Allison recalls a Hall of Fame career, relationships

CONCORD, N.C. -- In a driving career that spanned 25 seasons, Bobby Allison won the 1983 Cup Series championship and a total of 84 races (he'll insist it's 85, but NASCAR's story is 84 and it's sticking to that).

But in a candid question-and-answer session with the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway this past Saturday, Allison talked about how being elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame last week is one of the greatest highlights of his life. He also revealed how it was the 1978 season that revived him and why he owes so much to fellow Hall of Fame inductee Bud Moore, while also touching on his relationships with the other men who will be going into the Hall with him next May.

• Video: Allison selected
• Video: HOF reactions
• Second class revealed

Q: Tell us about the 1978 season, and why it was so important in your long career?

(Allison had registered 46 victories from 1966 through the 1975 season, but then had gone winless in '76 and '77 before he was hired to drive for car owner Moore in '78).

Allison: I've got to say I had been struggling. I had been through a series of some bad and good, and all of a sudden it was more bad and more bad. I really was not feeling good. I had worn myself down and didn't really know what the reason was. Mostly, I guess it was I wasn't eatin' right or sleepin' right or anything. So I was feeling bad, but Bud called me up and said, 'We'll go to work for you and get you a really good ride.'

We went to Riverside [for what was then the opening race of the season] and were fast, but we had the car break right away -- which was a heartbreak for me. We got to Daytona [for the 500, which then was the second race of the season] and got rained out Thursday, so the qualifying race was Friday morning. Bud's previous driver [Buddy Baker] got into me on the last lap of the second qualifying race and tore our car all to pieces. ... So I went to the motel, feeling sorry for myself and pouting and all those things that I did back then when I was younger.

Q: You figured you were done?

Allison: I really suffered through the night and decided that I needed to tell Bud the next morning that I was going back home to Alabama, that everything had gone sour on us and here we were in bad shape.

Q: What happened next?

Allison: I went back to the garage and here those guys -- Bud and his group, the whole crew he had -- had repaired that car, straightened all the dents out, and painted it and lettered it. I said, 'Wow. If they've done this for me, I've got to give them one more day.'

I bit my lip. Judy [Allison's wife] and I tried to get a little rest that night, and I went out Sunday morning and started the race. Really, the car was good. We had to start way in the back on account of that wreck, so it took awhile to get to the front. But when I got to the front, the car was there to stay and we got that Daytona 500 win. It really was a thrill for me.

And, you know, Bud and his attitude and his support of our gang -- and the way he brought my whole family into the fold -- it really helped me get back on my feet. Not only that, but it helped me get back to Victory Lane. We ended up winning five times that year and I finished second in the points.

Q: So how cool was it to get into the Hall of Fame with Bud?

Allison: When they announced that, I just thought it was so neat to be able to go in with this guy who always meant so much to me. We separated on race teams [after three seasons], but remained friends. I never would have been able to go into this thing without Bud Moore.

Q: What about some of the other guys who are going to be inducted with you?

Allison: Lemme tell you a story about Ned Jarrett. Back before I went to Alabama even -- I went to Alabama in 1959 so this had to be in '58 -- and Ned Jarrett was chasing a Sportsman championship and he came down through South Florida. For some reason, his car had a problem or something. He came over to ask me if he could drive my car, because he was going for these points. And I said, 'No. I'm driving it myself. You don't know me. I have to drive it myself.'

So I turned down Ned Jarrett. Being the gentleman that he is and true competitor and true champion that he is, he just said, 'I understand what you're saying. I just had to ask you.' We remained friends, and that was so special.

Q: What about David Pearson?

Allison: Now I wasn't friends with David Pearson. He didn't have any friends. David Pearson was so aimed at that Victory Lane -- and in those days, we didn't have time to be buddy-buddy with anybody. I wasn't friends with David Pearson until way after we were done with our careers. Now the last few years, we've been really good friends.

That's really quite a deal to be in the Hall with him and these other two guys. Now Lee Petty, he was ahead of my time. He had already done his deal [as a driver] and was out of his car by the time I started running these deals. But this has been really neat for me.

Q: What's it like sitting there waiting to hear if your name is going to be called, and the emotions you go through after it is called?

Allison: You go through a real string of emotions. I wondered, 'Am I gonna get the votes?' And, 'Did I step on somebody's toes a little too much along the way?'

You know, I really admired Bill France Jr. But we had a situation where I also felt like I had to make sure every ruling he made was made with all of us in mind. ... Every once in a while we had a little fuss over something. I was really concerned that my stepping on some people's toes or whatever might work against me in this thing. To be honest, I really did want to be in this class and the Hall of Fame is so special and so impressive.

So I had a lot of thoughts. I also thought I had done a little bit of good here and there along the way. I had heard I got the most [online] fan votes. I thought that was a real pat on the back. So when they called my name, I was just like, 'Wow!'