This is part one in a two-part story.

CONCORD, N.C. – Bobby Allen knew he was on a path to victory at Eldora Speedway on Aug. 9, 1986. He sensed it weeks prior.

His setup was dialed in. His tire selection was on point. His confidence was high. Every detail that produces a win was there.

However Hoosier, his tire sponsor, wasn’t on the same level.

While Allen wanted to run the company’s softer compound tire for the race, Hoosier wanted him to use its harder compound — meant to be comparable to Goodyear’s harder compound tire other teams ran.

Initially, he told them, “no way.” He knew that would be the wrong choice for the track conditions. He wasn’t going to lose another race due to the wrong tire call.

Allen remembered a previous race in Dallas, Texas, where he was on his way to the win before a red flag came out. Hoosier had him change a tire during the open red, citing it would work better. When the race resumed, he went backwards.

The memory haunted him. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. Not at Eldora.

But while he was a smart racer, he was also a smart businessman. As the owner of his team with a limited budget, he knew the importance of keeping sponsors happy. So, he gave in and agreed with Hoosier’s call.

“I agreed with them, but I put on what I wanted to put on,” Allen said. “I went ahead and agreed with them, so I didn’t have to argue about it.”

He kept the softer compound tire on his No. 1a car and went on to earn his second and final Eldora Speedway World of Outlaws win.

“(Former Eldora Speedway owner Earl) Baltes always wet the racetrack right before the races and I could run down there and make the car stick where [the softer tires] wouldn’t burn up because they stuck so hard,” Allen said. “It felt like the motor was blowing up they stuck so hard. I ran them tires and they got me going where I ran up through there and won the race.”

Allen, a Sprint Car Hall of Famer from Hanover, Pa., has always found success through his self-sufficiency. He drove for himself his entire career and built his own race cars the way he wanted. He built his own motors the way he wanted. And he ran his races the way he wanted.

That led to 30 career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series wins — including the 1990 Knoxville Nationals. He’s currently ranked 20th on the all-time wins list.

Despite that success, Allen considered himself a dark horse. However, Allen’s dark horse mentality only classified his feelings as a competitor. He felt like the Steve Kinser of the field when it came to the equipment he built.

“I always felt like I had the best race cars the way I built them,” Allen said. “I was good at figuring out things, figuring out tires, etc. When you built your own car and it worked good, you definitely liked it because you were fast. And every time I sold a car to somebody it seemed to make them faster. It was definitely a good thing.”

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