After 53 Years, NASCAR Finally Gives Bobby Allison His Victory at Bowman Gray

Bobby Allison’s NASCAR win total wore an asterisk up to this point—in his mind, if nowhere else. The record books long listed his victory count at 84, which tied him for fourth place with Darrell Waltrip. That didn’t count the time he left Bowman Gray Stadium with a winner’s trophy and prize money back in 1971, as a dispute left that the only NASCAR race without an official winner for years. Now, after more than five decades, the sanctioning body has awarded Allison that victory, bumping him into sole possession of fourth place in wins all-time.

NASCAR made the decision while reflecting on the history of Bowman Gray Stadium, which will hold the Clash exhibition race in February 2025. It was the first paved track that NASCAR ever raced on in 1949, and made the news earlier this year when NASCAR picked up the facility’s lease through 2050. It’s a quarter-mile short oval in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, right in the heart of stock-car racing country.

“For 53 years, the Myers Brothers Memorial was the only race run by NASCAR that did not have an official winner,” explained NASCAR CEO and Chairman Jim France. “As we began preparations for the upcoming Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, the topic of that August 6, 1971 race returned to the forefront. We felt it was the right thing to officially recognize Bobby’s win and honor him as an 85-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. We are grateful for Bobby’s lifetime contributions to NASCAR.”

Allison, now 86 years old, trails only Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105), and Jeff Gordon (93) in all-time Cup Series wins. Petty himself previously lobbied against NASCAR’s recognition of Allison as an 85-time winner, as that race at Bowman Gray was a mixed contest with Grand National and Grand American cars running together. Allison drove a smaller Grand Am car, which perhaps played to his benefit on the tight track, leading some like Petty to cry foul.

Allison says he pleaded with Bill France Jr., Jim’s brother who was NASCAR CEO from 1972-2000, to award him the win. France Jr. passed away in 2007, though Allison recounts him saying “it looked pretty grim” at the time. The 1983 Cup Series champ then added, according to Autoweek, “I really hope that someday somebody will say, ‘Whoa, wait a minute; this is a true mistake.’ Somebody will say, ‘How can we have a race without an official winner?’ I got the money and the trophy, and I’ve been told the race was in the record book for a year or two, then it wasn’t.

“If NASCAR is a major sport, then Bowman Gray was a major race,” Allison said. “And how can you have a major race without a winner?”

None of that matters anymore, though. Allison’s updated win count is official and final for the rest of time—unless he hops in a new Cup car and takes the checkered flag again.

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