
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 17, 1993                   TAG: 9307170132
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LONG POND, PA.                                LENGTH: Medium

BONNETT TAKES ALLISON'S DEATH ESPECIALLY HARD

Alone in his grief, Neil Bonnett passed the hours Tuesday and Wednesday sitting quietly in the backyard of his home outside Hueytown, Ala.

"I bet I hadn't spent two hours out there in the last 10 years," he said Friday at Pocono International Raceway, where he will provide television commentary during Sunday's Miller 500. "But I spent the last two days sitting under a tree out there in a chair."

He was devastated by the death of his friend and fellow "Alabama Gang" member Davey Allison after a helicopter crash Monday at Talladega Superspeedway. The shock was all the more great to Bonnett, for he had been nearby when the crash occurred.

Bonnett had rushed to the scene and had helped ease Allison's limp body out of the cockpit and lower him to the ground.

"I almost couldn't cope with it," Bonnett said. "What was hard for me was that I had been on the site of the accident. We did everything we could do. I felt helpless."

Bonnett, 46, still might have been in his backyard today, still declining interview requests by the dozens, had it not been for Eddie Allison's visit to his house Wednesday. Eddie is Bobby Allison's brother and Davey's uncle.

"Neil, Bobby wants you to come over and see him," Eddie Allison said.

The conversation he had with Bobby Allison will live with Bonnett forever.

"I always thought that I knew how strong he was - until then," Bonnett said. "Bobby and I had a long talk. We talked about a lot of things. And the one thing he emphasized was don't change your plans.

"He told me, `You've got a lot of things coming up. Don't cancel a one of them.'

"And I said, `What do you mean?' "

"He said, `That's the only way you'll get through it. Don't cancel a thing.'

"I took his advice. I often take his advice. But how could somebody who's going through what he and Judy are going through stop and give me a buzz? And he knew I needed it."

So Bonnett came to Pocono. And he said he's more eager than ever to drive in next weekend's DieHard 500 at Talladega. It will be his first race since he suffered a severe head injury in a 1990 racing accident. He will be driving one of Dale Earnhardt's backup cars.

And as he noted: "Dale Earnhardt's backup cars are first-line race cars."

"I would like to go down there and be second in everybody's thoughts," Bonnett said. "I hope everyone still has Davey Allison on their minds."

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB