Third-generation Allison to begin his stock car career: Robbie Allison will get his first experience in full-body stock cars in 2015, and he'll be leaning heavily on the advice of his racing coach and grandfather - 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Allison. The 23-year-old third-generation driver is the son of the late NASCAR star Davey Allison, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1993. As a child, Robbie began racing in the typical junior divisions where tomorrow's racing stars cut their teeth. But following a serious crash, his mother put her foot down. "I grew up racing Bandoleros, karts - half-scale Cup cars - mini Cup cars basically," Robbie told the Times-News Saturday. "I had a really horrible accident, relatively speaking for a Bandolero car. It freaked my mom out a little bit, so she basically told me you don't race until you go to college." While attending college, he started getting back into racing, driving in the three-quarter scale Allison Legacy Series founded by his great-uncle Donnie Allison and grandfather Bobby. Robbie graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with degrees in journalism and marketing, and now he's ready to graduate to racing full-size cars as well. He joined dozens of racers Saturday at the annual Kingsport Speedway car show at the Kingsport Town Center. In 2015,
Robbie will compete as a rookie in the Street Stock division at both Kingsport Speedway, which races Friday nights, and Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va., which races Saturday nights. It's always better to learn in quality equipment, and Robbie will be starting out in two proven winners - a couple of Camaros owned by local racers Tony Vance and Duke Bare. The deal came about with the help of Lorin Ranier, who is the son of Davey Allison's first Cup car owner, Harry Ranier. Robbie's goals for 2015 are to compete in every Street Stock event at both Kingsport and Lonesome Pine, acquire experience, and hopefully put himself in a position to take over a Late Model ride in the near future.(see full story at the
Kingsport Times News)(3-5-2015)
LVMS making safety modifications ahead of races: In response to Sunday's latest incident involving one of NASCAR's top drivers hitting a wall unprotected by a SAFER barrier, Las Vegas Motor Speedway is making some adjustments ahead of this weekend's Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series races at the 1.5-mile track. "NASCAR on Monday conducted a thorough inspection of the racing conditions here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway," LVMS track president Chris Powell said in a statement released late Tuesday. "NASCAR has requested that we make several minor modifications adjacent to both the 1.5-mile oval and the openings on pit road. At the conclusion of this weekend's Kobalt 400 and Boyd Gaming 300, we will reconvene with NASCAR regarding any long-term alterations."(
FoxSports)(3-5-2015)