Bobby Allison, NASCAR legend and three-time Daytona 500 winner, has died

Bobby Allison, founder of racing’s “Alabama Gang” and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, died Saturday. He was 86.

NASCAR released a statement from Allison’s family saying he died at home in Mooresville, North Carolina. A cause of death was not given, but Allison’s health had been declining for years.

Allison moved into fourth place on the NASCAR Cup Series wins list last month when chairman Jim France named him the winner of the 1971 Meyers Brothers Memorial at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina with 85 wins and one tie against Darrell Waltrip.

France and longtime NASCAR executive Mike Helton presented Allison with a plaque commemorating the victory. That puts Allison behind only Hall of Famer Richard Petty (200), David Pearson (105) and Jeff Gordon (93) in Cup victories.

Allison was inducted into NASCAR’s second Hall of Fame class in 2011. He was NASCAR champion in 1983, finished second in the series title race five times and won the Daytona 500 three times.

It wasn’t just his driving that helped put NASCAR on the map. His infamous fight with Cale Yarborough in the final laps of the 1979 Daytona 500 was one of the sport’s defining moments.

“Cale started hitting my fist with his nose,” Allison said repeatedly, often using that phrase to describe the fight. “Cale understands, as I do, that it really benefited the interests of racing. It proves we were serious.”