1984 Firecracker 400

1984 Firecracker 400

Race details
Race 16 of 30 in the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Daytona International Speedway
Date	July 4, 1984 (1984-July-04)
Location	Daytona Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida, USA)
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.500 mi (4.000 km)
Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather	Temperatures up to 87.1 °F (30.6 °C) with 0.47 inches (12 mm) of rain reported within 24 hours of the race; wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)[1]
Average speed	171.204 miles per hour (275.526 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Ranier-Lundy Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Cale Yarborough	Ranier-Lundy Racing
Laps	79
Winner
No. 43	Richard Petty	Curb Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Jim Lampley Sam Posey

The 1984 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series) racing event that took place on July 4, 1984 at Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida, USA).^[2]

The event was run amid the heat and humidity common to mid-summer Florida and was among the final runnings before the event acquired Pepsi sponsorship, starting in 1989.

Racing summary

The "Start your engine" command was given by President Ronald Reagan from the phone on Air Force One, which later landed at Daytona Beach International Airport. President Reagan then was escorted to one of the main press boxes at the speedway where he was met by a number of reporters, one of them being Ned Jarret. After "The King" Richard Petty won the race (his 200th win) Petty stopped his car at the start finish line and ran up to the press box where Reagan remained to congratulate Petty on his victory and 200th win.

Of forty-two drivers on the grid, forty-one were born in the United States of America while Trevor Boys, a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was the event's lone non-American entrant.^[2]

The race brought Richard Petty's 200th and final victory in the Winston Cup Series. Petty beat Cale Yarborough at the line with just two laps remaining in the race after Doug Heveron flipped over in the first turn.

There were three cautions for fifteen laps and the race ended under caution.^[2]

A live audience of 80,000 people attended the race.^[2]

Notable entrants in the race included Geoff Bodine, Ricky Rudd, David Pearson, Dale Jarrett (his first start on a superspeedway), Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty, Buddy Baker, Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, and Darrell Waltrip.

Top ten finishers

1. Richard Petty
2. Harry Gant
3. Cale Yarborough
4. Bobby Allison
5. Benny Parsons
6. Bill Elliott
7. Terry Labonte
8. Dale Earnhardt
9. Neil Bonnett
10. Joe Ruttman

Controversy

Rumors later circulated that Petty's engine in the race was illegal. The engine was built by DiGard Racing as part of a lease deal with Curb Motorsports, and on race morning there had been a dispute between the two teams over lateness of payments; Richard Petty himself offered to cover whatever payments had been missed. Though rumors about the legality of the engine had circulated the consensus of evidence is that the engine was legal.

Also, because of the 1971 Myers Brothers 250 dispute, there is dispute whether this is Petty's 201st win or not; because of the Grand American / Grand National combination race status, Petty had finished second in a Grand National car to a Grand American car (Bobby Allison, driving a Mustang) that won the race; under current NASCAR rules for combination races, both the Grand National and Grand American winners would be credited a win for their division.

References