By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200
May 3, 1987
Alabama NASCAR driver Bobby Allison crashed spectacularly into the catch fence at Talladega Superspeedway after going airborne during a Winston 500 race. Neither the fans nor Allison suffered any major injuries. Since its opening in 1969, Talladega typically has produced the fastest racing speeds in NASCAR and all 43 cars in the 1987 race qualified at speeds of more than 200 mph. Allison’s wreck, however, prompted NASCAR to equip cars with smaller carburetors and restrictor plates that, by 2001, reduced speeds at Talladega to 185 mph. A member of the famous Alabama Gang of drivers, Allison was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.
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