Tim Allison, a fixture in the Ohio sprint car community, passed away Wednesday at the age of 63 after suffering a heart attack.
Known by the nickname “Mr. Excitement” during his roughly 47-year career, Allison was best known as a winged 360 standout in the Buckeye State, especially at tracks like Eldora Speedway, Limaland Motorsports Park -where he earned 100 career feature wins – and with the traveling NRA Sprint Invaders series.
Allison’s family broke the news on his Facebook fan page, posting, “Words cannot describe the loss that our family is feeling this morning. Tim suffered a massive heart attack last night. The racing community has been such a huge part of his life. Though he is no longer with us we know that he will live on through the memories & the lasting impact he had on everyone he met.
“We appreciate all the love & support we have received already. Celebrate his life & legacy and share a story or memory below. Thanks for the Memories, Mr. Excitement! – Liz, Heather, Heidi & Family”
Allison began his career in karting at the age of 14. He won about 200 features in karts before moving to mini-sprints. In 1987, sprint car owner Alan Nott gave Allison his first shot in a sprint car, as teammate to Dave Blaney.
At the season’s end, Allison parted ways with the team and ran a midget for the ’88 season before returning to the mini-sprints.
In 1992 he returned to sprint cars, racing in the 305 class at Limaland, Millstream and Fremont Speedways, and earned four feature wins.
Allison went 360 sprint car racing in 1993, and would become the man to beat, winning more than 50 features and seven track championships throughout the ’90s at Oakshade Raceway, Limaland Motorsports Park, Millstream Speedway, Eldora Speedway and with the Sprint Bandit series.
Allison went on to earn features and titles with the NRA Sprint Invaders, in addition to nabbing a 2009 Waynesfield Motorsports Park 360 championship. He continued to run competitively with the NRA this season, and sat 10th in points with the series at the time of his passing.
Allison’s fellow competitors knew him as a fierce competitor but true gentleman. He will be missed.