Winston Cup Career
Allen Jr. made his Cup Debut at Daytona in July 1993. Driving his father's #37 Naturally Fresh Ford which was an old Robert Yates Racing Car, Allen Jr. started 40th and finished 29th. He ran three other races for his father's team in 1993, the best being a 26th at Talladega. In addition, Allen Jr. made his first start for Tri-Star at Phoenix, matching that 26th in the #68 Country Time Ford.
Allen was hired for Tri-Star's #19 Hooters Ford in 1994. He won the pole position for the season-opening Daytona 500 (the first rookie to ever do so), finishing 22nd. He won two more poles at Atlanta and the Michigan, as well as the outside pole for that year's running of the Pepsi 400. However, Allen's team missed twelve races due to a tight budget. He only had a best finish of 11th at Charlotte. In addition, he only had two more top-20 finishes, and had a DNF count of seven. It kept the team from making a serious bid at NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors, and Allen Jr. finished 39th in points that year.
In 1995, Allen Jr. ran just eleven races, splitting time with Junior Johnson Motorsports team and the Tri-Star team. He had been hired to run the new #27 Hooters Ford. However, he was released and went back to Tri-Star for the remaining seven races. In his first start back with that team at Talladega, Allen started second and went on to finish tenth, the only top ten of his career. However, Allen continued to struggle, and was put to a part-time schedule.
After suffering a neck injury at Rockingham Speedway in early 1996, he lost hold of his career, and only made sporadic starts after that. He did manage to return to the team at Pocono, with a 23rd, but in six more starts in 1996, he only managed a best finish of 21st at Talladega.
Allen Jr. made two starts in 1997, driving for Tri-Star, making the first two races at Daytona and Rockingham. He was 26th and 43rd respectively. Gary Bradberry took over and Allen Jr. was rideless after that.
His last ride came in 1999, two years later, when he qualified for two out of four races for the SBIII Motorsports team before being replaced by Hut Stricklin. Both of those starts (Michigan and Daytona) ended with 40th place DNFs. After he could not find a ride, he retired.
Read more about this topic: Loy Allen, Jr.
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