By james art 
Bobby Allison’s NASCAR overall victory carried an asterisk until that moment—in his mind, if nowhere else. The record books long listed his wins at 84, which tied him for fourth with Darrell Waltrip. That doesn’t count the time he left Bowman Gray Stadium with a trophy and prize money in 1971, as a dispute left NASCAR’s only race without an official winner for years. Now, more than five decades later, the sanctioning body has awarded Allison this victory, moving him into sole possession of fourth place in all-time wins.
NASCAR made the decision while reflecting on the history of Bowman Gray Stadium, which will host the Clash exhibition race in February 2025. It was the first paved track NASCAR raced on in 1949 and made headlines earlier this year when NASCAR took a lease on the facility through 2050. It’s a short, quarter-mile oval in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, right in the heart of stock car racing country.
“For 53 years, the Myers 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 the Bowman Gray Stadium, the subject of that August 6, 1971 contest came back to the fore. We felt it was the right thing to do to officially recognize Bobby’s victory and honor him as an 85-time NASCAR Cup Series winner. We are grateful for Bobby’s lifelong contributions to NASCAR.”
Allison, now 86, trails only Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in all-time bowl wins. Petty himself had previously lobbied against NASCAR recognizing Allison as an 85-time winner, as this race at Bowman Gray was a mixed race with Grand National and Grand American cars running together. Allison was driving a smaller Grand Am car, which may have worked in his favor on the tight track, causing some like Petty to cry foul.
Allison says he prayed to Bill France Jr., Jim’s brother, who was NASCAR’s CEO from 1972-2000, to give him the win. France Jr. died in 2007, though Alison says he “looked pretty grim” at the time. The 1983 Cup Series champion was added, according to Autoweek“I really hope that someday someone will say, ‘Wow, wait a minute; this is a real mistake. Someone will say, “How can we have a race without an official winner?” I took the money and the trophy and was told the race was in the record books for a year or two, then it wasn’t.
“If NASCAR is a major sport, then the Bowman Gray was an important race,” Allison said. “And how can there be a great contest without a winner?”
None of that matters anymore though. Allison’s updated win tally is official and final for the rest of the season – unless he gets into a new Cup car and takes the checkered flag again.
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