NASCAR legend Bobby Allison was awarded victory 53 years after the race at Bowman Gray Stadium – This brings his total of Cup wins to 85
Bizarre decision in NASCAR: Bobby Allison was awarded the victory at Bowman Gray Stadium 19,437 days or 53 years after the race, bringing his tally to 85 Cup victories. The controversial race in North Carolina was discussed for half a century, but the reason for the late decision was a question of the rules and not a controversy in the race.
In 1971, the Winston tobacco company became the series’ title sponsor, which is why today’s Cup series was then called the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Prior to that, the top tier was called the NASCAR Grand National Series. In the 1970s, manufacturers withdrew from NASCAR in droves or scaled back their programs, and the burden was now on the private teams. In addition, the starting fields had to be filled here and there.
That’s why the smaller cars of the NASCAR Grand American Series were allowed for six races of the 1971 Cup season, including at Bowman Gray Stadium. Allison drove one of these smaller 1970 Ford Mustangs and beat the Cup drivers. He led 138 of 200 laps and finished ahead of Richard “The King” Petty. He drove into Victory Lane and was celebrated, but his victory never made it into the history books.
Since Allison was driving a smaller class car, no driver was declared the winner of the Cup race. Strictly speaking, there was no Cup winner that year because there were no rules for two classes on one track: Allison won the Grand National race, Petty only came in second. This meant that Allison was not officially a Cup winner.
Since then, Allison has repeatedly challenged this decision. Since the end of his career, he has spoken of the 85 Cup races he won, and not just the 84 officially recorded. After all, the all-time list is only for fourth place: for a long time, Allison was tied with Darrell Waltrip in fourth place, but now the 86-year-old is alone in fourth place.
The NASCAR decision also changes another important fact in NASCAR history. For a long time, Brad Keselowski was considered the first race winner in a Ford Mustang, which was in 2019. But now Allison is the driver who first drove the Ford to a Cup victory, and that was back in 1971. As part of the Alabama Gang, Allison is considered one of NASCAR’s greatest legends, who can now celebrate further milestones in his career.
He won the Cup title in 1983 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011. The timing couldn’t be better, because the 2025 Clash is taking place at the Bowman Gray Stadium, of all places. No Cup race has been held there since 1971. Today, the short track is known for late-model racing and, at just 438 yards long and with no banking, offers plenty of action. This makes the track the same length as the LA Coliseum, where the Clash was last held.
