Davey crashed, but they came and told me. They came and got me with Bobby Cash. So I got in the golf cart, and I ran. By the time I got to the club out, they were having a replay on television. And so I called my brother-in-law, Donnie Johnson, in Hueytown, my farm is 100 miles from Hueytown,

and I asked him, was it his head? Yes, oh no, because of my own deal with the head. And so I go home, I tell Pat that I'm going to Allentown. And so I called Dr. Petty, which took care of me when I got hurt. The best man ever. To care me. The best man ever. I don't care.

I have a different one now, which is a lady. She's just as good. But anyway, I called Dr. Petty. He's, Donnie, I've already been talked to him at the hospital. He said, it's not good. He says, I'm on a call tonight. He said, but I'll go if you want to go tonight. I said, what time in the morning?

He said, pick me up at Butler Aviation at 8 o'clock in the morning. So I called the guy that, the other guy, other pilot, Bobby's second aerosar, and I said, what time do we have to leave Bessmer to be at Charlotte at 8 o'clock? So he told me, I said, okay, be ready to go. So we stopped and picked him up and went to Allentown. And, you know, I didn't see me when I was hurt. I mean, I know I look bad. My brother Eddie tells me all the time, God, I'm mighty. I'll see how bad you look. She, Pat, you know, I didn't look very, I don't look good anyway, but anyway

we get there and Petty goes right on back in because he's the doctor I'm out there in the waiting room and he comes out and gets me he says you want to go see him I said yes I do he said it's not pretty so I go back and he's got all these tubes

in him and all this stuff you know and I'm holding his hand he's not moving and so we get done with that trip and we get it back in an airplane going back to Charlotte and Petty he doesn't really say anything about Bobby much about the injury or nothing and he said Wednesday morning 8 o'clock no words I'm going to pick him up Wednesday morning this was Monday morning Wednesday morning I'll pick him up again so we do the same thing

on Wednesday morning go back up there and we get an airplane coming home and he's sitting there across me and he says you know he says he's I think he's going to make it just like that I mean just like I'm talking to y'all yeah I think he's going to make it he said in 25 years of practice I've never seen or heard of a patient living with your brother's injury. He said, reached on the back of your head and feel that little bump sticking out. Yep. He said, he broke his off.

He said, that protects spinal cord. So anyway, from that time on, it was pretty bad because when he came to Alabama, he went into rehab, and what got me well, Dale, was my farm. I'm in the trailer at the farm, my tractor sitting out there in the pasture with a bush hog hooked on it and I get my crutches and I start across out the door and Pat says where are you going as I'm going to run my tractor she says you can't do that I said yes I can that's rehab right there so I go out there I put my cratch

I got a 53 forward hood mounted on the top of massiferous tractor I stick my crutches up in there and I get up on there and I bush hauled me a circle out there. I come back, I get my crutches, I go back in the house, I'm sitting there, I get up and start out again. And Pat said, what are you doing now? I'm going to run my tractor again.

She said, I have to go to Newtown to get the kids from school. I said, well, you go ahead. I know how to make coffee. I know how to use the bathroom that's the first night I'd ever stayed by myself. And when that time on, it was uphill climb.

Well, that's what I told Bobby. Dale, I know you've got a trillion letters and get well and everything like that. I have a coffee table. May I have a hatch cover of an old ship. It's about as long as from here to there and about the widest, that Xfinity sign that. And it was full of get well cards all in the floor. I'm sitting there. I'm doing get well cards.

Pat says, you know, by the time I didn't. more. I don't know why, but I got aggravated and I took my hand and I went out and get well cards. I still unboxes somewhere, I guess. And I got up. I said, that's it. I ain't sitting around no more.

That's what got me well. To when Bobby's, you said it was so rough with Bobby, though, like, talk about that. Like, Bobby didn't have a farm. What did Bobby, what was Bobby's motivation? Motivation, right. None. Thank you. And it had none.

You know, every time I went around Bobby or anything else sitting in the same chair in the same place. And I said, Bobby, you got to get up. You got to do something. He said, I can't walk. My leg is hurt. I said, well, get a wheelchair and ride then. Yeah.

I said, get up. How's Bobby doing now? He's struggling a little bit, but he's not doing bad at all. Because, you know, when that plane rides we had with Petty, you know they said he would never ever fly an airplane again he said i'm going to pass my physical he went to oklahoma for to school yeah past his physical got his pilot license back yeah i flew with him a lot afterwards he couldn't find airplane as good after as he could before because he always landed about three foot off the ground but i used to be amazed because no matter how bad the weather was

where the wind was doing anything else, you never felt Bobby Allison and airplane touched the ground when he landed. You never felt the wheels hit. I mean, he was probably the best I ever flew with. But after his accident, he'd land about two foot off the ground every time. I told him,

and said, Bobby, you're going to stick to stretch up through the wing. Yeah, he'd land it pretty hard. He would, you know, come back and become an owner in NASCAR and run a race team and for as bad as things were in that accident, you know, he did, he did make a comeback physically. That I think is, you know, especially hearing what you're saying about Dr. Petty describing the injury and how severe it was and that he was surprised that he was still alive.

When I look at that car and pictures of that car from that accident in Pocono for Bobby, I can't believe he survived it because of the destruction to the, car itself but um you know i did did it you know was y'all's relationship from that moment on still the same all these years later i know i've been around you two together on a couple occasions here especially recently and y'all's bond seems at you you both have this sort of innate ability to like look out for each other look after one another you got each other's back like you always had like you did

in that turn 3 in 1979 at the Daytona 500 all of that stayed intact is that true? Oh yeah yeah that comes from kitty and Ed mom and pop Allison our family has always been very close

now we all have had problems you know like I said I had a reputation of being a fighter I've been in a fight with every one of my brothers I beat all of them's butt The only one that ever hurt me at all My younger brother Tommy hit me in the back of the head with a shoe But I mean we've been very close No matter what happened

It was always family first Yeah Bobby was A little difficult sometimes Because he was so independent Yeah You know He

He always felt like like he could beat anybody anywhere anytime. If he didn't, it was his car's fault. It wasn't his fault. Yeah. We got in a pretty bad time in the 60s in the modified special, and he wrecked me on Saturday night, and I worked all night, me and my brother Eddie,

and I wrecked him on Sunday. Well, this hand is on my shoulder, and when it got on my shoulder, I know it was my dad. My dad said, I didn't raise you boys like that. He said, you go to Bobby and straighten this out. And I said, Dad, I didn't start it. I'm not going to Bobby.

He said, I said, go to Bobby and straighten it out. Well, Bobby's car owner owned a used car lot up in 3rd Avenue in Birmingham. So I go up there and I pulled around. It was a house trailer office. So I pulled around the back and a sailman walked out about that time. And his eyes got about biggest dad when he saw me drive up. I said, is Bobby Allison in there? He said, yes, he is.

Okay, I jumped out of the car, went in there, and there was Bobby. And I said, Bobby, I'm going to come up here because my dad told me to come. And I said, we can straighten this out in here or out there. I pointed out of the back door. I said, let me tell you how I feel about this. I said, I'm on the left and you're on the right, and we have a problem. It's my fault. You're on the right, and I'm on the left, or.

left or right, it's swapped. It's my fault. You're in the front and I'm in the back, it's my fault. I'm in the back and you're in the front, it's my fault. 50% of the damn time it's where I was when it was my fault. He said, I never thought of it like that. We never had a bottle of mattress. We never had a pot.

Now, we're running to one another. You know, just like his daddy. Tell me about his dad. Well, I got a good story about his dad, real good. But his father, when he drove a race car, he drove it to win. He didn't care about anything else, but he wanted to win.

I mean, that was the feeling that old guys like Meyer had. And maybe some of the young guys have a little bit of it now, but nothing like we had back in our day. I was very, very good friends with Dale Senior. I had a very big mess up with him one time. I was at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He was in a black, I mean, blue and yellow. First year he drove for Richard Childers. and he ran into me about to start finish line, practice, and he hit me pretty hard. Well, he got against me down to turn one, and I slowed him down and stopped him. When he came outside of me, coming off the corner, and I shook my finger at him.

Well, at that time, the garage area used to run down the front straightaway long. Dale, you remember. Well, I was parked around here on this end in the second garage because the tires was all stacked up, and Dale was on this side way down this end. Well, when I came in and went in my pit area, my guys knew something was wrong. They didn't know what because I never said anything about it. Well, I had to go around the tires like this to get down there.

When I got down there, Dale was getting out and had his leg, one leg still in the window, another leg on the ground. You know, getting ready to step out of the car. And Big Chocolate, he's going right away jump in there. And I said, you stand right there. I ain't come here and talk to you. I come here and talk to Dale. And so I said to Dale.

I said, Dale, let me tell you something. I said, if you've ever running me in practice again like that, I said, I'm going to wreck your ass, and I'm going to beat your ass. He said, whoa, whoa, whoa. I said, you heard what I said. I turned around and went back to my garage. Well, it was probably an hour later or two hour later, he came down there. He says, are you cool down?

Can I talk to you now? I said, I've been cool down. And I said, Dale, there's no sense running somebody in practice like that. Now, he didn't just bump me. I mean, he ran into me. He said, yeah, he said, I didn't mean to do that. I said, well, then pay attention to what the hell you're doing. We never, ever, ever had a problem after that, ever.

What do you remember from him on that rookie season in 79? I guess I'm curious about what point did you guys start going, oh, this isn't just your everyday rookie. This guy's legit. Now, I know he wins a race, not too long after the season. started. But I'm just curious on when did Dale Earnhardt start to emerge in his competitor's eyes as a legit race car driver? I think right away. I think right away. You can see that. You know, I don't know how Bobby Allison felt or maybe Richard Pettie felt

and I really don't care. You know, myself personally watching him, I knew it wasn't going to be long before you start winning on a regular basis. Yeah. You know, it's like I said, Guys that could win and a good car won. No question. And you can take guys and put them in good cards that can't win, they're going to win. I don't care what you do. He credits you in some articles with helping him figure out Darlington the first time, you know, they went there.

He was having some problems to get up to speed and not enter in turn one ride. And he talks about how you specifically helped him understand the line he needed to run. Well, Dale, you know, it was really weird because when I went to Darlington the first time I was in a Chavelle. and Bobby Allison, Ridd and White Chaville, Bracken Brothers owned it at a time, but I'm the only rookie. You can go back and look at the paper.

I'm the only rookie that qualified the first day at Darlington in that Chival. Yeah. But I had a guy, Ralph Moody, carried me down to the scoring stand. He said, come on, I want to show you something. We went down there, and you could see all to turn three and four.

and it's one or two now, but three and four. He said, here's the secret. Everybody runs fast through the other end of this racetrack. It's a conventional corner. He said, what you've got to do here? He said, you've got to find out where you can open the throttle wide open and not back, back off. Yeah.

Because you get into turn three at that time turn three, and you can get the throttle hard. I mean, you can get in wide open, But you've got to back back off because if you know, you're going to lock that wall down coming off four. That's right. So I started trying this when I went to practice. And next thing you know, I'm beating everybody 2 tenths of a second,

2,500, 3 tenths of a second around the racetrack. Hmm. So that stuck with me. Darlington and Daytona are the two racetracks that really hurt me bad. I didn't even win it. I won the 400 in a bush race, not the 500. I liked Daytona. I could run Daytona good.

I could draft good, but I love Darlington. Yeah. I mean, I loved Darlington. I should have won there five times. I hadn't won it. Yeah, you were close on a couple, right there to the very end. Yep. And it had some crazy thing happen.

And howled this car? I'm lapping David Pearson, 143rd lap, and the water pump bus, shab bus, goes through the radiator, and I wreck going in term one. Pearson wins the race. And I mean, I laughed him. Several other times, stupid things happen like that. Yeah.

We're coming up on another round of voting for the Hall of Fame, and you're on the ballot as one of the pioneers. you know how how how how how how how how great does it feel to be a part of that group to be to be to be part of the part of the people you know when they narrow that less down you know we set in those meetings and listen to the conversations and they'll talk about three dozen four dozen different people that possibly need to be considered but it eventually gets whittled down to this very small group and you're in that group all those people that are in that group are Hall of Famers.

You're an absolute Hall of Famer. And so how does that feel to see your face and your picture in that group? Well, it's probably one of the greatest things could possibly ever happen to me. I'm in eight other Hall of Fame, and it would be the combination. Like I told somebody the other day, of a lot of hard work. a lot of dedication somebody was asking me the other day when the first time I had a NASCAR license

I think in 59 I know in 1960 I run a modified special but I ran a couple races in 59 in Alabama I think it was 59 but I've been a NASCAR member since 1960 I know and I've always

supported our sport best support in the world ever and I just I feel very honored I know there's some really really good people on the same ballot I'm on and I got mixed emotions about voting sure I really really got paid a compliment the day before yesterday somebody called me and said I got there's people in Brazil and Dominican Republic voting for you. Yeah.

Oh, that's right, because fans can vote. I mean, actually, people can contribute to getting Donnie Allison in the Hall of Fame. That's right. That's right. You can go to nascar.com slash Hall of Fame and vote for Donnie Allison right now on the Pioneer ballot if you choose to do so. And you should do it. Yeah.

Because you belong there, Donnie. That's right. I appreciate that very much. And hopefully, it works out this time. But don't, well, we'll We'll see what happens later, but, you know, I have mixed emotions about that deal. You know, when this thing started, okay, now I'll tell you, talking about brothers and everything like that. Well, the year that Bobby got put in, they were talking about Dale, I mean, Darryl Walter. And I made a statement, if Darryl Walter goes in the Hall of Fame before Bobby Allison,

and myself will run the Hall of Fame out of business that's the way I felt I mean I haven't felt that way about anybody the only other person I feel like

very unjustly is not in there is Banjo Matthews right I know I drove for him and everything like that but look what that man did look at the cars

he built look at the people he helped yes it's a great argument we don't talk about Banjo Matthew's enough on the show

and I can't wait to do it I mean, like, that... Well, anytime you want to sit down and talk about him, you'll holler me, and I'll be glad to help you. We'll do it. There's intangibles that... I don't envy, Dale, the people that do vote, and I don't...

Because there's so much of the actual, like, the soul that people contribute their whole lives to that aren't in a stat line. They're just not. Now, you have stats that should get you to Hall of Fame anyways, but there's those intangibles, and those are the ones that are... Like for Donnie, for example,

he mentored many, many drivers. Right. He was a part of, you know, many teams aside, you know, as a crew chief, a general manager and advisor and so forth. And yeah, it's a good conversation, you know, and it's fun to have. You know, and all this started by you talking about me helping Dale at Darlingson. Yeah. You know, not only Dale, not only Dale, Jeff Gordon. Yeah.

Davy Allison. See, Davey Allison driving a 28 car, and it's a rocket. Without a question, it's a rock-ass car. Well, I got Davey and said, Dave, you come on and go with me. Where are we going, Uncle Donnie? I said, come and go with me. He said, I got to stay here. I said, no, go with me.

I took him down to that same tower and turned three. And believe it or not, Jeff O'Dine was in an 11 car out there running at the time. And damn, he wasn't doing the same thing I was talking about. And at that time was outrunning everybody pretty good in Junior's car. I took him up front and I showed him the same. thing that Ralph Moody told me and I said, Davey, you do what I'm telling you, and you'll outrun everybody by half a second.

Because this car was a rocket ship. Well, not only did he outrun him by a half, he said on the pole and won the race. Yeah. And Jeff Gordon, Revereigham still thanks me for that. And, you know, I mean, it was things that I learned

people wanting to help me, so I wanted to try to help somebody else too. Yeah. And Darlington was a place that I could, really help them. Well, you did help a lot of people. And again, if you want to help Donnie, he is on the power near ballot for the Hall of Fame this year, NASCAR.com slash Hall of Fame. Fans can vote and impact who goes in.

And a lot of people hopefully are voting for you, Donnie. I appreciate you coming in today. This has been awesome to sit down. You bet you. It's been awesome. I've known you a long time. You've been amazing to me. and to have gotten to know Kenny, Ronald, and Donald how that shaped me at such a very young age

left a great impression on me. Dad was right. He couldn't do nothing with me, but he sent me over there to Kenny's. And Kenny did. Kenny did. Kenny helped me understand what I needed to be doing and help me shape me as a man. So I appreciate the connection that I have with your family. And again, thanks for visiting us today.

I hope you have a great week, bud. My pleasure. Thank you very much. Yes, sir. Donnie Allison on the Dale Jr. Download. Well, Mike, quick reaction to the Donnie Allison interview, and I'll just go ahead and say a few things. Number one, the memory on that guy at his age and everything, the details that he recalls from his career, even considering the 1981 head injury, not only is it incredible, but it certainly makes me happy because I've gone through my own issues with concussions and so forth. And the fact that he's as sharp as he is is pretty remarkable. And obviously he believes that he was the best race car driver that ever drove in NASCAR. And every NASCAR driver should think that way.

I certainly did during my career. But he continues to. to believe so. And he'll remind you of everything. Right. You know, they would argue that point. And if somebody else had an accolade, he probably helped them and he'll tell you that too. Yeah, which I love.

I mean, it's probably not entirely untrue, right? So there's some truth to a lot of what he's telling you. And when you do go out there and do something on the racetrack, boy, you never forget it, especially when you beat somebody. The other thing that I really enjoyed talking about and hearing from him, and I love And I sometimes, honestly, you know, you just get to live in your life and you kind of forget where you've been. I love going back and talking about that little brief period of my life where I worked with his sons, Kenny and Ronald and Donald. And really, they, he's, you know, he's right.

They were the keepers and builders of the legends car that we know today. That started as a very small niche race car that was sold to a, you know, you. know, very regionally right here around the Concord area, you could only race this car at Charlotte Motor Speedway. There's an entirely different, but at the same time, similar car being built up in a different part of the country called the dwarf car. And they would race them together.

Some of the guys from up north would bring their dwarf cars down and race with us here with our Legends cars. And maybe we were copying them, I'm not sure. but the Allison brothers, Donnie, Donnie's sons, Kenny, they started building these legends cars and eventually Humpy and Marcus Smith and all of them now had what is developed into 600 racing. They took it on themselves and completely,

they build thousands of these things every year that go all over the world. They race overseas. All of that started out of this little shop. on Highway 70 in Salisbury, North Carolina. And anyways, I remember going over there and working. And one time, you know, Kenny's like, hey, we got to go get some spindles. They used spindles off of foreign cars, and we go to these junkyards

and pull these struts out of these old Nissan and stuff, take them back to Kenny's shop, and he'd say, here, fire the torch up, cut the spindle off the strut. I'm like, I've never run a torch. Here we go. I'm torching this stuff, and I'm learning how. how to use these tools, right? 15, 16 years old. And he'd had me in there parts washing all morning,

so I had parts washer all over the front of my shirt. That catches on fire, and he comes over and kicks me, because I can't tell him on fire. I don't see it just yet, and I'm torching with the helmet on, and he kicks me, and I stand up and I look down, and my shirt's on fire. It burnt like a half moon out of the bottom of my shirt tail. they laughed about that then then like not literally like a month later one of the molten globules like

cut that pot you know you're when you're torching there's stuff flying everywhere it's hot little balls of melted steel you got to be careful right not to getting that stuff on you and it one of them hops off and lands right on top of the line from the torch cut and burns a hole in it and now there's a blue flame shooting out of this torch line he comes over there and he's turning the bottles off and kicking me again but I had a lot of memories. Like just the simple, I know I'm in the weeds here, but just a simple idea of getting together and going to lunch with your coworkers.

That was the very first experience I ever had of that, that people take for granted every single day. That was my first experience with something like that. And he's right. Sending me there was the best thing that could have happened to me because I was forced to get along with everybody. I wasn't Dellenhart's son. I wasn't catered to, coddled.

You had to get going. Those guys, all those guys in that shop were harder on me because I was Dellenhart's son, right? Sure. It was awesome. Yeah. And so anyways. Life lessons began there.

I know, you're right. And so anyways, Donnie, I hope people go vote for him for the pioneer ballot. And he is, it's great to have him around to be able to still tell these stories. These stories that we're trying to create here at Durham Media, especially like, for example, the 1979 season, we're recreating that. I am for fear of it being lost, right? Yeah, right? For lack of a better word. He's still here able to share those memories.

He's articulate. It's not just that his mind is so sharp, but he's articulate as well. I want to just make sure that our editors and video guys know there was a moment in the interview that is going to be my favorite. moment and you won't be able to tell it on a podcast, but it was in the moment in which you were talking about how after the Daytona 500, he and Kale were trying to go out of their way to meet or to allow NASCAR, to really appease NASCAR, right, to really go out of their way. And he had this grin and this look on his face. He shot a look to me.

And it was like, if he could say it, it was like, it was all bull-h-h-ed. But you said it. Yeah. And he goes, he had that grin, and it was just like, oh, that's just good. And so the TV show hopefully shows that, the video guys show that. It's so good. I know me and you probably didn't pick up on it, but it's funny now that we did this entire interview with a ceramic model of Kale Yarbril's car sitting in between us. The only thing on the table.

Right in front of him. Sorry, Donnie. You know he knew it. Sorry, Donnie. That was not intentional. buddy sorry that's so funny anyways man i enjoyed the i enjoy the interview with donnie and and uh even though we're doing this uh you know this series with the 79 season uh and becoming earn hard it's it's great to sit down with with some folks and have such great conversations we'll see you

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