1984 Talladega 500

Auto race held at Talladega Superspeedway in 1984 February 2025 CUST Race 19 of 30 in the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Talladega 500 Weather information for the 1984 Talladega 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac 1984 07 29 1984 19 30 Talladega Superspeedway.png Layout of Talladega Superspeedway Temperatures of 84 F C; wind speeds of 8 mph km/h Talladega 500 Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama 2.660 4.280 188 500.1 804.8 155.485 mph on 94,000 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Racing Buddy Baker Wood Brothers Racing 41 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing CBS Ken Squier Ned Jarrett Benny Parsons The 1984 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway on July 29, 1984. It was the 19th of 30 races for the 1984 Winston Cup Grand National season and was telecast live flag to flag on the CBS television network. Cale Yarborough, the winner of that season's Daytona 500, Winston 500 earlier that season at Talladega, and Van Scoy Diamond 500 at Pocono won the pole at a speed of 202.474 mph. Bill Elliott qualified second. Background Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 mi km, and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/This-Is-Talladega/Track-Facts.aspx Track Facts Talladega Superspeedway November 1, 2012 talladegasuperspeedway.com April 27, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20121101080016/http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/This-Is-Talladega/Track-Facts.aspx November 1, 2012 Race report Four drivers failed to qualify for: Delma Cowart, J.D. McDuffie, Blackie Wangerin and Tommy Gale.Attendance and non-qualifying driver information for the 1984 Talladega 500 at Racing Reference The top ten starters were Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Tommy Ellis, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, Neil Bonnett, Ron Bouchard, and rookie Rusty Wallace. Richard Petty, who'd won the Firecracker 400 earlier that month, qualified 11th following word that the Smithsonian Institution wanted to put on permanent display the racecar (a 1984 Pontiac Grand Prix stock car under the ownership of Curb Motorsports) with which he'd won his 200th victory at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Benny Parsons had qualified ninth for the race but crashed hard in practice and was not medically cleared to race, so he was brought up to the CBS Sports broadcast booth alongside Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett for the telecast. Working pit road was veteran MRN Radio broadcaster Mike Joy and National Speed Sport News editor Chris Economaki; Economaki also hosted a short feature (aired during a lengthy caution period) on the nearby Talladega Short Track and its participants' thoughts on someday racing at the superspeedway. The race became one of the most competitive in racing history, as the lead changed 68 times among 16 drivers. Earnhardt, driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Richard Childress, had taken the lead in Winston Cup points at that point of the season but had not won a race. He took the lead on the opening lap and was soon challenged by Yarborough, Baker, Bobby Allison, Petty, and Labonte. Petty passed Yarborough and Earnhardt on Lap 31 but Earnhardt beat him to the stripe; soon after Elliott Forbes-Robinson crashed and Petty's transmission broke on the subsequent pitstop. Lap 157 provided the most serious accident of the day when Trevor Boys, racing in the top ten with Ellis, was clipped off Turn Four, spun, and flipped onto his roof at the pit road entrance before tumbling into the tri-oval grass. Boys climbed out of the car uninjured; the only bad thing that happened is that he had to tie his shoe.Trevor Boys Goes for a Wild Ride at the 1984 Talladega 500 at Complex Mag Earnhardt intentionally dragged the brake entering turn 1 on the final lap, got a massive run and slingshotted past Terry Labonte on the backstretch to take the win. Notable crew chiefs in this race were Kenny Wallace, Junie Donlavey, Darrell Bryant, Joey Arrington, Cecil Gordon, Dale Inman, Travis Carter, Waddell Wilson, Tim Brewer, Bud Moore, Jeff Hammond, Jake Elder, Harry Hyde and Kirk Shelmerdine.1984 Talladega 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer 1 28 Cale Yarborough Chevrolet 2 9 Bill Elliott Ford 3 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 4 44 Terry Labonte Chevrolet 5 4 Tommy Ellis Chevrolet 6 21 Buddy Baker Ford 7 11 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet 8 12 Neil Bonnett Chevrolet 9 47 Ron Bouchard Buick 10 88 Rusty Wallace Pontiac 11 43 Richard Petty Pontiac 12 75 Dave Marcis Pontiac 13 84 Jody Ridley Chevrolet 14 33 Harry Gant Chevrolet 15 1 Lake Speed Chevrolet 16 22 Bobby Allison Buick 17 66 Phil Parsons Chevrolet 18 90 Dick Brooks Ford 19 14 A.J. Foyt Oldsmobile 20 95 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 21 38 Phil Barkdoll Chevrolet 22 51 Greg Sacks Chevrolet 23 27 Tim Richmond Pontiac 24 15 Ricky Rudd Ford 25 67 Buddy Arrington Chrysler 26 7 Kyle Petty Ford 27 98 Joe Ruttman Chevrolet 28 5 Geoff Bodine Chevrolet 29 48 Trevor Boys Chevrolet 30 41 Ronnie Thomas Chevrolet 31 29 Grant Adcox Chevrolet 32 8 Bobby Hillin, Jr. Chevrolet 33 71 Mike Alexander Oldsmobile 34 87 Randy Baker Buick 35 77 Ken Ragan Chevrolet 36 52 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 37 17 Clark Dwyer Chevrolet 38 03 Eddie Bierschwale Chevrolet 39 2 Elliot Forbes-Robinson Chevrolet 40 73 Steve Moore Chevrolet Finish The finish shook into an eleven-car battle; Bouchard ran out of gas with three laps to go and Labonte held the lead; his crew chief Dale Inman radioed Labonte to get out of the lead with two to go fearing a last-lap pass, but by this point Harry Gant had raced into contention and was battling Earnhardt and Baker for second. Earnhardt broke away to a ten-length win with Baker edging Labonte for second and Allison edging Yarborough for fourth. It was the second year in a row that he won the race and he won both races with last lap passes. He became the first driver to win back to back Talladega 500s (he also completed the feat in 1990-1991 and he won back to back Winston 500's in 1999-2000). The prior year he won in a Ford driving for Bud Moore. This was his first win with Richard Childress driving a Chevrolet. Earnhardt led thirteen times for 40 laps. Six of the ten positions behind Earnhardt were decided by photo finishes at the line. Also, Earnhardt started the race in third, led the first lap and the last. Individual paychecks for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $47,100 ($ when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $1,800 ($ when adjusted for inflation) from a total purse of $352,500. ($ when adjusted for inflation).Total prize purse at the 1984 Talladega 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Ken Ragan received his only lead lap finish of his career at this race. Top 20 finishers Pos No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Number of laps completed Laps led Number of laps led Time/Status 13Dale EarnhardtChevrolet18840 3:12:04 221Buddy BakerFord18841 +1.66 seconds 344Terry LabonteChevrolet18819 Lead lap under green flag 422Bobby AllisonBuick18816 Lead lap under green flag 528Cale YarboroughChevrolet18834 Lead lap under green flag 611Darrell WaltripChevrolet1881 Lead lap under green flag 733Harry GantChevrolet1882 Lead lap under green flag 81Lake SpeedChevrolet1880 Lead lap under green flag 94Tommy EllisChevrolet1881 Lead lap under green flag 109Bill ElliottFord1886 Lead lap under green flag 1177Ken RaganChevrolet1881 Lead lap under green flag 1288Rusty WallacePontiac1880 Lead lap under green flag 1375Dave MarcisPontiac1884 Lead lap under green flag 1415Ricky RuddFord1880Lead lap under green flag 158Bobby Hillin, Jr.Chevrolet1880 Lead lap under green flag 1647Ron BouchardBuick1879+1 lap 1771Mike AlexanderOldsmobile1850 +3 laps 1873Steve MooreChevrolet1840 +4 laps 1912Neil BonnettChevrolet1781 +10 laps 2066Phil ParsonsChevrolet1640 +24 laps Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 10px Dale Earnhardt 2848 0 2 Terry Labonte 2778 -70 3 Bill Elliott 2764 -84 4 10px Darrell Waltrip 2734 -114 5 10px Harry Gant 2703 -145 6 10px Bobby Allison 2619 -229 7 10px Neil Bonnett 2456 -392 8 10px Geoff Bodine 2426 -422 9 10px Ricky Rudd 2425 -423 10 10px Ron Bouchard 2392 -456 References 1984 Like Cola 500 1984 Champion Spark Plug 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1984 1983 1985 Talladega 500 races 1984 Talladega 500 Talladega 500 Category:NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway