page_title: Bobby Allison
section_title: Pocono and tragedies
hierarchical_section_title: Bobby Allison / Pocono and tragedies
caption_attribution_description: Shot by The Daredevil at Daytona during Speedweeks 2008. He ran the #12 car in 1988 only.
context_page_description: Robert Arthur Allison is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, he was the 1983 Winston Cup champion and won the Daytona 500 three times in 1978, 1982, and 1988. His two sons, Clifford and Davey Allison, followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other.
context_section_description: On June 19, 1988, at the midpoint of the 1988 season, Allison crashed on lap 1 of the Miller High Life 500. Initially he survived a head-on hit into the outside barrier but then suddenly Jocko Maggiacomo t-boned Allison in the driver's side of the car, nearly killing Allison. When he reached a local hospital he was initially declared dead, but subsequent medical assistance saved his life.  Beginning from a vegetative state, Allison entered a rehab program.  As a result of his massive injuries he retired from driving in NASCAR.
  In 1992 his younger son, Clifford Allison, was fatally injured in a practice crash for the NASCAR Busch Series race (now Xfinity Series) at Michigan International Speedway.
  Later in 1993, his son Davey was killed in a helicopter accident at Talladega Superspeedway. Three years after these major tragedies, he and his wife Judy divorced. Four years after their divorce, while attending their daughter-in-law's wedding, they reconnected. They were remarried in July 2000 and remained together until her death in 2015. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of Americain 1992, and inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May 2011, along with Lee Petty, Bud Moore, David Pearson, and Ned Jarrett.
  Allison is one of eight drivers to have won what was then considered a career Grand Slam (an unofficial term) by winning the sport's four majors: the Daytona 500, the Winston 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. Only seven other drivers have accomplished this feat: Richard Petty, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Buddy Baker.
caption: 1988 racecar
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