Bobby Allison comes from nowhere to win Rebel 500
DARLINGTON, S.C. (April 13, 1975)

Bobby Allison, running two laps behind in seventh place with 40 laps to go, staged a tremendous comeback in the final stages and won the 1975 Rebel 500 at Darlington Raceway in a wild three-car finish, his second victory of the season.

Allison and a host of others jumped into contention with 17 laps to go when leaders Benny Parsons and David Pearson got together in the first turn. Both cars ground to a halt against the outside wall.

"I had the groove and I wasn't going to back off for anybody," said a disappointed Parsons, who had led for 11 laps and was trying to fend off Pearson. "All of a sudden Pearson hit me in the side and we both took off for the wall."

Pearson expressed surprise when his car broke loose and tagged Parsons.

"As good as my car was handling, I had no idea there would be any problem," he said. "I figured I could drive on past him."

Bobby and Donnie Allison, along with Darrell Waltrip, picked up the battle for the win. Waltrip led for nine laps under yellow before being passed by Bobby Allison with eight laps to go.

"I had only high gear and Bobby jumped me on the restart," Waltrip said. "I couldn't quite get past him in the last laps. My only hope was for him to make a mistake, and he didn't make any mistakes."

Allison beat Waltrip by a single car length to bag his 46th career win. Donnie Allison wound up a close third -- on Waltrip's bumper. Dave Marcis was fourth, three laps back and Coo Coo Marlin took fifth place. Parsons and Pearson finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Richard Petty crashed his Dodge in the 143rd lap and fell out of the race. It was the first race Petty had failed to finish to that point of the season. His point lead fell to 195 over Parsons.