Allison’s Condition Is Critical : Auto racing: He is in a coma after his helicopter goes down at Talladega Superspeedway.

Stock car driver Davey Allison suffered head injuries Monday in a helicopter accident, the most recent in a string of tragedies that has struck the Allison family of Hueytown, Ala.

Allison, 32, was piloting the helicopter when it crashed during an attempted landing in the infield at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, where he and fellow driver Red Farmer had gone to watch a friend test a car for a NASCAR race.

Allison was in a coma and his condition was listed as extremely critical after head surgery at Carraway Methodist Medical center in Birmingham, Ala. Farmer was reported to be critical but stable with a broken rib and collarbone, according to Cullen Clark, a hospital spokesman.

The crash came almost a year after Davey’s younger brother, Clifford, was killed while practicing for a Busch Grand National race in Michigan.

Bobby Allison, father of Davey and Clifford, suffered near-fatal head injuries in a 1988 crash at Pocono International Raceway and had to retire from Winston Cup racing after a Hall of Fame career. He drove in his first race since the accident last month in a made-for-TV Fast Masters event for drivers 50 and over at Indianapolis.

A year ago, Davey Allison was involved in a terrifying end-over-end flip at the same Pococo track where his father had been injured. He suffered a concussion, broken ribs and a broken wrist and forearm. He was back at the track five days later to qualify for a race at Talladega.

He raced the first five laps, then turned his car over to Bobby Hillin, who finished third.

It was the second air tragedy to hit NASCAR in six months. Alan Kulwicki, the 1992 Winston Cup champion, was killed April 1 when a private plane in which was a passenger crashed in Tennessee.

Neil Bonnett, a member of “the Alabama Gang” with the Allisons and Farmer, had announced his plans to return to racing in a news conference Monday morning at Talladega. Bonnett suffered head injuries in a crash April 1, 1990, at Darlington, S.C., and only last month received medical clearance to race again.

Bonnett had been testing a Winston Cup car for series leader Dale Earnhardt, and Bonnett’s son, David, was to have tested a Busch Grand National car Monday with Davey Allison and Farmer looking on. Farmer, who won his first race in 1949 and admits to being “around 60,” is crew chief on Allison’s Grand National car.

Allison and Farmer had taken off from Birmingham, about 50 miles west of Talladega, in a helicopter that Allison had bought three weeks ago. According to eyewitnesses at Talladega, the craft was hovering about 10 feet off the ground, preparing to land, when the rear end caught on a fence, sending the helicopter into a wild spiral before it hit the ground at about 3 p.m. CDT.

“Red crawled out . . . but they had to get emergency units to cut Davey out,” said Carolyn Yates, whose husband Robert owns Allison’s car.

The Federal Aviation Administration was at the scene late Monday to try to determine the cause of the crash.

Although Allison reportedly has been flying helicopters only a short time, he has had a fixed-wing license for several years and flies his own Piper Cheyenne twin to most races.

“Davey started to fly a helicopter about a year and a half ago,” said Wayne Estes, a Ford racing executive who often flew with Allison. “He became interested in helicopters after being airlifted from tracks after his accidents.

“When we went back to Pocono last month, Davey met the crew that had flown him to the hospital after he flipped 12 times last year. He told them he remembered the trip and how he had told them he wanted to fly the chopper and they said, ‘If you can get up off that stretcher, we’ll let you take over.’

“He spent about an hour with them, talking about flying helicopters and how they reacted in different situations. He really had the bug. I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Red flew up there (to Talladega) so Davey could get in some time at the controls, as much as it was to watch David (Bonnett) run.”

Allison had finished third Sunday in the Slick 50 300 at Loudon, N.H., and was fifth in Winston Cup standings, 323 points behind Earnhardt. He has finished third overall in the last two seasons.

Mark Martin, who finished second Sunday, ahead of Allison and behind winner Rusty Wallace, said he was hoping for a miracle.

“I don’t want to say anything (about Allison),” Martin said when contacted at his racing shop. “I’m hoping to hear better news tomorrow. Everybody’s praying for him tonight. Miracles do happen, medical or otherwise. He may wake up and be fine tomorrow. That’s what we’re praying for.”

Allison won three Winston 500s there and one Die-Hard 500 at Talladega, along with several ARCA and International Race of Champions events.

Since earning NASCAR rookie-of-the-year honors in 1987, Allison has won 19 races, including the 1992 Daytona 500. He nearly won the same race four years earlier, when he finished a close second to his father.

This year, in 16 races, he has won once--the Pontiac Excitement 400 on March 7 at Richmond, Va.--and his earnings of $513,585 have increased the total to $6,724,174 for his career.

He lives in a recently completed 8,400-square foot home with his wife, Liz, and children Krista Marie, 3, and Robert Grey, 2.