# 1984 Daytona 500

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. It was the only Daytona 500 start for Dean Combs. This race would be the final Daytona 500 starts for Dean Roper, Ronnie Thomas, and Tommy Gale.

## Speedweeks

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.

## Calamity Corner

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
### Qualifying results

| 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 | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 5 | 21 | Buddy Baker W | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford Thunderbird | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 6 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 7 | 12 | Neil Bonnett | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 8 | 55 | Benny Parsons W | Johnny Hayes Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 9 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | All-Star Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 10 | 27 | Tim Richmond | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac Grand Prix | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 11 | 16 | David Pearson W | Bobby Hawkins Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 12 | 90 | Dick Brooks | Donlavey Racing | Ford Thunderbird | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 13 | 66 | Phil Parsons | Johnny Hayes Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 14 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford Thunderbird | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 15 | 7 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford Thunderbird | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 16 | 1 | Lake Speed | Ellington Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 17 | 77 | Ken Ragan R | Branch-Ragan Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 18 | 47 | Ron Bouchard | Race Hill Farm Team | Buick Regal | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 19 | 89 | Dean Roper | Mueller Brothers | Pontiac Grand Prix | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 20 | 51 | Greg Sacks R | Sacks & Sons | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 21 | 42 | Dick Trickle | Billy Matthews | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 22 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. R | Stavola Brothers Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 23 | 01 | Doug Heveron R | Heveron Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 24 | 4 | Lennie Pond | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 25 | 97 | Dean Combs R | Irv Sanderson Racing | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 26 | 11 | Darrell Waltrip | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 27 | 88 | Rusty Wallace | Cliff Stewart Racing | Pontiac Grand Prix | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 28 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Arrington Racing | Chrysler Imperial | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 29 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 30 | 64 | Tommy Gale | Langley Racing | Ford Thunderbird | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 31 | 98 | Joe Ruttman | Robert McEntyre | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 32 | 14 | A. J. Foyt W | A. J. Foyt | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 33 | 84 | Jody Ridley | Benfield Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 34 | 43 | Richard Petty W | Curb Racing | Pontiac Grand Prix | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 35 | 48 | Trevor Boys R | Hylton Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 36 | 29 | Connie Saylor | Herb Adcox | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 37 | 17 | Clark Dwyer | Hamby Motorsports | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 38 | 41 | Ronnie Thomas | Thomas Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 39 | 75 | Dave Marcis | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac Grand Prix | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 40 | 10 | Sterling Marlin | Hamby Motorsports | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 41 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Means Racing | Chevrolet Monte Carlo | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |
| 42 | 71 | Mike Alexander R | Marcis Auto Racing | Oldsmobile Cutlass | Set through a combination of the UNO Twin 125 mile qualifying races, second round qualifying, and provisionals. |

## Failed to qualify

| 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 |
R = Daytona 500 rookie W = Former Daytona 500 winner

## Race Summary

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
### Box Score

| 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 |
(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

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 |

### Lap leader breakdown

| 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 |
R = Daytona 500 rookie W = Former Daytona 500 winner