Published Feb. 12, 1994|Updated Oct. 6, 2005
Butch Nelson sat in his office at Neil Bonnett Honda Friday afternoon, his eyes red and puffy, his hands clasped firmly together.
Word was just beginning to circulate among residents that Winston Cup racer and local hero Neil Bonnett had been in a serious accident while practicing at Daytona International Speedway.
Nelson, president of the Honda dealership and a friend of Bonnett's for 25 years, knew the news was worse. He knew that, for the third time in 18 months, one of Hueytown's auto racers had died.
Bonnett, 47, died Friday during a practice session at Daytona International Speedway after losing control of his Chevrolet on the high-banked fourth turn at the 2.5-mile oval, swerving onto the track apron and up the banking, then crashing nearly head-on into the outside wall.
"I guess if Neil could have written his exit out of this life, this is the way he'd choose," Nelson said. "But it's sure not the way I wanted it to happen.
"Neil never raced for the money. He loved racing so much. He was just a great individual."
Nelson shook his head and thought of all the adversity his small community had experienced. The deaths of Clifford and Davey Allison. The serious injury to Bobby Allison. Now this.
Favorite sons, pride of the town.
"It's another bad day for Hueytown," Nelson said, his shoulders slumped in despair. "Butch Nelson just lost the best buddy he's ever had. And Hueytown lost a great person."
Nelson paused, and his thoughts drifted to Bobby Allison, who has lost two sons and now one of his best friends in less than two years.
"Poor Bobby. This is going to be awful for him," Nelson said. "This is another thing he's got to go through. He and Neil were very close."
The shock extended throughout the town. Across the street at the River Square shopping mall, one woman threw her hand to her mouth and let out a small moan when she heard the news.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," she said. "Are you sure? Oh, my God, no."
She sprinted to her car.
Nobody wanted to believe that this close-knit, hard-working, religious community had been hit with yet another tragic death.
"What else can we give up?" Blake Hampton said. "We're so tired of this. You want to believe there's a reason for everything. But sometimes ..."
Diners walked in with tears in their eyes at the Iceberg Restaurant, where a sign read: "Our hearts are out to the Bonnetts."
Bonnett ate at the Iceberg occasionally, but Allison was a regular before his death.
"We're still not over that yet," owner Gay McCrary said. "It seems he ought to walk in here any minute."
The sign outside the Captain D's restaurant read: "God Bless You, Neil."
"Neil was a wonderful guy," said John Morris, who manages a store where Bonnett and other members of the Honda shop frequently ate. "He was involved in almost everything possible in Hueytown. This will be a great loss for our community.
"It's just baffling how this can happen so often. It's such a loss. For a small community like this, it's definitely taken a toll. It's just terrible. We've lost such good people."
NASCAR Winston Cup fatalities
Drivers who have died in crashes in NASCAR's top stock car series, now known as the Winston Cup, since 1952:
1. Larry Mann, 1952, Langhorne, Pa.
2. Frank Arford, 1953, Langhorne, Pa.
3. Lou Figaro, 1954, North Wilkesboro, N.C.
4. John McVitty, 1956, Langhorne, Pa.
5. Clint McHugh, 1956, Memphis, Tenn.
6. Thomas Priddy, 1956, Memphis, Tenn.
7. Bobby Myers, 1957, Darlington, S.C.
8. Gwyn Staley, 1958, Richmond, Va.
9. Joe Weatherly, 1964, Riverside, Calif.
10. Glenn Roberts, 1964, Charlotte, N.C.
11. Jimmy Pardue, 1964, Charlotte, N.C.
12. Billy Wade, 1965, Daytona Beach
13. Buren Skeen, 1965, Darlington, S.C.
14. Harold Kite, 1965, Charlotte, N.C.
15. Billy Foster, 1967, Riverside, Calif.
16. Talmadge Prince, 1970, Daytona Beach
17. Raymond Hassler, 1971, Daytona Beach
18. Larry Smith, 1973, Talladega, Ala.
19. Tiny Lund, 1975, Talladega, Ala.
20. Ricky Knotts, 1980, Daytona Beach
21. Terry Schoonover, 1984, Hampton, Ga.
22. Bruce Jacobi, 1987, Daytona Beach
23. Grant Adcox, 1989, Hampton, Ga.
24. J.D. McDuffie, 1991, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
25. Neil Bonnett, 1994, Daytona Beach
