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Donnie Allison
Allison atRockingham Speedway in 2012
Born	(1939-09-07)September 7, 1939 (age 86) Miami, Florida, U.S.
Achievements	1970World 600Winner 1971Winston 500Winner 1970Firecracker 400Winner 1975Snowball Derby winner
Awards	1967Grand National SeriesRookie of the Year 1970Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2009) NASCAR Hall of Fame (2024)
NASCARCup Series career
242 races run over 20 years
Best finish	16th (1967)
First race	1966National 500 (Charlotte)
Last race	1988Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
First win	1968Carolina 500 (Rockingham)
Last win	1978Dixie 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 10 115 18
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
20 races run over 5 years
Best finish	34th (1987)
First race	1984Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	1989Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 5 0
NASCARGrand National East Series career
2 races run over 1 year
First race	1972 Mr. D's 200 (Nashville)
Last race	1972 Mountaineer 300 (West Virginia)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Statistics up to date as of February 28, 2013.

Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on theNASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the brother of 1983 championBobby Allison and uncle ofDavey Allison andClifford Allison. He was inducted in theInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. He was inducted into theNASCAR Hall of Fame on January 19, 2024.

Before racing in the Grand National Series, Allison, like his brother Bobby, drove modified stock cars.^[1] Allison managed to get ten wins inNASCAR Cup Series competition with his first coming at the 1968Carolina 500 atRockingham Speedway and his final coming at the 1978Dixie 500 atAtlanta Motor Speedway. Allison would suffer serious injuries at the 1981Coca-Cola 600,^[2][3] this would end his career in NASCAR for the most part.^[4] Allison would only race fourteen more Winston Cup races (he would also fail to qualify four times for races during this time) from 1982 to 1988. Allison also won the 1967NASCAR Grand National Rookie of the Year.

Allison is perhaps best remembered for his involvement in a final-lap crash and a subsequent fight withCale Yarborough in the1979 Daytona 500. He was leading the race on the final lap with Yarborough drafting him tightly. As Yarborough started to go below Allison, he attempted to take the inside lane away but Yarborough hit Allison from behind first and got Allison sideways. Yarborough made contact with the side of Allison's car and it put him in the grass. He came back to hit Allison side to side and as both drivers tried to regain control, their cars made contact several times and finally locked together and crashed into the outside wall in turn 3. After the cars settled in the infield grass, Allison and Yarborough were in a heated conversation when,Bobby Allison, who finished laps down after his earlier collision with his brother, pulled over and to check on his brother, but Yarborough accused him of causing the accident and started to hit Bobby while Bobby was still in his car. At that point, a fight ensued.^[5] As the 1979 Daytona 500 was the first live flag-to-flag nationally televised NASCAR race, the finish and the post-race squabble were a ratings dream for CBS.Richard Petty, who was over half a lap behind at the time of the crash, went on to win the race. The fight made headlines all acrossAmerica. The publicity was instrumental in the growth of NASCAR.

Allison first raced in theUSAC Championship Car Series in1970. Driving the No. 83Eagle 67-Offenhauser forAnsted-Thompson Racing in the1970 Indianapolis 500, he finished 4th and won the 1970Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award. He would have finished twentieth in points, but because he was using a NASCAR license, he was ineligible for points. For the1971 Allison drove the No. 84Purolator FiltersCoyote-Ford V8, finishing 6th in theIndianapolis 500. He also raced in theRex Mays 150 atMilwaukee State Fairgrounds Speedway, theSchaefer 500 atPocono International Raceway, and theCalifornia 500 atOntario Motor Speedway, retiring from both. Allison was again ineligible for points.

Allison, who lives inAlabama andNorth Carolina, has been a television and radio commentator; has also been involved in his sons' Ronald, Donald and Kenny Allison's "Allison Brothers Race Cars" and the "Allison Legacy Race Series" as a consultant to the series and to many up and coming race drivers such asJoey Logano,Trevor Bayne,Regan Smith,John Hunter Nemechek and several others^[6][7]

• 1967NASCAR Grand National Rookie of the Year
• 1968 NASCAR Most Popular Driver Grand Touring Division (Baby Grand)
• 1970Stark and Wetzel Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year^[8]
• 1970 NASCAR Most Popular Driver Late Model Sportsman Division
• Inducted into theAlabama Sports Hall of Fame^[9] in 1999
• Inducted into theFlorida Sports Hall of Fame^[10] in 2000
• Inducted into the Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 2001
• Inducted into theAlabama Auto Racing Pioneers^[11] in 2005
• Inducted into theInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009
• Inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America^[12] in 2011
• Inducted into theAugusta Raceway Preservation Society^[13] in 2017
• Inducted into theNational Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame^[14] in 2018
• Inducted into the Talladega-Texaco Walk of Fame
• Inducted into theNASCAR Hall of Fame in 2024

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

• Where Are They Now Article

• Donnie Allison driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Donnie Allison: As I Recall... by Donnie Allison with Jimmy Creed, published by Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2005

• 1939 births
• Living people
• Racing drivers from Miami
• Sportspeople from Hueytown, Alabama
• Racing drivers from Alabama
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
• NASCAR drivers
• International Race of Champions drivers
• American Speed Association drivers
• International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
• Alabama Gang
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
• Team Penske drivers
• NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees
• Daytona 500 drivers
• Coca-Cola 600 winners
• Coca-Cola 600 drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from November 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from September 2022
• BLP articles lacking sources from November 2020
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• Short description is different from Wikidata