NASCAR Legend Bobby Allison to Serve as Melvin L. Joseph Memorial Grand Marshal at Georgetown Speedway
GEORGETOWN, DE – A pioneer of NASCAR racing and one of the sport’s most beloved figures – Bobby Allison – will serve as the Grand Marshal for the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial at Georgetown Speedway.
Allison, the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, is scheduled appear at the Sussex County half-mile oval on Saturday, March 16, prior to the 2019 Bob Hilbert Sportswear Short Track Super Series (STSS) Fueled By Sunoco opener. The event honors Allison’s friend and former car owner Joseph, who passed away in 2005.
The record states that Allison has 84 career victories in NASCAR’s top level. It has been argued that it should be 85 in an intriguing story that involves Joseph’s trademark No. 49.
During the 1971 season, NASCAR was struggling to fill fields in its large 48-event Grand National season due to reduced funding from the automobile companies in Detroit. In an effort to attract cars, officials allowed Grand American Series ‘pony cars’ such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and AMC Javelin to compete against the larger Grand National Series cars including the Chevrolet Chevelle, Ford Torino Talladega, Dodge Charger Daytona, and Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird.
On August 6, 1971, at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C., Allison opted to drive Melvin Joseph’s Grand American 1970 Ford Mustang. Ultimately, Allison crossed the checkered flag first in the Myers Brothers 250 but, since he was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit by NASCAR in that series.
Allison remained a close friend of Joseph, the builder of Dover International Speedway in addition to Georgetown, through his passing. To this day, he stays in touch with the Joseph family, often viewing the NASCAR events at Dover from the Melvin L. Joseph Companies suite.
Allison will be available to meet fans in the grandstand from 3-4 p.m. and will offer some memories and thoughts to the crowd prior to the start of racing.
A founding member of the ‘Alabama Gang’ Allison was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and was inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011. Along with his ’83 Cup championship, Allison’s 84 victories include three in the Daytona 500 (’78, ’82 and ’88). He won the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway on four occasions (’71, ’72, ’75 and ’83) and took the World 600 twice (’81 and ’84).
Always a fan favorite, Allison is a seven-time Most Popular Driver in NASCAR’s top-tier (’71-’73 and ’80-’83).
Allison’s 3-4 p.m. appearance will lead off a huge Saturday (March 16) portion of the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial which includes the STSS Velocita-USA South Region presented by Design for Vision and Sunglass Central opener, 49 laps of big-block/small-block Modified excitement offering $6,949-plus to win. Also on the Saturday docket: STSS Crate 602 Sportsman ($1,490 to win) plus 12-lap features-only for Southern Delaware Vintage Stock Cars, Little Lincolns, Delmarva Chargers and Delaware Super Trucks.
Friday night (March 15) kicks off the weekend with Small-Block Modifieds racing 30 laps for $4,049 to win plus RUSH Late Models ($1,049 to win), Delmarva Chargers, Delaware Super Trucks and practice rounds for STSS Modifieds and STSS Crate 602 Sportsman competing on Saturday.
Complete race information will be released in the coming days.
Georgetown Speedway, originally constructed by Melvin L. Joseph in 1949, is located at the intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, Del., just miles from the Delaware beaches and less than a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md.
A website is live for the speedway at www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com. Like Georgetown Speedway on Facebook, follow @thegtownspdwy on Twitter, e-mail georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or contact the speedway hotline at 302.563.GTWN (4896).
Sources: Brett Deyo/Georgetown Speedway PR