Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of the Alabama Gang » (REPRINT)

Peter Golenbock has written six New York Times bestsellers. His books include American Zoom, The Last Lap, and NASCAR Confidential. He lives in Florida.

The tragic, untold story of the legendary Alabama Gang—NASCAR's famous racing family.

Kirkus Reviews

Bestselling sportswriter Golenbock (Amazin', 2002, etc.) chronicles the terrible toll stock-car racing has taken on NASCAR legend Bobby Allison and those close to him. Allison fought for every shred of respect he garnered on the Winston Cup circuit. He was a crack mechanic before he ever got behind the wheel of a race car, and no factory team would sponsor him as a driver until he proved himself by winning in the heaps he patched together himself. Allison and his Alabama Gang-brothers Eddie and Donnie, Neil Bonnet and Red Farmer-strutted their racing savvy on the southern speedways, but they were infuriated by racetrack officials' habit of cutting slack for reigning champ Richard Petty. Allison conducted plenty of bitter feuds with fellow racers (not to mention his stormy ups and downs with wife Judy), but he had a singular rivalry with Petty: "They would race side by side, trading paint, gaining advantage . . . it was as close to motorized ballet as NASCAR ever presented." But ballets don't end with participants literally crashing and burning; car races sometimes do. Donnie Allison was nearly killed in 1981, and in 1988 Bobby sustained career-ending head injuries. During the long process of piecing himself together, he lost two sons: Clifford died while racing, and Davey, also a driver, was killed in a helicopter crash on the way to the track. The Allison story, told with thrusting energy, even while tragedy after tragedy sucks the air out of the room.

Preface     xi
The Photograph     1
Pop and Kitty     3
Bobby: Exiled to Wisconsin     10
Bobby: Bob Sunderman     21
Bobby: Judy     27
Donnie and Eddie: Built from the Chassis Up     36
Pat: Alabamy Bound     40
Red Farmer: Short-Track Racer     45
Bobby: Nose to the Grindstone     51
Donnie and Eddie: Busting Their Humps     56
Bobby: Eddie Makes a Sacrifice     59
Bobby: Bud, Cotton, Harry, and Ol' Ralph     71
Bobby: An Independent Again     82
Bobby and Eddie: Mario     85
Bobby: Outsmarted by the Pettys     93
Donnie: Banjo     99
Bobby: Allison Versus the Pettys     104
Bobby: Junior     112
Bobby: Iroc and Indy, 1973     126
Bobby: The Roger Penske Years     135
Donnie: Outsmarted by the Gardners     146
Neil Bonnett: Susan     150
Bobby: Bud Moore Saves Him     155
Donnie: Hoss     160
Bobby and Donnie: The Fight at Daytona     163
Bobby: Butting Heads     170
Donnie: T-Boned and in a Coma     181
Bobby: AChampionship-At Last     186
Bobby: It Gets Ugly     197
Davey: The Prodigal Son     208
Hut: Rookie of the Year     217
Neil: In Waltrip's Shadow     223
Bobby: The Oldest Winner Ever     230
Bobby and Davey: Father, Son Finish 1,2     238
Bobby: At Death's Door     248
Bobby and Judy: The Long Road Back     260
Bobby and Judy: A Miracle     266
Neil: Amnesia     275
Davey: Robert Yates Hires Larry Mac     282
Clifford: "Crazy Wild"     289
Davey: The Lost Championship: Part I     294
The Death of Clifford Allison     309
Davey: The Lost Championship: Part II     315
Davey: Life on the Edge     321
The Death of Davey Allison     328
Alabama Mourns     337
Hut: Scarred     344
Bobby and Judy: No Peace     348
The Death of Neil Bonnett     354
Hut: A Career Fizzles     361
The End Of Bobby Allison Motorsports     367
Bobby and Judy: Financial Ruin and Divorce     373
Bobby and Judy: Reunited     380
Notes     387