NASCAR legend Davey Allison revealed that he was excited to race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for years to come just days before he tragically passed away at the age of 32.
On Sunday, the Cup Series Playoffs will travel to Loudon for the USA Today 301, which marks the first race of the Round of 12. The previous round’s conclusion featured no shortage of excitement, as major tire fall-off caused chaos at Bristol Motor Speedway before Christopher Bell fended off Brad Keselowski to emerge victorious in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
Over three decades ago, New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted the Slick 50 300 – the first-ever Winston Cup race at the venue – on July 11, 1993. Entering the inaugural event, Allison looked to be one of the heavy favorites to coast down victory lane, having entered the season ranking fifth out of all active drivers in wins.
Sure enough, Allison claimed the lead on Lap 171 and remained at the front of the pack for much of the remainder of the race. A yellow caution flag for debris was waved with approximately 30 laps remaining, however, forcing him to pit.
Rusty Wallace swiftly took advantage of the opportunity, pulling away from Allison on the final restart en route to claiming the win.
Speaking to reporters on the heels of the race, Allison conceded that luck wasn’t on his side that afternoon. “We had a big lead when that last caution came out, and I don’t think there was any way they would’ve caught us,” he explained.
“But you gotta have a lot of luck in this business, or you gotta be lucky sometimes at the right times.
“Today wasn’t our lucky day, but Rusty ran good all day and when the luck came around he was there to capitalize on it. So you gotta congratulate him for a great run. It was a lot of fun, we ran real close, we stayed competitive all day.
“It was a great race here at New Hampshire, a lot of fans came out here to see the inaugural event and I’m looking forward to coming back.”
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Looking ahead to the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Pocono Raceway, Allison added: “We’ve had some good runs and we’ve had some bad runs, but I just wish I knew which car to take back to Pocono right now. I’m a little confused. Larry and I, and Robert are gonna take a little time on this trip back to Charlotte tonight and we’re gonna talk about it. We’ll come up with what we need, hopefully.”
Allison sadly never made it to Pocono or back to Loudon. On July 12, 1993, he was involved in a helicopter crash while attempting to land in the infield area of Talladega Superspeedway. The driver was swiftly rushed to a hospital in Birmingham, where he succumbed to his serious head injuries the following day.