1980 Firecracker 400

Auto race held at Daytona Speedway in 1980 February 2025 CUST Race 17 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Firecracker 400 1980 07 4 1980 17 31 Daytona International Speedway.svg Track map of Daytona International Speedway. Firecracker 400 Daytona Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida 2.500 4.023 160 400 643 Temperatures of 88.9 F C; wind speeds of 10.1 mph km/h http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1980-07-04 1980 Firecracker 400 weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac 2011-07-19 173.473 mi/h 54,000 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering 63 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering ABC Keith Jackson The 1980 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1980, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series was also plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection around the early-1980s. One hundred and sixty laps of racing would result in a final win for Mercury in the Cup Series http://racing-reference.info/race/1980-17/W 1980 Firecracker 400 racing results Racing Reference 2010-11-10 before the manufacturer left NASCAR due to rule changes reducing the wheelbase of the tires from 110 in ft to 105 in ft. http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/opinion/06/01/retro.racing.maumann.mercury.history/1.html Mercury's Final Race NASCAR 2010-06-01 2010-11-10 Race report Bobby Allison was the final driver to win in a Mercury for the Ford Motor Company; he beat David Pearson by six car lengths. Pearson had a strong runner-up performance here despite leading only three laps. Other notable competitors included Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, Richard Childress and Bill Elliott. Out of forty participants, eleven competitors failed to finish the race. Cale Yarborough was credited for finishing last place with an overheated engine. The race took two hours, eighteen minutes, and eleven seconds to complete. Phil Finney had a violent crash off turn 4 and inflicted terminal damage to his vehicle on lap 152. All drivers were born in the United States of America. The Ford and Mercury cars of the early-1980s weren't exactly aerodynamic wonders compared to the General Motors cars. Also this was the era before Ernie Elliott figured out how to make the 351 Cleveland rev in the same high ranges that the Chevys were running without breaking valve springs. By the late-1980s and early-1990s, the Ford and Mercury cars could compete on a more equal basis with the General Motor cars (especially the Chevrolet cars that would go on to dominate NASCAR in the 21st century). Safety regulations made within the 1980s and 1990s would slow down the speed of vehicles in both the Firecracker 400 and the Daytona 500. The average speed for this race was a race record 173.473 mi/h while the pole position speed was 194.670 mi/h. Three cautions slowed the race for 11 laps. Fifty-four thousand spectators were in attendance. Out of the forty drivers in the grid, ten of them failed to finish the race due to car problems. On the day after the race, Lennie Pond made a celebrity appearance at a Burger King in nearby South Daytona; entertaining customers for three hours in the days before celebrity appearances were mainstream in the racing community. http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/viewtopic.php?p=567017&sid=ccd083a9b65f39b4fc0411c44a3397bf Ol'e Days: Lennie Pond's 'Burger King Specials'-1979-81 Randy Ayers Modeling 2014-08-05 Rick Wilson made his NASCAR debut in this event while Phil Finney and John Greenwood retired from NASCAR racing after this race. http://www.race-database.com/results/results.php?year=1980&race=17&series_id=2 Drivers entering/leaving NASCAR Race Database 2014-08-05 Finishing order Section reference: 30em Bobby Allison David Pearson† Dale Earnhardt† Buddy Baker† Richard Petty Benny Parsons† Jody Ridley Richard Childress John Anderson† Buddy Arrington Lennie Pond Bill Elliott Ricky Rudd Coo Coo Marlin† Rick Wilson Harry Gant Ronnie Thomas Steve Moore Donnie Allison Phil Finney* John Greenwood Don Whittington J.D. McDuffie† James Hylton† Jim Vandiver Jimmy Means Roger Hamby Tommy Gale† Cecil Gordon† Marty Robbins*† Darrell Waltrip* Terry Labonte* Dave Marcis* Neil Bonnett*† Bruce Hill* Tighe Scott* Chuck Bown* Lake Speed* Connie Saylor*† Cale Yarborough* * Driver failed to finish race † signifies that the driver is known to be deceased Standings after the race Pos Driver Points Differential 1 10px Dale Earnhardt 2557 0 2 10px Richard Petty 2529 -28 3 10px Cale Yarborough 2397 -160 4 Bobby Allison 2354 -203 5 10px Benny Parsons 2349 -208 6 Darrell Waltrip 2319 -238 7 10px Jody Ridley 2204 -353 8 10px Harry Gant 2055 -502 9 Richard Childress 2054 -503 10 Terry Labonte 1985 -572 References 1980 Gabriel 400 1980 Busch Nashville 420 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season 1980 1979 1981 Firecracker 400 races 1980 Firecracker 400 Firecracker 400 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway