A TUMS MOMENT
(For each of the 36 races during the 2011 Sprint Cup season, TUMS will provide a glimpse of a previous event at that track, one that could easily be described as A TUMS Moment. This week, the focus is on Martinsville Speedway).
THE WIN THAT ELUDED HALL OF FAME DRIVER BOBBY ALLISON
When NASCAR legend Bobby Allison drove his first race at Martinsville Speedway on April 24, 1966, he finished seventh in a Ford fielded by team owner Betty Lilly. It was an impressive showing at the half-mile track and there was no reason to think he couldn’t improve his position enough to eventually find victory lane. Surprisingly, that win never came. Over a 22-year period, the Miami, Fla. native led 2,192 laps on the famed Virginia short track and finished second seven times, but could never collect the top prize.
NOTE: TUMS is the sponsor of the TUMS Fast Relief 500, the seventh race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, at Martinsville Speedway on October 30.
The 1983 NASCAR champion won 85 races during a career that ended after suffering a near-fatal crash at Pocono Raceway in 1988. “For me, Martinsville Speedway was incredibly difficult and I could just never win there,” Allison said. “I won everywhere else, but just couldn‘t find that last piece of the puzzle at that track. I lead races there in the very late stages. Aside from having mechanical issues, I just couldn’t figure out how to stay off the brakes and save them until the end. When I needed them most at the end of so many of those races, they would just go away.”
No brakes at Martinsville…definitely a TUMS moment.
