1984 Winchester 400

The 1984 Winchester 400 motor race, the fifteenth annual (run yearly since 1970), was held under American Speed Association sanction on September 30, 1984, at the Winchester Speedway, in Indiana (USA).

After five-straight wins followed by five-straight years of frustration the undisputed king of the "Winchester 400" reassumed his throne as Bob Senneker scored his sixth win in the closest "400" finish to date. Starting from the pole for the second-straight year, Wisconsin’s Dick Trickle jumped into the lead at the drop of the green. Holding off ASA Championship rivals Jim Sauter and Senneker, Trickle set a torrid pace in the early stages. Trickle made his first appearance on pit road on lap 128, handing the lead to Senneker. The race would continue on a record pace as Senneker led until lap 224 when Mark Martin moved in front.

Contents

Racing in the top-five all day, Sauter began encountering steering problems and spun. Senneker reassumed the lead during a round of pit stops, but would give up the lead on lap 242 when he pitted for another set of fresh tires. That would give the lead back to Martin who would stay in front until he pitted on lap 305. Bobby Dotter then assumed the lead, but it would be short-lived as Senneker went back in front on lap 317. After going down a lap early in the event with tire problems, defending race-winner Mike Eddy worked his way back onto the lead lap, only to have a shock absorber fail and send him spinning on lap 336.

Under the resulting caution, Martin made his final pit stop and took on tires to try to chase down his first "400" win. The late stages of the race saw shades of Martin and Eddy in 1980, as Martin once again tried lap-after-lap to pass an ASA legend. Martin was able to pull alongside Senneker on several occasions, but was unable to compete the pass. At the checkers, Senneker held off Martin by four-car lengths (0.650 seconds), with Trickle a mere 12 seconds behind the winner in third. Butch Miller also completed all 400 laps to finish fourth while Dotter was fifth, one lap off the winner’s pace. Senneker collected an event-record $11,670 for his sixth win.

Table of results

Results of the 15th Annual Winchester 400
Pos Start Car # Driver/Hometown Sponsor/Make Laps Winnings
(in US$)
Status
1 5 84 Bob Senneker / Dorr, MI Elk Custom Vans / Pontiac 400 $11,670 running
2 3 17 Mark Martin / Batesville, AR 7-Eleven / Ford 400 $6,170 running
3 1 99 Dick Trickle / Wisconsin Rapids, WI Pabst/Prototype Eng. / Pontiac 400 $4,920 running
4 2 52 Butch Miller / Lawton, MI Lane Automotive/Golden/Dillon / Pontiac 400 $4,270 running
5 11 79 Bobby Dotter / Chicago, IL Prototype/Hill Ent. / Pontiac 399 $2,600 running
6 6 81 Harold Fair / Livonia, MI Hanley Ent./Prototype Eng. / Pontiac 399 $2,495 running
7 18 80 Doug Klein / Fairview Heights, IL Roulo Brothers Racing / Pontiac 397 $1,700 running
8 16 90 Kent Stauffer / Elyria, OH Stauffer Racing Ent. / Pontiac 384 $2,000 running
9 19 27 J. Michael Kurkowski / Perry, OH LEAP Asphalt / Pontiac 383 $1,900 running
10 13 24 Dave Jensen / Independence, MO Jensen Racing/CAM2 / Pontiac 378 $1,550 running
11 17 73 Steve Christman / Fort Wayne, IN Habegger Racing / Pontiac 373 $1,000 running
12 4 28 Alan Kulwicki / Milwaukee, WI Hardee’s / Pontiac 371 $2,520 running
13 21 0 Tom Jones / Northbrook, IL Prototype/Left-hander Chassis / Pontiac 370 $1,400 running
14 12 71 John Wilson / Springfield, OH Wilson Racing / Pontiac 357 $1,100 running
15 15 41 Tom Harrington / Loveland, OH BFI Waste Systems / Chevrolet 345 $1,025 suspension
16 8 88 Mike Eddy / Midland, MI Howe Ent./CAM2 / Pontiac 339 $3,645 broken shock
17 10 35 Buddy Schrock / Plain City, OH White Castle / Pontiac 336 $695 running
18 7 5 Jim Sauter / Necedah, WI Dairyland Transport/LSJ / Pontiac 318 $2,045 running
19 22 29 Ken Harrison / Indianapolis, IN Colby Equipment/Indiana Oxygen / Pontiac 251 $500 accident
20 14 7 John Vallo / Miamisburg, OH A-1 Auto Service/Shatto / Pontiac 250 $1,050 suspension
21 23 4 Don Collins / Lake Villa, IL Dairy Queen / Pontiac 246 $725 engine
22 9 22 Ken Lund / Madison, WI Midstate Building Systems/LSJ / Pontiac 236 $890 accident
23 24 3 Dave Heid / White Pigeon, MI Landon Engineering / Chevrolet 121 $415 handling
24 20 54 Dave Simko / Clarkston, MI Mound Steel Supply / Pontiac 9 $660 accident

Race statistics

External links

Preceded by
1983 Winchester 400
1984 Winchester 400
Winner: Bob Senneker
Succeeded by
1985 Winchester 400