Submitted PhotoBobby Allison during his racing heyday. The legendary NASCAR driver visits Wild Adventures this weekend.

VALDOSTA – NASCAR legend Bobby Allison said he spent $750 for what became his first racecar – an old Chevelle that had been underwater in a flood.

He took the car home, worked on it in his backyard with his team, got an engine running in it and competed at the first race at Oxford Plains, Maine, a new stop in 1966 on what was then the summer Northern tour circuit.  

Allison won the race. He said he took a purse of $1,200 at a time when most winnings totaled only $1,000.

Allison, 80, hasn’t raced in about 30 years but he still goes on tour. He is scheduled for a meet-and-greet as part of the Coca-Cola Racing Weekend at Wild Adventures Theme Park. NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth also participates in the event.

Allison and Kenseth both won winning races at the Daytona 500. Allison won Daytona three times. Kenseth won it twice.

“I agonize over the losses more than I celebrate the wins,” Kenseth said when asked about winning Daytona. “… Never had a bad win. All feel different for different reasons. … But there’s nothing more exciting that winning the Daytona 500.”

Allison agreed. 

“The first Daytona 500 win was just an incredible experience,” he said. 

Allison said even when he was with a racing company, he was always an independent driver.

“I guess it was a glitch in my personality,” he said referring to working with various owners. “I’d win a few and get fired. Or I’d win a few and quit.”

A 1988 crash in the Poconos ended his career, he said. Allison suffered a head injury that caused confusion and loss of memory. He tried racing following the wreck but he said it didn’t work.

“When I got in a car the last time with any thought of driving was probably 1991,” Allison said. “I was unhappy with my performance. I got in the car and it ran pretty good but it was physically tough.”

Kenseth left full-time racing in 2017. This season he said he’s run a few races and has spent some off-racing weekends attending fan events such as the one at Wild Adventures.

He said he hasn’t decided yet if he will continue part-time or return full-time in 2019.  

Kenseth comes from a racing family. His uncles raced and his father bought a racecar when Matt was 13 years old. Matt worked on the car while his dad raced but Matt wanted to race, too.

Matt Kenseth drove his first race at 16. He and his father raced together for about a year. By the time Matt was 17, the father-son roles had reversed. Matt raced while the elder Kenseth supported his son’s racing.

 

Allison will be available to meet fans, pose for photos and sign autographs, 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, Showtime Snacks in the All-Star Amphitheater; Kenseth will be available 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, same location. The Coca-Cola Racing Weekend includes two NASCAR cars and a race simulator at Wild Adventures Theme Park. More information: Visit wildadventures.com.