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Nascar

Larry McReynolds on Davey Allison's death: 'I lost my best friend'

By Larry McReynolds FoxSports
Published | Updated
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL — February 16, 1992: Davey Allison (C) celebrates in victory lane at Daytona International Speedway with crew chief Larry McReynolds (L) and car owner Robert Yates (R) after winning the Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup race. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

On Friday, the NASCAR Hall of Fame unveiled its third edition of Glory Road, with 18 new cars comprising what they call Glory Road Icons.

It's a fantastic collection and a must-see for any real NASCAR fan.

My favorite of the cars was the No. 28 Ranier-Lundy Ford Thunderbird that Davey Allison drove in his rookie Cup year of 1987. I didn't start working with Davey and Robert Yates Racing until 1991, but I chased that particular No. 28 car for about three or four years.

When Davey's helicopter crashed at Talladega on July 12th of 1993, I've said it many times, yeah, I lost a race-car driver I was working with, the driver that helped put me on the NASCAR map, but more importantly, I lost my best friend.

Davey was just such a determined individual. He was my role model in many, many ways.

I looked up to him as more than just a friend, more than just my race-car driver. He's what motivated me.

And I'm sure that next week after he was killed at Talladega, when we elected not to go race Pocono, I'd say he was probably pretty upset with us. He probably looked down and said, "You weak dogs. I can't believe y'all are not going to go race Pocono."

Davey made my job easy because he understood the race car. He knew what was going on with the race car, and 90 percent of the time, he had a pretty good idea what that race car needed to make it better.

Certainly still today, almost 24 years later, I still miss him every day. There's not a day goes by that I don't think about him.

And, you know, I don't live in a "what-if?" world, but that's probably one of the "what-if?" worlds I do live in. Had Davey not been killed, I think about what he, myself and that N0. 28 team would have been able to accomplish.