1984 Daytona 500, Part 2 (Start/1st Caution).

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This is part two of the 1984 Daytona 500. This race, run on February 19, 1984, is one of the truly forgotten jewels in the history of NASCAR. In fact, I consider this race, the 26th running of the Daytona 500, to be the greatest of all the Daytona 500s. It might not have had the most memorable moments, but from a pure competition standpoint, as far as the greatest drivers and teams in the history of the sport, and the all-day compeititon between the finest in the sport's history at their peaks, this ranks to me as the greatest Daytona 500 of all-time.

As the title implies, this second part deals with the start of the race, which is a flying start with laps in excess of 196 MPH, but the pace doesn't last long. On the fourth lap, Dave Marcis blows his engine entering turn one and spins in his own oil, though he doesn't hit anything, nor does anyone else hit him, though 1972 Daytona 500 winner A.J. Foyt, who was never competitve, comes closer than he would have liked.

A couple of other notes. First, in the 300-mile race for what is now the Nationwide Series, there was a pit road accident in which Doug Richert, Neil Bonnett's crew chief, had his leg broken. This led to the withdrawal of a third Junior Johnson car, which had been qualified by Jack Ingram, but with no crew chief, it was withdrawn from the race, as Junior Johnson had to become Bonnett's crew chief for the day. Also, this was probably the hottest day in Daytona 500 history, with temperatures exceeeding 90 degrees, making it feel more like a typical Firecracker 400 day, rather than a Daytona 500, which is usually run in much cooler conditions.

All credits go to SPEED, NASCAR, and CBS, who originally broadcast this race on February 19, 1984.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• 1984
• Daytona
• 500
• SPEED
• NASCAR
• Classics
• CBS
• Sports
• start
• Cale
• Yarborough
• Terry
• Labonte
• Dave
• Marcis