Allison’s Death Hits Home Locally : Motor racing: NASCAR driver competed at Saugus and other West Coast tracks.

On a sizzling summer afternoon at Saugus Speedway in July, 1988, Davey Allison had more important things on his mind than squeezing into Pops Covan’s stock car.

Allison’s father, NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, lay in critical condition in a Pennsylvania hospital after being involved in a crash a few weeks earlier at Pocono International Raceway that ultimately ended his career.

Yet Davey Allison, one of eight Winston Cup drivers visiting Saugus that day, tried to put aside personal matters and focused on fitting himself into an unfamiliar vehicle in preparation for a 30-lap exhibition billed as the Race of Champions.

Covan, 59, a Simi Valley racing parts salesman and longtime friend of the Allison family, recalls it wasn’t exactly a tight fit.

“We had to pad him in there because Ron Hornaday Jr., who normally drove the car, was a lot bigger than he was,” Covan said. “He kept popping the seat belts loose every time he would turn the corner.”

Consequently, Allison finished last among the eight visiting drivers. But there were no complaints from Covan or the 5,750 fans in attendance--hundreds of whom lined up for autographs before and after the race.

“He put on a good show,” Covan said. “At the time, he was very preoccupied with his father’s health, but he gave the fans their money’s worth. He was a wonderful person, friendly to everyone around him. I never saw him where he didn’t treat anybody like they wanted to be treated.”

Allison’s death Tuesday of injuries suffered when the helicopter he was piloting crashed Monday in the infield at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama sent shock waves through the stock-car racing world that carried from Allison’s native Alabama to the West Coast.

Covan, who loaned the same car to Bobby Allison during a 1985 appearance at Saugus, remembered Davey Allison, 32, as “a very intense competitor and strictly dedicated to his father and his family.”

Hornaday, 34, defending champion and current points leader for the NASCAR Southwest Tour, was moved to tears by Allison’s death.

“I knew Davey pretty well since that day,” said Hornaday, who lives in Palmdale. “Boy, everywhere we’d go, the guy was just neat with me. He always took the time.”

Before taking the track at Saugus in 1988, Allison, NASCAR rookie of the year in 1987, stood atop his chair inside an air-conditioned luxury bus to address a gathering of reporters. He provided an update on his father’s condition and thanked everyone for their concern.

Then he talked racing. “My dad said that this was a fun place to race,” Allison said while climbing into his coveralls.

Allison enjoyed driving on West Coast tracks and did so whenever he had the chance, said Ken Clapp, NASCAR vice president of western operations in Scotts Valley, Calif.

Allison made two appearances on the Winston West series, NASCAR’s most lucrative endeavor on the West Coast, and competed in five Southwest Tour races.

“He and his father had the mentality that the more you race, the sharper you’ll be and the better your reflexes,” Clapp said. “I think Bobby always felt he owed it to his public to go to these little tracks and I think Davey continued that.”

Allison last competed in a Winston West event on June 26 at Monroe, Wash., where he finished 18th. He was scheduled to drive in the Winston West race Oct. 17 at Bakersfield’s Mesa Marin Raceway.

“The last time I saw him was a couple of weeks ago in Monroe,” Hornaday said. “I’ll always remember his smile and his face and how polite he was to the fans. He never shined anybody on.

“Everyone knew he was a great driver. But he was a great person with a great heart.”