1984 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 30 in the1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
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	Cale Yarborough	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)

The1984 Daytona 500, the 26th running of theevent, was held February 19, 1984, atDaytona International Speedway inDaytona 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 atDaytona. 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 passingDarrell Waltrip who would later go on to win the same race in1989.

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]

Cale Yarborough and his crew chiefWaddell Wilson were ready to repeat as Daytona 500 champion asSpeedweeks got underway. Yarborough won the pole with a new track record. In the firstTwin 125, 1980 Daytona 500 champBuddy 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 champBobby Allison held offHarry Gant. A total of 72 cars participated in the Twin 125 mile qualifiers, with 36 in each race.^[5]

In 1984 Daytona's 4th turn was dubbedCalamity Corner after three violent accidents.Ricky Rudd was battered and bruised in a wild, tumbling, sidewinding crash in theBusch Clash, but he won two weeks later inRichmond (despite a concussion suffered in the Clash; NASCAR did not implement a concussion rule until2014 afterDale 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 the2015 Saturday support race for the Daytona 500 that injuredKyle 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 achicane was built in the area near the finish line was implemented to slow entrance speeds into Turn 1 of the road course. During the2021 Busch Clash,Chase Elliott andRyan Blaney collided in that chicane on the run to the finish, leading to Kyle Busch winning.

^[6]

^[7]

^[8]

 R  = Daytona 500 rookie
 W  = Former Daytona 500 winner

PresidentRonald Reagan gave the command "Gentlemen, start your engines!" by phone from theWhite House. Yarborough, Allison,Dale Earnhardt andRichard 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 andTerry Labonte were also strong, as well asBill Elliott andDarrell 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 againstDonnie 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 sinceFireball Roberts in1962, 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 winningthe following year and in1987.

(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

7 for 39 laps

 R  = Daytona 500 rookie
 W  = Former Daytona 500 winner

• 1984: A sweet repeat — NASCAR.com, January 28, 2003

• 1984 in sports in Florida
• 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• February 1984 sports events in the United States
• NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway

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