During the 2017 season, NASCAR “encumbered” two Monster Energy Cup Series victories, an Xfinity Series victory, and second- and third-place Cup finishes because of postrace inspection violations. Joey Logano was busted after winning at Richmond in May, Denny Hamlin after winning the Cup and Xfinity races at Darlington in September, Chase Elliott after finishing second in the Playoff opener near Chicago in September and Clint Bowyer after finishing third in the Playoff race at Martinsville in October. Despite the rules violations, those finishes remain official because NASCAR simply doesn’t vacate checkered-flag results. That’s why Richard Petty’s 1983 victory at Charlotte — the 198th of his untouchable 200 — remains official despite his car’s oversized engine and illegal tires. Oddly, NASCAR has never acknowledged Bobby Allison’s untainted Cup Series victory at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There was no scoring dispute, no inspection issues with his Mustang, no dirty driving, no untoward shenanigans ... nothing to suggest the Aug. 6, 1971 victory wasn’t well earned. Veteran journalist Rick Houston spoke for many when he recently said: “To give anyone credit for an ‘encumbered’ win and not Bobby Allison for his infamous 85th is beyond crazy.” Between 1968 and 1971, NASCAR promoted Grand American races for what were known as pony cars. These Mustangs, Camaros, Cougars, Firebirds and Javelins generally ran standalone events but often were invited to help fill Grand National (now, Cup) grids. The first combined race was at Bowman Gray Stadium, a quarter-mile bullring surrounding a football field. Allison’s Mustang won ahead of Richard Petty’s Plymouth, Jim Paschal’s Javelin, Buck Baker’s Firebird and Dave Marcis’ Camaro. Ten of the 29 entries were GA cars.

Understandably, Petty was unhappy with the grid and the results. “I figured something like this would happen,” he said at the time. “They’ll probably win all these (combination) races. (Cup) racing isn’t supposed to be filled with Mustangs and Camaros.” Forty-six years later, he felt no different. “Bobby won, but shouldn’t have gotten credit for it,” he insisted at Daytona Beach in July. “The cars weren’t the same; those cars were too different. I shouldn’t have gotten credit, but Bobby shouldn’t have, either. That was a Cup race, and he wasn’t in a Cup car.” A major point of contention has always been whether officials told GA drivers they wouldn’t get credit for a Cup victory if they won. Neither Marcis nor 21st-finishing Richard Childress recalls any such statement. Randy Hutchison, in his Cup debut, said he would have remembered such a caveat; he’s confident there wasn’t one. Sadly, Allison can’t recall because of memory loss from his career-ending 1988 crash at Pocono. None of the officials who conducted that race are alive to shed any light. NASCAR credits Allison with 84 victories. His Bowman Gray start and resulting top-five/top-10 finish are among his career stats—but not the victory. Inexplicably, Tiny Lund won two combination races later that season and both are on his career résumé. Another oddity: NASCAR shows Allison with 10 Cup victories in 1971, while another section of the same record book shows 11. Marcis feels Allison deserves credit for winning in a Mustang since Lund is credited for winning twice in a Camaro. “I’m on Bobby’s side in this one,” Marcis said from his home in North Carolina. “What’s good for Tiny should be good for Bobby. Maybe Bobby was having one of his gripes with NASCAR at the time.”

Darrell Waltrip and Allison are tied for fourth all-time behind Petty (200 victories), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93). With seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson sitting on 83, Allison’s family has renewed its efforts to have the Bowman Gray victory accepted. They know Johnson eventually will pass Allison, but getting Bowman Gray on Allison’s résumé would move him past Waltrip, 85-84. That alone would give the 80-year-old Hall of Famer immeasurable joy for the rest of his days. Allison has begged NASCAR get it right. The response? “He told me it looked grim,” the 1983 series champion said of his plea to Bill France Jr. shortly before France died in 2007. “But I really hope that someday somebody will say, ‘Whoa, wait a minute; this is a true mistake.’ Somebody will say, ‘How can we have a race without an official winner?’ I got the money and the trophy, and I’ve been told the race was in the record book for a year or two, then it wasn’t. If NASCAR is a major sport, then Bowman Gray was a major race. And how can you have a major race without a winner?” In 2011, Allison told Houston, the writer, “I first thought they gave the win to Richard, and quite honestly the pope’s not gonna take a race away from Richard. But if they didn’t give it to Richard, then I won and should get credit. It’s gotta be a personal situation where somebody chose to punish me this way for something I did or said. I feel it was Bill Jr. who made the decision, so I’m disappointed that I did something that irritated him that bad.” (In the mid-’90s, France reportedly assured several R.J. Reynolds Inc. execs he’d make things right, but never did.) NASCAR historian Buz McKim is also at a loss to explain what happened, calling it “one tough situation.” He said that a since-deceased NASCAR executive once told him Allison’s car had been disqualified several days after the race. “But that’s as much as he’d say,” McKim said. (FYI: There’s no evidence supporting the late executive’s claim. Also, cars back then were inspected on the spot; if the Mustang was legal that Saturday night, it wouldn’t have been disqualified later.) “This may be one that will never be settled. ... It’s still the only NASCAR race without an official winner,” McKim said.

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