Statistically,
1992 was Davey Allison's best season in
Winston Cup racing. And yet, it was also a very painful and heartwrenching season. Davey started sixth in the 1992
Daytona 500 but was probably not quite as fast as the
Junior Johnson teammates of
Bill Elliott and
Sterling Marlin. But the race would change dramatically on lap 92 when Elliott, Marlin, and
Ernie Irvan triggered a multi-car crash at the front of the pack. Fourteen cars were eliminated, but Allison—and eventual runner-up
Morgan Shepherd—somehow made it through the mess. He would lead 127 laps to join his father as a
Daytona 500 winner.
Bill Elliott would rebound to win the next four events, but Allison was not far behind in either event, posting four top-five finishes to maintain his lead in the points. A hard crash at Bristol left him with a bruised shoulder, but the following weekend he won at North Wilkesboro. Another hard crash at Martinsville left him with broken ribs, but Allison rebounded yet again, leading a contingent of
Fords to victory in the
Winston 500 at Talladega, his third win in that race. The win also put him in position to win the
Winston Million if he could win either the
Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, or the
Southern 500 at Darlington.
Next up was
The Winston all-star race. One year removed from his domination of that event and the
Coca-Cola 600, Davey was ready to take the spotlight again. But this time around, there was more focus on the event itself. Over the winter, the
Musco Lighting company had installed a state-of-the-art lighting system at then Charlotte Motor Speedway. Billed as "One Hot Night" by
The Nashville Network, which was to broadcast the event,
The Winston was the first superspeedway race to be held under the lights. Davey would drive the same car that he used to dominate the event one year earlier, affectionately known as "007".
In the final, 10-lap segment of the race,
Dale Earnhardt led, followed by
Kyle Petty and Davey. In the third turn on the final lap, Petty nudged Earnhardt's car and the
GM Goodwrench Chevrolet spun. Davey took advantage of the contact and jumped into the lead. But Petty charged back and as Davey crossed the start-finish line to win the race, the two cars came together, sending the driver's side of Davey's car hard into the outside wall in a shower of sparks. An unconscious Allison was taken from his car and airlifted to a Charlotte hospital. The crash left him with a concussion, bruised lung, and a battered and bruised body. His car, "007", was totaled. Allison would later say to have sustained an
out-of-body experience after the crash. He claimed to have awoke to see his crashed car below him as he rose away from it, and to have turned his attention away from the frantic work of the emergency workers to a bright light above, which faded and left him in darkness until he awoke later in the hospital.
The wreck didn't deter Allison. He finished fourth in the
Coca-Cola 600 the following week despite the injuries and maintained his points lead. He then finished 11th at Dover, 28th at Sears Point, and fifth at Pocono. Still hanging onto the points lead and his body healing, Davey won the pole and dominated the
Miller Genuine Draft 400 at Michigan, leading 158 of the race's 200 laps. The first half of the season ended with Davey posting a 10th place finish in the
Pepsi 400 at Daytona. At the halfway point of the season, Allison had a 46 point lead over second place
Bill Elliott and a 134 point lead over third place
Alan Kulwicki, and had held the points lead since the first race of the season, despite the injuries and setbacks.
That would all change as the series went back to Pocono. Davey won the pole for the event and led 115 of the first 149 laps. But a lengthy pit stop during a caution flag sent him to the middle of the pack. On lap 150, Allison was charging back through the pack, followed closely by
Darrell Waltrip. The two cars made contact and Davey went sliding into the grass off Pocono's "tunnel turn". The car went airborne and began a series of violent flips before landing on top of an infield guardrail. Miraculously, Davey survived the crash. He was airlifted to the hospital with a severe concussion, along with a broken arm, wrist, and collar bone. His 33rd place finish left him nine points behind
Bill Elliott for the series title, but that seemed insignificant at the moment. Especially traumatizing was the fact that Pocono was the site of Davey's father Bobby's career-ending crash a few years earlier (see above).
Davey arrived at Talladega the following week wearing dark shades to hide eyes severely bruised in the Pocono crash. His arm was in a cast that allowed him to drive, and velcro attachments to his glove and the car's shifter knob helped him drive with less exertion, but
Bobby Hillin, Jr. would relieve Davey after the initial laps of the
DieHard 500. Hillin drove the #28
Texaco-Havoline Ford Thunderbird to a third place finish at Talladega, helping Davey and the team keep pace with Elliott. The team was a strong contender for the win until suffereing a jack failure on a pit stop. The following week, veteran road racer
Dorsey Schroeder would relieve Allison, but he could only manage a 20th place finish.
With his body healed enough to allow him to drive an entire race, Davey headed to Michigan where he had dominated the track's earlier event. But tragedy struck as the Michigan events began. While practicing for the weekend's
Busch Series race, Davey's younger brother,
Clifford Allison crashed hard in the third and fourth turns of
Michigan International Speedway. He would die en route to the hospital. Heartbroken, Davey drove to a fifth place finish in the
Champion Spark Plug 400, then went home to Hueytown for Clifford's funeral. The following weekend, Davey crashed again at Bristol, finishing 30th. Though still in second place in the
Winston Cup standings, he now trailed leader
Bill Elliott by 109 points.
Davey's chance to win the
Winston Million was up next as the series headed to Darlington for the
Southern 500. Davey led 72 laps of the event and was in contention to win, but soon after the leaders pitted for tires and fuel, rain halted the race with 69 laps left.
Darrell Waltrip, gambling that the rains would come, did not pit and was leading the race when it was red flagged. He was declared the winner as darkness fell and the rains continued. Waltrip, who had long feuded with the Allisons, sat next to his car on pit road in lawn chair and held a colorful umbrella, gleefully joking that the rain shower was worth "one million dollars" to him. Davey finished fifth and was now 119 points behind Elliott, who finished third.
Allison and Elliott continued their drive for the championship after Darlington as the two kept pace with each other. But beginning with the
Goody's 500 at Martinsville on
September 28, Elliott's hold on the points lead began to slip. He finished 30th in that event while Allison finished 16th. Then at North Wilkesboro, Allison posted an 11th place finish, while Elliott finished 26th. Back at Charlotte, Allison finished a disappointing 19th, but Elliott finished 30th and there were now four drivers within 100 points of Elliott...Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin, and Harry Gant. Martin and Kulwicki finished first and second respectively at Charlotte, and Kulwicki was continuing a late season charge. Three races prior to Charlotte, Kulwicki had crashed and finished 34th at Dover leaving him 278 points behind Elliott and in fourth place in the standings.
Elliott's skid stopped temporarily at Rockingham where he finished fourth. Davey finished 10th and Kulwicki 12th and entering the final two races of the
1992 season, Davey was 70 points behind Elliott in second, with Kulwicki 85 points behind in third. But Davey's fortunes changed dramatically at Phoenix as he won the event, and Elliott finished 31st. Davey now had the points lead for the first time since his violent Pocono crash, and was 30 points ahead of Kulwicki, and 40 ahead of Elliott, who had slipped to third in the standings. Also in contention to win the championship as the series moved to the final race at Atlanta were Harry Gant (fourth place, 97 points behind), Kyle Petty (fifth place, 98 points behind), and Mark Martin (sixth place, 113 points behind).
The
1992 Hooters 500 would be a milestone race in
NASCAR Winston Cup history. It would be the final race of
Richard Petty's career, as well as the first for future
Winston Cup Champion
Jeff Gordon. Couple that with the closest championship race in history, and the race was destined to be a classic. Davey Allison entered the race needing only to finish fifth or better to win the
Winston Cup. A first lap incident involving
Rick Mast caused minor damage to Davey's car, and he battled through much of the race to stay in the top ten. Meanwhile, Elliott and Kulwicki were staging a battle for the ages, battling for and swapping the lead through much of the event. Late in the race, Davey had finally managed to reach the top five and was in position to win the championship when
Ernie Irvan lost control of his car on the frontstretch on lap 286. Davey couldn't avoid Irvan's spinning car and plowed into the #4
Kodak Chevrolet. Allison's tumultuous
1992 season was over, his championship hopes lost as Elliott and Kulwicki finished first and second in the race respectively. Kulwicki, an independent driver who had turned down offers to drive for other teams, including
Junior Johnson, won the championship by leading one more lap than Elliott (103 to 102). Davey was noted for his gracious concession of defeat after emerging from a medical evaluation, and his refusal to blame or criticize Irvan.