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1984 Daytona 500

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1984 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 30 in the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1984 Daytona 500 program cover
1984 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 19, 1984 (1984-02-19)
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures of 79 °F (26 °C);
wind speeds of 11.6 miles per hour (18.7 km/h)[1]
Average speed 150.994 mph (243.001 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Ranier-Lundy
Time 44.588 seconds
201.848 mph (324.843 km/h)
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Cale Yarborough
0:57:56
129.459 mph (208.344 km/h)[2]
Ranier-Lundy
Cautions: 3 for 18 laps
Margin of victory: 1.8 seconds
Lead changes: 5
Duel 2 Winner Bobby Allison
0:53:44
139.578 mph (224.629 km/h)[3]
DiGard Motorsports
Cautions: 2 for 12 laps
Margin of victory: 2 car lengths
Lead changes: 9
Most laps led
Driver Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy
Laps 89
Winner
No. 28 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Host: Chris Economaki
Lap-by-lap: Ken Squier
Driver analyst: David Hobbs
Pit Reporter: Chris Economaki
Pit reporter: Mike Joy
Nielsen Ratings 8.7/23
(12.3 million viewers)

The 1984 Daytona 500, the 26th running of the event, was held February 19, 1984, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Cale Yarborough, who won the pole, completed a lap of 201.848 miles per hour (324.843 km/h), officially breaking the 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) barrier at Daytona. He won the race for the second year in a row, and the fourth time in his career, with an identical last-lap pass as the previous year, this time passing Darrell Waltrip who would later go on to win the same race in 1989.

This race would be the first Daytona 500 starts for Ken Ragan, Greg Sacks, Mike Alexander, Connie Saylor, Doug Heveron, Bobby Hillin, Jr., Hendrick Motorsports And Trevor Boys.[4] It was the only Daytona 500 start for Dean Combs.[4] This race would be the final Daytona 500 starts for Dean Roper, Ronnie Thomas, and Tommy Gale.[4]

Speedweeks

[edit]

Cale Yarborough and his crew chief Waddell Wilson were ready to repeat as Daytona 500 champion as Speedweeks got underway. Yarborough won the pole with a new track record. In the first Twin 125, 1980 Daytona 500 champ Buddy Baker was leading with 8 laps to go but did not want to be passed on the last lap. Baker slowed and forced Yarborough to pass. Yarborough took off and Baker could not catch him, winning by 1.8 seconds. In the second race, 1982 Daytona 500 champ Bobby Allison held off Harry Gant. A total of 72 cars participated in the Twin 125 mile qualifiers, with 36 in each race.[5]

Calamity Corner

[edit]

In 1984 Daytona's 4th turn was dubbed Calamity Corner after three violent accidents. Ricky Rudd was battered and bruised in a wild, tumbling, sidewinding crash in the Busch Clash, but he won two weeks later in Richmond (despite a concussion suffered in the Clash; NASCAR did not implement a concussion rule until 2014 after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. admitted to racing with an untreated concussion during the 2012 season). In the second Twin 125, Randy LaJoie spun off turn four. His car began flying and went underside-first into the inside wall (which Rudd had luckily just missed) before flipping end over end to a hard stop. LaJoie suffered back injuries. The next day, in a consolation race for cars that failed to qualify for the big race, Natz Peters's car ricocheted off the inside wall into the path of another car, driven by Jim Hurlbert. Both cars exploded in flames. Neither driver was seriously injured.

Along with Waltrip's vicious crash at Daytona the previous year, by the time the Series returned to Daytona for the Firecracker 400 in July, the entire Turn 4 apron was paved over, the beginning of tracks paving aprons for cars to scrub off speed on asphalt aprons instead of grass, which did little to slow spinning cars. The backstretch apron was paved in 1995, and following a serious incident at the 2015 Saturday support race for the Daytona 500 that injured Kyle Busch, the section of track past the tri-oval to Turn 1 was paved over and barriers realigned to temporarily seal off the road course during oval races. In 2020, the Turn 4 apron became part of the track after a chicane was built in the area near the finish line was implemented to slow entrance speeds into Turn 1 of the road course. During the 2021 Busch Clash, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney collided in that chicane on the run to the finish, leading to Kyle Busch winning.

Qualifying

[edit]

Qualifying results

[edit]
Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Speed
1 28 Cale Yarborough  W  Ranier-Lundy Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 201.848 mph
2 44 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200.325 mph
3 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford Thunderbird Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races,
second round qualifying, and provisionals.
4 22 Bobby Allison  W  DiGard Motorsports Buick Regal
5 21 Buddy Baker  W  Wood Brothers Racing Ford Thunderbird
6 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7 12 Neil Bonnett Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet Monte Carlo
8 55 Benny Parsons  W  Johnny Hayes Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
9 5 Geoff Bodine All-Star Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
10 27 Tim Richmond Blue Max Racing Pontiac Grand Prix
11 16 David Pearson  W  Bobby Hawkins Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
12 90 Dick Brooks Donlavey Racing Ford Thunderbird
13 66 Phil Parsons Johnny Hayes Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
14 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford Thunderbird
15 7 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford Thunderbird
16 1 Lake Speed Ellington Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
17 77 Ken Ragan  R  Branch-Ragan Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
18 47 Ron Bouchard Race Hill Farm Team Buick Regal
19 89 Dean Roper Mueller Brothers Pontiac Grand Prix
20 51 Greg Sacks  R  Sacks & Sons Chevrolet Monte Carlo
21 42 Dick Trickle Billy Matthews Chevrolet Monte Carlo
22 8 Bobby Hillin Jr.  R  Stavola Brothers Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
23 01 Doug Heveron  R  Heveron Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
24 4 Lennie Pond Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo
25 97 Dean Combs  R  Irv Sanderson Racing Oldsmobile Cutlass
26 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet Monte Carlo
27 88 Rusty Wallace Cliff Stewart Racing Pontiac Grand Prix
28 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Chrysler Imperial
29 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
30 64 Tommy Gale Langley Racing Ford Thunderbird
31 98 Joe Ruttman Robert McEntyre Chevrolet Monte Carlo
32 14 A. J. Foyt  W  A. J. Foyt Oldsmobile Cutlass
33 84 Jody Ridley Benfield Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
34 43 Richard Petty  W  Curb Racing Pontiac Grand Prix
35 48 Trevor Boys  R  Hylton Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
36 29 Connie Saylor Herb Adcox Chevrolet Monte Carlo
37 17 Clark Dwyer Hamby Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo
38 41 Ronnie Thomas Thomas Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
39 75 Dave Marcis RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac Grand Prix
40 10 Sterling Marlin Hamby Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo
41 52 Jimmy Means Means Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo
42 71 Mike Alexander  R  Marcis Auto Racing Oldsmobile Cutlass

[6]

[7]

Failed to qualify

[edit]
Driver Car # Car
Make
Delma Cowart 0 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Tom Sneva 2 Buick Regal
Wayne Peterson 06 Buick Regal
Jim Sauter 6 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Randy LaJoie 07 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Joe Booher 18 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Rick Newsom 20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Elliott Forbes-Robinson 23 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Jerry Churchill 25 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Ronnie Sanders 31 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Jim Hurlbert 34 Buick Regal
Connie Saylor 37 Pontiac Grand Prix
Ramo Stott 38 Buick Regal
Blackie Wangerin 39 Ford Thunderbird
Jim Southard 50 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Donny Paul 53 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
David Simko 54 Buick Regal
Jerry Bowman 58 Ford Thunderbird
Natz Peters 60 Buick Regal
Jocko Maggiacomo 63 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Ralph Jones 65 Ford Thunderbird
Laurent Rioux 68 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
J.D. McDuffie 70 Pontiac Grand Prix
Steve Moore 73 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Bobby Wawak 74 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Lowell Cowell 76 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Mark Stahl 82 Ford Thunderbird
Randy Baker 87 Buick Regal
Jack Ingram 92 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Philip Duffie 99 Buick Regal
Grant Adcox (Driver change) 29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo

[8]

 R  = Daytona 500 rookie
 W  = Former Daytona 500 winner

Race Summary

[edit]

President Ronald Reagan gave the command "Gentlemen, start your engines!" by phone from the White House. Yarborough, Allison, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty took turns leading the early laps of the race, but Petty and Allison fell out early with mechanical problems. Yarborough clearly had the strongest car, leading 51 of the first 100 laps. Yarborough's car was so fast, he twice passed leading cars on the outside of the third turn.

Yarborough led most of the second half of the race, but Earnhardt and Terry Labonte were also strong, as well as Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip, who lead for the first time on lap 142. Waltrip took the lead again on lap 162 during green flag pit stops. The race's final caution came at lap 177, but four leaders, Waltrip, Yarborough, Labonte and Earnhardt-decided to remain on the track and hold their positions.

After the race resumed on lap 183, six cars pulled away from the field. And as the final lap started, it was Waltrip, Yarborough, Earnhardt, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, and Bill Elliott. For 38 laps, Waltrip hung onto the lead. But he knew how fast Yarborough was. Yarborough made his move on the backstretch-the same move that had failed spectacularly in 1979 against Donnie Allison but worked perfectly in 1983 against Baker. Waltrip moved to the middle of the track but did not aggressively block. Yarborough made the pass without drafting help and immediately extended his lead to about 6 car-lengths.

Dale Earnhardt also moved on Waltrip but didn't begin his pass until turn four. He barely nipped Waltrip at the line, while Bonnett held off Elliott for fourth. Yarborough won by eight car lengths. And for the first time since Fireball Roberts in 1962, a single driver had led the most laps, won the pole, his qualifying race, and the 500. This made Yarborough become the only driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole more than once until Elliott joined him after winning the following year and in 1987.

Race Results

[edit]

Box Score

[edit]
Pos Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Status Laps
led
Points
1 1 28 Cale Yarborough  W  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 3:18:41 89 185 (10)
2 29 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 -8 car lengths 19 175 (5)
3 26 11 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 Running 39 170 (5)
4 7 12 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 Running 1 165 (5)
5 3 9 Bill Elliott Ford Thunderbird 200 Running 1 160 (5)
6 6 33 Harry Gant Chevrolet Monte Carlo 200 Running 1 155 (5)
7 14 15 Ricky Rudd Ford Thunderbird 199 -1 lap 0 146
8 9 5 Geoffrey Bodine Chevrolet Monte Carlo 199 -1 lap 0 142
9 11 16 David Pearson  W  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 -2 laps 0 138
10 33 84 Jody Ridley Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 -2 laps 0 134
11 13 66 Phil Parsons Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 -2 laps 0 130
12 2 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Monte Carlo 198 -2 laps 9 132 (5)
13 24 4 Lennie Pond Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 -3 laps 0 124
14 17 77 Ken Ragan  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 -3 laps 0 121
15 40 10 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Monte Carlo 197 -3 laps 0 118
16 19 89 Dean Roper Pontiac Grand Prix 196 -4 laps 0 115
17 41 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Monte Carlo 196 -4 laps 0 112
18 20 51 Greg Sacks  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 195 -5 laps 0 109
19 25 97 Dean Combs R  Oldsmobile Cutlass 194 -6 laps 0 106
20 37 17 Clark Dwyer Chevrolet Monte Carlo 191 -9 laps 0 103
21 42 71 Mike Alexander R  Oldsmobile Cutlass 187 Engine 0 100
22 36 29 Connie Saylor  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 186 Overheating 0 97
23 23 01 Doug Heveron  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 173 Ignition 0 94
24 38 41 Ronnie Wood Chevrolet Monte Carlo 173 Rear end 0 91
25 28 67 Buddy Arrington Chrysler Imperial 170 Connecting rod 0 88
26 12 90 Dick Brooks Ford Thunderbird 158 Crash 0 85
27 18 47 Ron Bouchard Buick Regal 158 Crash 0 82
28 31 98 Joe Ruttman Chevrolet Monte Carlo 146 Crash 0 79
29 8 55 Benny Parsons  W  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 108 Cylinder head 0 76
30 27 88 Rusty Wallace Pontiac Grand Prix 95 Crash 0 73
31 34 43 Richard Petty  W  Pontiac Grand Prix 92 Camshaft 24 75 (5)
32 30 64 Tommy Gale Ford Thunderbird 69 Engine 0 67
33 10 27 Tim Richmond Pontiac Grand Prix 66 Engine 0 64
34 4 22 Bobby Allison  W  Buick Regal 61 Camshaft 17 66 (5)
35 22 8 Bobby Hillin Jr.  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 60 Engine 0 58
36 21 42 Dick Trickle Chevrolet Monte Carlo 53 Ignition 0 55
37 16 1 Lake Speed Chevrolet Monte Carlo 46 Push rod 0 52
38 5 21 Buddy Baker  W  Ford Thunderbird 30 Vibration 0 49
39 32 14 A. J. Foyt  W  Oldsmobile Cutlass 24 Suspension 0 46
40 15 7 Kyle Petty Ford Thunderbird 21 Engine 0 43
41 35 48 Trevor Boys  R  Chevrolet Monte Carlo 17 Engine 0 40
42 39 75 Dave Marcis Pontiac Grand Prix 3 Engine 0 37
[9]

(5) Indicates 5 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap
(10) Indicates 10 bonus points added to normal race points scored for leading 1 lap & leading the most laps

Cautions

[edit]

7 for 39 laps

From
lap
To
lap
# of
laps
Reason
5 9 5 Car #75 spun turn 2
64 67 4 Car #8 engine
73 78 6 Car #64 engine
99 104 6 Car #88 accident turn 2
150 153 4 Car #98 accident turn 4
160 167 8 Car #'s 47,90 accident turn 4
177 182 6 Car #67 engine
[10]

Lap leader breakdown

[edit]
Leader From
lap
To
lap
# Of
laps
Cale Yarborough  W  1 14 14
Bobby Allison  W  15 15 1
Cale Yarborough  W  16 17 2
Bobby Allison  W  18 18 1
Cale Yarborough  W  19 19 1
Bobby Allison  W  20 20 1
Cale Yarborough  W  21 21 1
Bobby Allison  W  22 25 4
Cale Yarborough  W  26 28 3
Bobby Allison  W  29 32 4
Cale Yarborough  W  33 37 5
Dale Earnhardt 38 38 1
Richard Petty  W  39 40 2
Dale Earnhardt 41 43 3
Bobby Allison  W  44 49 6
Richard Petty  W  50 64 15
Dale Earnhardt 65 67 3
Richard Petty  W  68 68 1
Cale Yarborough  W  69 86 18
Richard Petty  W  87 92 6
Cale Yarborough  W  93 99 7
Dale Earnhardt 100 104 5
Neil Bonnett 105 105 1
Terry Labonte 106 112 7
Dale Earnhardt 113 116 4
Cale Yarborough  W  117 135 19
Dale Earnhardt 136 136 1
Terry Labonte 137 138 2
Harry Gant 139 139 1
Dale Earnhardt 140 141 2
Darrell Waltrip 142 142 1
Cale Yarborough  W  143 160 18
Bill Elliott 161 161 1
Darrell Waltrip 162 199 38
Cale Yarborough  W  200 200 1
[11]

 R  = Daytona 500 rookie
 W  = Former Daytona 500 winner

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Weather information for the 1984 Daytona 500 at Old Farmers Almanac
  2. ^ "Race Results".
  3. ^ "Race Results".
  4. ^ a b c "1984 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.Info. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Daytona 500 Qualifying Races - Racing-Reference.info".
  6. ^ "1984 Daytona 500 (SPEED Channel's NASCAR Classics)". Youtube.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017.[dead YouTube link]
  7. ^ "NASCAR DAYTONA 500 RACE RESULTS". CBS Sports. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Race Results".
  9. ^ "Race Results".
  10. ^ "Race Results".
  11. ^ "Race Results".
[edit]
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1983-84
Succeeded by