Dale Earnhardt Jr. is known as one of the greatest names in racing history, but he is ensuring that his daughter, Isla, is learning about those legends of the sport. In fact, he proved this with a photo on Instagram that showed Isla wearing a shirt in honor of Bobby Allison. Apparently, Earnhardt wants his daughter to know about a man that is known as one of the 50 greatest racers in NASCAR.
Originally born in 1937, Allison got his start in NASCAR in 1965 when he moved full-time to the Grand National circuit. This kickstarted a career in which he accumulated 85 cup wins and won the 1983 Winston Cup Championship. Allison was also named most popular driver seven times in his career.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“Throwing it back to 1976 and Bobby Allison,” Earnhardt wrote in the caption of the photo.
Adding to his career accomplishments, Allison won the Daytona 500 three times. He first achieved the feat in 1978 and repeated it in 1982 and 1988. Although the 1982 victory has been a source of controversy for years due to Allison’s bumper falling off at the beginning of the race and making the car 70 pounds lighter.
According to the Washington Post, Allison passed Cale Yarborough on the fourth lap of the day. Their cars touched, which caused Allison’s bumper to fall off and bounce down the road, ultimately causing a five-car pile-up. Without the added weight, Allison’s car was lighter and faster, helping him coax 100 miles out of his gas tank to finish the race while other cars struggled to reach 90. Additionally, he finished a mile ahead of Yarborough after leading for 147 of the 200 laps.
Following the race, there were multiple opponents that wanted an investigation into the bumper falling off Allison’s car. Yarborough’s crew chief even said that it was “awful funny” how the bumper came off with a little tap. It’s supposed to withstand a bigger shock than that.
“I’ll show you where the welds were broken,” Allison’s crew chief, Gary Nelson, said. “There’s no way I’d ever put something on a race car with the intent it would fall off. And anybody who would accuse somebody of that is really digging at the bottom of the barrel.”
Ultimately, there was no official complaint filed within the allotted 15 minutes following the race, and Allison’s championship still stands today. This small detail is likely unknown to Isla, nor is Earnhardt likely to mention it. What is more important is that the NASCAR star-turned-NBC Sports commentator is teaching his daughter the history of this American pastime.
