Driver Profile

Quick Info

HometownHanover, PA
NicknameScruffy
Racing Since1956
Birthday12/28

Driver Bio

Bobby Allen

About Bobby

2014: As owner of Shark Racing, will field Shark sprint cars for his grandson, Logan Schuchart, and his son, Jacob Allen, in the STP World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

2012-2013: Added his son, Jacob Allen, to his sprint car driver roster under the Shark Racing name he had already been using with his grandson, Logan Schuchart, in sprint car racing since 2009.

2006: Inducted into the Eastern Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame.

2000: Started focusing on developing the career of his grandson, Logan Schuchart, who began racing go-karts before advancing to 358 and then 410 sprint cars.

1998: Inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. His last sprint car feature victory came at Sharon Speedway in Ohio that year.

1993: Finished 19th in WoO point standings. Raced in Australia over the winter; won at Parramatta Speedway (now called Valvoline Raceway/Sydney Speedway) and finished second in the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at Premier Speedway, Warrnambool.

1992: Finished sixth in the All-Star Circuit of Champions point standings and 19th in WoO points.

1991: Finished 12th World of Outlaws points, the 14th and final year that he would finish in the top 15 in this series.

1990: Won the crown jewel of sprint car racing, the Knoxville Nationals, at Knoxville Speedway in Knoxville, Iowa, beating Sammy Swindell, Stevie Smith, Danny Lasoski and Doug Wolfgang. Finished 13th in WoO points.

1989: Won the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway for the second time. Finished 15th in WoO points with one victory.

1988: Finished 12th in WoO points with three victories.

1987: Finished 14th in WoO points with three victories.

1986: Won the Jackson (Minn.) and the Eldora (Ohio) Nationals. Finished tenth in WoO points with five WoO feature victories.

1985: Finished fifth in WoO point standings with two victories.

1984: Put Steve Stambaugh in a third Allen Enterprises entry, #3a, joining Allen's #1a and Richard Lupo's #2a. Allen finished eighth in WoO points; Lupo was 19th and Stambaugh was 27th.

1983: Won an All-Star Circuit of Champions race at Pennsboro (W.Va.) Speedway, earning $25,000. Added Lupo to his Allen Enterprises stable in an Allen #2a; he finished third in the same race. Finished eighth in WoO point standings with one victory.

1982: Won the biggest race at Port Royal Speedway, the Tuscarora 50. Finished 11th in WoO points with five victories.

1981: Finished seventh in WoO points.

1980: Won the MOSS (All Star Circuit of Champions) title, earning $10,000 and finishing ahead of drivers like Jack Hewitt, Al Hager, Johnny Beaber and Rick Ferkel. Finished ninth in WoO points with one feature victory.

1979: Finished seventh in World of Outlaws points with one victory. Finished fourth in points in the Midwest Outlaw Super Series (MOSS) behind Dub May, Jim Linder and George Harbour; this series was part of the revival of the All Star Circuit of Champions.

1978: Finished third in points behind Steve Kinser and Ferkel in the inaugural year of the World of Outlaws sprint car series. Won two WoO features in his own #1a sponsored by Jasper Petitte's M&J Coal Co. of Morgantown, W.Va.

1976: Won the Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds championship. Took on the "heavies" with a modified of his own design around this time too.

1975: Won one of the biggest sprint car races in the East when he won the National Open at Williams Grove.

1973: Finished third in points behind Opperman and Ralph Parkinson Jr. in the All-Star Circuit of Champions series. Won his first of four Western Pennsylvania State Championship races at Mercer (Pa.) Speedway and another All-Star show at Fremont (Ohio) Speedway. This further cemented his reputation as one of the "original outlaws" along with Ferkel, Gary Patterson, Opperman and Bubby Jones. During the early seventies he also competed in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA)'s Winternationals at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.

1970: Won his third Lincoln Speedway track championship. Also finished second in points behind Ralph Quarterson and ahead of Lee Osborne, Lou Blaney, Dick Swartslander and Opperman in the first year of the All Star Circuit of Champions, an 11-race series of Wednesday night 100-lappers paying $1,000 to win. Won one of those races at the Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio. That year Shorty Emrich bought him a Grant King Indy car that had formerly been driven by Art Pollard. Did Phoenix and two other Indy car races before parking the car for lack of sponsorship. Realizing that he could make a better living driving sprint cars around Pennsylvania, he gave up his dream of running at Indy and concentrated on being an outlaw driver based in Pennsylvania.

1969: Won his second Lincoln Speedway track championship as well as the track championship at Susquehanna (Pa.) Speedway too. These came driving for car owner L.H. "Shorty" Emrich as a teammate to Lynn Paxton on the Emrich Chevrolet team. Paxton was #1 and Allen drove #1a, giving birth to his famous number. It was Paxton who nicknamed Allen "Scruffy" around this time for his long hair and his stone-chipped cars.

1968: Built his first sprint car in his shop in Hanover, Pa., experimenting and developing many parts, processes and combinations that would form the basis of sprint car racing going forward.

1967: Won the Lincoln Speedway track championship for the first time with Charlie Hill's supermodified, #456, with help from young mechanic Tommy Sanders. Posted his first wins at Lincoln, Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway and Dorsey (Md.) Speedway. Put Lupo in his own car and encouraged Smith to come north to race. Later he would meet Doug and Van May and Steve Siegel and encourage them to settle in Pennsylvania too. Along with Allen's younger brother, Joey, the "Hanover Gang" was born.

1966: Left Florida for the East Coast with his mechanic, Richard Lupo, and his wife, Doris Allen. Had a short stay on a pig farm and later stayed with modified driver Leon Manchester, who helped Allen refine his welding skills. Settled near Hanover, Pa., and raced his #4a modified at Central Pennsylvania tracks like Williams Grove and Lincoln.

1963-1964: Raced and won with a Robert Hamke Sr.-built winged, pavement supermodified, #4, creatively known as the Bobby Allen Special. His crew included his friends, future sprint car rivals Richard Lupo and Steve Smith.

1962-1963: Purchased a modified coupe stock car known as the "The Twister" from Hialeah (Fla.) Speedway driver Bobby Brack. Raced at Hialeah and other Florida tracks like Palmetto Speedway and Miami-Hollywood Speedway, competing against drivers like Bobby and Donnie Allison, Rags Carter and Gil Hearne.

1962: Won the World Championship 100cc kart race on the "Pista Rossa" circuit in Milan, Italy, on Sept. 17, under the aegis of the FIA and the Italian Federation. He raced karts and worked in the parts department for 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathmann in Miami, where Rathmann marketed the Xterminator kart. Allen raced all over European during 1961-1962, including places like Barcelona, Spain; Munich, Germany; Danbury, England and Niece, France. He also was graduated from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, Fla., in 1962, earning the "Best Dressed" award.

1961: Won the World Championship of Karting at Oakes Field Airport in Nassau, Bahamas, organized by the Go Kart Club of America. This was the predecessor to the FIA Commission Internationale de Karting organization (CIKFIA).

1956: Started racing half-midgets at the age of 12, often in the parking lot of the Miami airport.

Career Highlights

  • An Original Outlaw and an "Outlaw" Outlaw in sprint car racing, with over 276 feature victories on at least 62 tracks in more than 20 states in the United States and Australia. A total of 25 of them were World of Outlaws A-main victories, and 42 were All-Star Circuit of Champions wins.
  • One of the original drivers in the World of Outlaws sprint car series, finishing third in points in its inaugural year, 1978.
  • Allen is also a founding member of the famous "Pennsylvania Posse."
  • Won the biggest sprint car race in the world, the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Speedway in Knoxville, Iowa, in 1990.
  • Inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1998.
  • World Go-Kart champion in 1961 and 1962.
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