Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993 TAG: 9307140303
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLADEGA, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
The crash fatally injured the 32-year-old NASCAR Winston Cup star in the prime of his career and left longtime Allison family friend and cohort Red Farmer with serious injuries.
And as investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began their second investigation in less than four months of a fatal aviation accident involving a top stock car racer, the Allison family, the NASCAR community and much of this state went into mourning.
"When one hurts, we all hurt, and this is a hurting situation," said NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip.
H. Clay Earles, chief executive officer and owner of Martinsville Speedway, said:
"It's just a terrible tragedy, a terrible thing we'll have to live with. Davey was one of the nicest fellows I've ever met. He was always willing to help, to help the sport, the tracks. He will be sadly missed.
"At the last race we had here [the Hanes 500] in April, a young girl in Danville who had been blind her whole life wanted to meet Davey. She was a big fan of his. She was brought here to Martinsville and we arranged for Davey to meet her. They talked and hugged and you should have seen the smile on that girl's face. Davey did those kind of things. Making people feel good was important to him.
"When you consider everything that's happened to the Allison family in the last few years, how can they go on? How can they live with that. Davey's brother died last year, now Davey. Bob, their dad, was hurt at Pocono in 1988, a serious head injury. He hasn't completely gotten over it yet. I hope he does, but I'm afraid he won't. Bobby's mother passed away in the last 2-3 years, too.
"They say a family has to accept these things, that you have to go on, but how can they keep from thinking of it every moment of their lives?"
In Allison's hometown of Hueytown, just west of Birmingham, most motorists had their headlights on.
Throughout the day, townfolk dropped by the Iceberg Restaurant, an Allison family hangout where Davey had his last meal Monday before taking the fatal flight.
"Davey has been coming here since he was born," restaurant owner Gay Ann McCrary said. "It's a nightmare. It's a total shock."
"The only reason we're staying open is everybody wanted to gather here and talk about it," she said. "They've been here since about six this morning, drinking coffee, watching TV and crying. It will probably be that way for three or four days."
Allison died at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, where he had been airlifted Monday after suffering severe head and brain injuries, a broken pelvis and a collapsed lung.
His funeral will be at 10 a.m Thursday at St. Aloysius Church in Bessemer, Ala.
NTSB lead investigator Roff Sasser III said a six-member team has not found any evidence of mechanical failure, but added that he could not yet rule it out. He would not speculate on whether the crash was caused by pilot error.
Contrary to earlier reports, the helicopter crashed on landing. And it did not collide with anything that caused it to go out of control, Sasser said.
The tragedy left Allison's Charlotte, N.C.-based NASCAR team in turmoil. Allison's car owner, Robert Yates, and crew chief, Larry McReynolds, had flown with their wives to Birmingham on Monday and held an all-night vigil with family members at the hospital.
They returned to Charlotte on Tuesday, but made no decisions about the future except to make plans to return to Alabama today.
"We just need to get together and be together" with the team, Yates told the Birmingham Post-Herald as he left the hospital.
Team spokesman Brian VanDercook said questions as to who might replace Allison and whether the team will compete this weekend at Pocono were premature. He hoped to have some answers today.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB