Five Drivers Who Have Survived Wrecks They Shouldn’t Have

Bobby Allison

Another driver that survived huge impacts is Bobby Allison. After a long and glorious career he was involved in a first massive wreck at Talladega in 1987. He blew the right rear tire while passing through the tri-oval and went flying into the catchfence, destroying part of it and hurting some spectators. He escaped without injury but following the event NASCAR started mandating restrictor plates for the races at Daytona and Talladega, due to the speeds getting too high.

The crash that ended his racing career took place the following year at Pocono. On the first lap he radioed to his team that he thought he had a tire going down. It was indeed what was happening. He soon after crashed heavily in the outside wall, but survived the impact. The real problem was the trailing car of Jocko Maggiacomo. He could not avoid him and T-boned Allison’s car on the driver side.

Airlifted to the local hospital the most famous member of the Alabama Gang was initially pronounced dead but then the doctors were able to revive him. Due to his injuries he stayed in a vegetative state for a while and had to retire from racing. He was still luckier than his two sons, who both died between 1992 and 1993.