Catchfence

This weekend will mark the 53^rd running of the Daytona 500 and during that time there have been many memorable moments.  As part of its series leading up to 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins, Ford Racing takes a look back at the 1978 version of “The Great American Race.”

Bobby Allison was recognized as one of the top drivers in NASCAR after winning 47 races in his first 10 seasons, but a two-year winless streak in 1976 and ’77 had him at a career crossroads.

Enter Ford legend Bud Moore.

“I was struggling with a Matador for two years.  The Matador was pretty neat because it was a different piece of equipment and we had won a few NASCAR races with it, so it was pretty meaningful to me,” recalled Allison.  “I gave it a try and things just didn’t work out.  I was really struggling and Bud called and said, ‘Come on and get in this thing.’”

That ‘thing’ was a Ford Thunderbird with a big blue No. 15 on the side of it.  Buddy Baker had been Moore’s driver the previous three seasons, but opted to move on after going winless in 1977.  Ford’s newest duo debuted at Daytona International Speedway and were seemingly off to a good start until trouble struck late in Friday’s rain-delayed qualifying race.

“The car had been really good in the race, but we got wrecked in an unfortunate deal, right where the track started to tear up a little bit,” recalled Allison.  “Of all people, Buddy Baker tried to dive under me right there and got into some marbles from the track tearing up and got me into the wall.  Somehow, he managed to get through without too much damage on his car, but I was done-in.  Buddy and I were always friends and have remained friends all the way through, but it was ironic that he had been the driver of that car and it was he and I involved in the crash.”

Many observers, including Allison, felt his time at Speedweeks was over, but Moore had other ideas and wasted little time in going to work.

“When the wrecker brought the car in and put it in the garage area, we got to looking at it and checking it out.  I think Bobby had already left, and I told my guys, ‘Look, we’ve got to fix this car,’” said Moore.  “He backed it into the wall and it was bent up pretty bad on the back end, so we took the stuff off the back.  We had the Bender chassis people there and when I talked to them they told me to get it stripped off and then bring it over to them.”

The crew worked diligently to straighten out the frame and check the car’s alignment.  Moore left the speedway and drove to a local Ford dealership to buy the necessary parts for the rear end.  He bought a quarter panel, deck lid and rear bumper, among other things, and headed back a short time later.

“The one thing NASCAR did is they had an inspector stay there with us and we worked until nine o’clock that Friday night.  On Saturday morning we got out there and finished up, painted it and got it all done,” said Moore.  “Bobby came over there around 12:30-1:00 and he hadn’t even seen the car.  He saw me first and said, ‘You know what, I’m going back to Alabama.  There ain’t no need me staying here because I can’t run.’  I said, ‘Wait a minute.’  So we walked down to the garage area and when he saw the car he couldn’t believe his eyes.  It was sitting there and looked like it was when we unloaded it off the truck.”

To say Allison was stunned at the sight of his revamped ride is an understatement.

“The thing was really wrecked.  I got out of the car at the scene of the crash on Friday morning and was like, ‘This is just too bad.  I’ve got to get out of here.’  I had a motel room at the Howard Johnson’s on the west end of the track that year, and I went over to my motel room and laid there and felt sorry for myself for the rest of the day,”  said Allison.  “I made the decision that on Saturday I was just gonna go home, so I went in to tell Bud and then he brought me down there to that car and it was gorgeous.  I mean, they fixed it up and painted it and lettered it.  I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to give it a try.’”

The race had its usual twists and turns.  First, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson were running one-two-three until Petty blew a tire coming off turn four on Lap 60 that wiped out all three of the leaders.  Then it was Benny Parsons’ turn to dominate, but he suffered a similar fate eight laps later and was done for the day.

Ironically, that left the stage to Baker and Allison, who were both looking for their first Daytona 500 win.  And while Allison was the one who suffered the most in Friday’s qualifier accident, it was Baker who saw his hopes dashed on Sunday when his engine blew up while leading with five laps to go.

That opened the door for Allison, who happily and unexpectedly walked through.

“We started 33^rd, which took a while to get to the front, but once I got to the front, the car really ran good, handled good, drove good, and Buddy Baker was one of the cars that was running really good there at the end,” said Allison.  “When I first caught him, he never thought he’d see that car again, much less coming from that far back.  First of all, he thought it was wrecked bad enough that it wasn’t gonna get fixed right, but we caught him and really surprised him and just drove right on by him.  I thought that was pretty neat.  Then he drafted on me and he’d draft by, and then I’d draft back by him.  We just ran a good race there until the end and we won.”

Allison drove into victory lane and was greeted by a flock of crew members, photographers and reporters.

“You know how long I’ve been coming here?  Ever since I was a little boy,” said Allison after getting out of his car.  “This is my first major victory here at Daytona and I’m just tickled that Ken Norris and Bud Moore have given me this opportunity.  I’m just thrilled to death.  We had problems on Friday, but they kept right on working.  We had problems again today when I got pushed into the wall about halfway, but they kept right on working.  All I had to do was steer it because this thing sure did drive beautiful all day.”

Even though it’s been more than 30 years since that win, both men say it still holds a special place in their heart.

“Everybody knows that the Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the year and that was the main deal – to win the Daytona 500.  We had tried quite a few.  I lost that race quite a few times with engine problems or some different thing that went wrong, but winning the Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison is one of the greatest feats that I’ve ever had,” said Moore.  “It’s been a thrill knowing that I did get to win the Daytona 500.  Dale Earnhardt, he drove for me and we lost the race right toward the end.  It took Earnhardt how many years to finally win the Daytona 500?  He’d lose it on the last lap with a tire going down or something, so winning the Daytona 500 for any driver, any car owner or any team is a big dream.”

Allison, the undisputed leader of the famed ‘Alabama Gang’ said, “It was the greatest day of my career and it remained there.  I won some more races.  I won the 600 at Charlotte and won at Dover and Atlanta and Rockingham and Pocono.  But the 1978 Daytona 500 in the Bud Moore Thunderbird was still the biggest thing in my career until I finally got that championship several years later.

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release