Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993 TAG: 9307150126
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BESSEMER, ALA. LENGTH: Medium
Rich and poor, black and white, folks dressed in their Sunday best and those in T-shirts and blue jeans stood in a line that stretched several hundred yards from the entrance of St. Aloysius Church.
It was the final chance for perhaps 4,000 friends and neighbors to say goodbye to the 32-year-old Winston Cup racing star, who died Tuesday from a severe head injury when a helicopter he was piloting crashed Monday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
And it was the second such Allison service here in less than a year. Bobby and Judy Allison's other son, Clifford, was killed in a racing accident while practicing at Michigan International Speedway last August.
The Allisons, from Hueytown, have meant a lot to this steel manufacturing region. The new church was built with much help from the Allisons after the old St. Aloysius burned several years ago.
"Nobody was a stranger to Davey Allison," said Larry Brown of Birmingham, one of the thousands who came Wednesday evening. "I remember when he first started racing out here at Birmingham International Raceway. He was always happy, smiling. He means a lot to us."
A crowd of hundreds already had gathered when the Allisons arrived shortly before 7 p.m., when the visitation started. Five motorcycle police officers from Hueytown escorted a caravan of a dozen cars to the church, with Davey's widow, Liz, riding in the first vehicle, a blue van.
The visitation was supposed to last 90 minutes, followed by a brief prayer service. But people were still walking through at 8:30 p.m. The crowd was so large, it taxed the crowd management skills of those who were handling the arrangements.
The Allisons had hoped to greet everyone personally, but their closest friends, neighbors and colleagues, who were ushered into the church first, numbered in the hundreds.
Finally, the public was asked to simply walk past the casket, which had a photograph of Davey on it.
And as they did that, close friends, fellow drivers, crew members and others waited in the line to greet the Allisons.
Seated in the front pew, Liz, Bobby and Judy frequently had to stand to greet friends. NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough, a bitter rival of Bobby and Donnie Allison during their years of racing, noticed this. So when Yarborough got to Bobby, he got on his knees to hug him.
The funeral will be at 10 this morning. Allison reportedly will be buried in his driver's uniform.
Lillian P. Howard, Hueytown's mayor, directed that a white banner be strung across Warrior Lake Road, which serves as the town's main street.
It reads, "In Loving Sympathy to the Allison Family From the People of Hueytown."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB