2/11/2014 PattyKay Lilley
ThisTuesday, February 11, marks the 20th anniversary of the death of racecar driverand broadcaster Neil Bonnett at Daytona International Speedway in 1994. For anold-timer like me, it is quite startling to realize that some of you readingthis today have no memory whatsoever of this wonderful man unless your parentshave told you about him. If you'll keep reading, I hope to rectify that. Here at RaceFans Forever, both Jim and I have been asked by our readers to write on occasionof the history of stock car racing and share it with the next generation(s) ofrace fans. Neil Bonnett fits squarely into the middle of that history; not apioneer, but taken from us near the height of the sport's popularity... gonefar too soon. The article you are about to read iswritten with a more personal tone than many of my offerings and that is becauseNeil Bonnett was one of my all-time favorite people. Much of what you’ll readtoday has been taken from my own memories, so walk along beside me down MemoryLane and I'll tell you a bit about the great racer and the wonderful man thatwas Neil Bonnett. Neil Bonnettwas a gentleman, or a gentle man; either way works perfectly, unless you'retalking about behind the wheel of a racecar. There, Neil was a tiger,determined to beat the best at any cost.The first time Neil reallycaught my eye wasdriving the #75 to victory for Rahmoc-WarnerHodgdon in the World 600 at Charlotte, although he'dalready been on the Winston Cup circuit for several years by then. In1984, he earned a bid from the then almost invincible Junior Johnson team, as astable mate to Darrell Waltrip. Neil stayed there for three years, somewhat tothe dismay of Ol' DW, who never wanted a teammate. Eventually, bothdrivers left the Johnson team in the same year, 1987, with Darrell going toRick Hendrick and Neil returning to Rahmoc. 
Born andraised in Hueytown, Alabama, Neil married his wife Susan and the couple madetheir home in nearby Bessemer, with their two children, David andKristen. He was a member of the famous, or some would say,"Infamous" Alabama Gang, along with Bobby and Donnie Allison, Bobby’sson Davey and Red Farmer.
In early1988, Neil took the last two victories of his career in successive races atRockingham and Richmond, driving for the Bob Rahilly-ButchMock team. He remains the only driver ever to win a race in that #75 car,but as things in racing go, he moved on from there to the famous #21 of theWood Brothers in 1990.
Itwasn't long into that year when things took a turn for the worse forNeil. At the Transouth 500 in Darlington thatspring, while he was riding in the middle of the pack, there was action going onat the front. At a restart after a caution, Ken Schrader was on thepoint, and underneath him, 14 laps down, was Ernie Irvan. The green flagwaved and you might have thought it was the white, the way they went after eachother. It's not for me to say whether Kenny didn't realize how many lapsdown Ernie was, or Ernie just pushed too hard, but lap after lap they remainedside by side, proving nothing, until the inevitable happened and one got intothe other, causing a horrific wreck behind the lead cars. Somewhere inthe middle of the mayhem was the #21 and when all the spinning and crashing hadended, it was damaged on every side but the top, and the driver was not moving.
Neilsustained a concussion in that wreck, so severe that he lost all memory.When he was finally released from the hospital, he returned home to a family hedid not recognize, referring to wife Susan as "that woman,” and having tobe introduced to his own children. It was a hellish few months for thefamily as gradually bits and pieces of his life returned to memory and theracing world watched and worried. With allthe doctors agreeing on the fact that racing was out of the question, this manwho loved itso, stayed close to his sport by becoming aracecommentator for CBS and TNN, and fans immediately took to his down-homedescriptions of all things racing. "Tight is when you see the wall beforeyou hit it. Loose is when you don't get to see the wreck." As biasedas some race fans can be, I don't think there was a single one who didn't loveNeil Bonnett. He just had that friendly, neighborly way about him, on the TVscreen and in real life.
Sopopular was he that TNN gave him his own show called "Winners",wherea dressed down Neil interviewed racing personalities from everyvenue of the sport, from his own living room. The fans were happy, andweall hoped that Neil was too, but that love of racing was still in his heart andhe longed to go back to it. In 1993, he finally got medical clearance toget behind the wheelagain, and spent time testing for Richard Childressracing, on the recommendation of his best friend and fishing partner, DaleEarnhardt, who raced for Childress. ByTalladega that July, the pair convinced Richard to field a second car for Neil,and for the only time I can remember, there were two black GoodwrenchChevrolets in the race. The experiment didn't turn out as well asexpected however, and Neil's car, with a bit of help, wound up flying into the catchfence in a frightening imitation of Bobby Allison's crash in 1987. (The onethat started the whole restrictor plate thing) He did start a Western Steersponsored car for RCR in the finale at Atlanta that year, but blew an engine 3laps into the race.
[Note* Asecond driver, young Rodney Orr, the 1993 Goodys Dash Series Champion was alsokilled in a practice crash at Daytona that year, driving on those same HoosierTires. Their deaths brought to 27 the number of racers killed at the gianttrack of Big Bill's dreams. On February 18, 2001, Daytona would claim it's 28th and to date final victim, 7-time Champion DaleEarnhardt... and at last... someone listened.] Over hiscareer, Neil accumulated 18 wins, 20 poles, and 156 top-10 finishes in 363starts. Over his lifespan, so tragically shortened, he won the respect offamily, friends, and millions of race fans who loved to see him race and lovedto watch his familiar antics on the TV screen. So moved was his bestfriend Dale, that a full two years later, when asked by some witless reporterif he still missed his Buddy, he replied, "Hell yes! I still can'teven go fishing in my own pond." I hopethat I have managed to impart to you at least some of my feelings about Neilhere, and that those of you who never met him might feel that you know him abit better for having taken this trip down Memory Lane. As I said in thebeginning, he was a gentle man. May he rest with the Lord, and may henever be forgotten on earth.
Not inthe least discouraged, Neil found a sponsor in Country Time Lemonade for alimited run in 1994, and prepared to go racing in his own #51.OnFebruary 11 of 1994, word came from the speedway that Neil had been injured ina practice crash, but once Susan, who had been en route from Alabama, arrivedat the track, first she, and then the racing world received the news that Neilhad died in the wreck. Ironically, it happened in the same fourth turnthat seven years and one week later would claim the life of his best friend.
I guessno one will ever know what role, if any, the controversial Hoosier tires he wasrunning on the car played in the wreck, but in the end, maybe it really doesn'tmatter. The tires are gone, but so is Neil. Gone, but definitelynot forgotten, this gentle man who won the hearts of so many.
Twice inthe season just past, Neil had used his “Winners” program to eulogize a fellowracer, those drivers of course being Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison,tragically taken from us in 1993. The week after Neil’s death, TNN ran a finalepisode of "Winners", dedicated solely to Neil and his great impacton the sport of auto racing. This fan still tears up at the very thought of it,and watching it would be almost as difficult as watchinga replay of theDaytona 500 in 2001, something I've never done.
Dale, Cale, and Neil at Dover in 1987
Be wellgentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
[emailprotected]
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
