“God Has Asked an Awful Lot of This Family”: Tragic Death of Bobby Allison’s Son Shocked NASCAR Legends to the Core

When one thinks of NASCAR royalty, the legends, the best of the best, a picture of a content, proud, and a rather happy person comes to mind. But that cannot be said for Bobby Allison.

The Hall of Famer is not only one of the founding figures of the sport, but also one of its greatest.

However, along with the massive success he’s experienced behind the wheel of a racecar, life has dealt him a pretty tragic hand as well. In fact, it could even be argued that Allison’s misfortunes exceed his successes, and that’s something to say.

Allison lost his first son Clifford in 1992, and soon followed the death of his second son Davey in a helicopter crash just a few months later.

This left not only the Allison family devastated but also their friends, their peers, and anyone who knew the cruel and senseless tragedies they suffered in such a short time.

Speaking about his driver’s loss, Robert Yates said, “God has asked an awful lot of this family,” while Mario Andretti simply questioned, “Why?”

“It is beyond my comprehension. If ever there was goodness in anyone, it is in that family,” he added.

“He was my little buddy” – Bobby Allison on Davey Allison

Speaking about his son in an interview with ESPN from 2015, Bobby Allison reflected on what he essentially meant to him, as well as the first thing he ever heard his boy talk or make a sound about.

“He was my little buddy from really early on,” Allison said. “He would sit on that seat beside me, those little eyes just wide open, looking around. And the first noise I ever heard out of him, other than a baby crying, was ‘Uddn, Uddn.’ I said, ‘That boy is all right!’”

“From 2 years old on, he wanted to be with me, go with me and be around me wherever I went.”

Come to think of it, life can be pretty cruel. Looking at Bobby Allison’s life, sometimes what the nihilists preach makes more sense, that life is meaningless and full of suffering.

But then again, looking at Bobby Allison’s life, looking at the fact that he’s kept going despite everything, a different idea comes up: despite this life being full of suffering and pain that favors no one and comes randomly to everyone, it’s worth living and try to move forward until you no longer can.