NASCAR legend Larry McReynolds is perhaps best known for being the late great Dale Earnhardt’s crew chief when he achieved his long-coveted goal of winning the Daytona 500 in 1998. However, that is not the only time the former crew chief was a victor of The Great American Race. McReynolds had achieved the same goal six years earlier as crew chief of another legendary driver in NASCAR history, Davey Allison, but things could have easily gone wrong.

Davey Allison might not have won the Cup Series in his career but he was one of the most prolific drivers during his time. He won 19 races in the competition including the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Winston 500 (3 times). The best moment of his Cup career perhaps came with Larry McReynolds at the Daytona International Speedway in 1992.

When Larry McReynolds decided to test their Daytona 500 car in another race

On a recent episode of Kenny Conversation with Kenny Wallace, the 64-year-old revealed the huge gamble he and Davey Allison had taken all those years ago, which thankfully paid off. The two were part of Robert Yates Racing at the time and made a bold decision. Just a week before the 1992 Daytona 500 was the Busch Clash, and McReynolds believed that there was no better place to test their Daytona 500 car.

“We made the decision before going to Daytona, we’re gonna run our Daytona 500 car in the Busch Clash. What a better test session than the Busch Clash? Now we had to work our guts out to do this because of back and forth, Busch Clash practice, getting ready to qualify for the Daytona 500, but the rules allowed it. And we ended up finishing third in the Busch Clash and we felt like we learned a lot,” the 64-year-old NASCAR veteran said.

However, during the last practice on the Wednesday before the Daytona 500, things went south. Larry McReynolds revealed that an unfortunate on-track incident caused Davey Allison to wreck his primary car for ‘The Great American Race’. The 64-year-old revealed that they only got 5 minutes to practice with their backup car on the track.

On the day of the 500, Davey Allison was part of the second race, and the way the first race went, Larry McReynolds was extremely concerned about his crew’s performance. Cars were loose even on pit road and with just 5 minutes of practice with the backup car, things were not looking good. However, that’s when Allison’s intelligence came into play.

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How Davey Allison’s sharp intellect proved to be the difference-maker

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Larry McReynolds recalled that at the time, Davey Allison should have been in his race car but was nowhere to be found. After some tense moments, one of the members of the crew, who had gone to the track to buckle him into the car updated the crew chief of his driver’s whereabouts. What Allison was doing at the time was so smart that it even got a laugh out of Kenny Wallace.

“I said, where is Davey? He said he’s behind the car kicking the s**t out of the spoiler with his foot,” McReynolds said. This bit is important as grip was such a big issue in the 1992 Daytona 500. Kicking the spoiler down would mean a higher downforce and more grip.

There can be no doubt that Davey Allison’s quick thinking played a massive part in him winning his one and only Daytona 500. Both the driver and his crew chief gambled for The Great American Race, and thankfully, it paid off big time.

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