Irvan Carries Allison Colors to the Pole

There was more than a touch of nostalgia Friday when Ernie Irvan took the pole for today’s DieHard 500 in a car bearing the number and colors of the late Davey Allison.

Allison, a local favorite from nearby Hueytown, Ala., died in July 1993 in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway. Irvan was the driver tapped by team owner Robert Yates to take the place of the budding superstar.

Now it’s Irvin who will be gone at the end of the season, moving to another team after Yates decided not to renew his contract. He will be replaced in 1998 by rookie Kenny Irwin Jr.

In the meantime, Irvan, who survived near fatal injuries from a race car crash in August 1994, just continues to do his job, turning a lap of 193.271 mph on Friday.

That pushed John Andretti, the pole-winner in May’s Winston 500 at Talladega, to the outside of the front row. Andretti was briefly on the top with a 193.166.

Asked how he feels about finishing out the string with Yates’ team, Irvan said, “I want to win these next four races. There’s no doubt it pays more to win, and all the guys on this team want to do that.

“The car is a tribute to Davey Allison,” he added. “We remember him well and I really think everybody in the grandstands really loves to see this. . . . It has a lot of significance to me. But, honestly, if the car was black or pink, I’m going to try as hard as I can.”

Yates, who still gets emotional when he talks about Allison, said he had to be talked into using the color scheme.