***NASCAR NC Pepsi 400 at Daytona on FoX, Saturday July 3,2004 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET***

Nascar.com ^ | 6/30/04

[NormsRevenge]

Prayers for our troops in the field , their families and our nation and allies as we wage war against terrorists, both foreign and domestic.

[NormsRevenge]

Click the car FoR old NASCAR threads.

Pepsi 400
Daytona Int'l Speedway
Saturday, July 2, 2004
Fox at 4pm PT / 7pm ET

Pepsi 400 Viewer's Guide

Broadcast schedule
All times below Eastern

Pepsi 400 FOX --- Sat. 7 p.m.

O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 --- SPEED Sat. 3 p.m.

Winn-Dixie 250 --- FX Fri. 7:30 p.m.

Pepsi 400 Bud Pole qualifying --- SPEED Thr. 8 p.m.

Track Smack: Daytona

Daytona International Speedway
Since 1959, Daytona International Speedway has hosted the Daytona 500, now the culmination of a two-week festival of speed known as Speedweeks. In early July, the track hosts the night-time running of the Pepsi 400. In addition to Busch Series and Craftsman Truck events, the track also hosts the sports-car Rolex 24 at Daytona, and motorcycle and karting events.

Track Facts
Banking/Turns: 31 degrees
Distance: 2.5 miles
Shape: Tri-oval

[NormsRevenge]

The last time the King ruled
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Speed/Headlines/03SpeedSPEED02063004.htm

By GODWIN KELLY
Motorsports Editor

Last update: 30 June 2004



DAYTONA BEACH -- There was a different kind of buzz, a new level of energy radiating from Daytona International Speedway on the morning of July 4, 1984.

For the first time in the history of NASCAR racing, a sitting President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, would be attending a stock car race.

But the thousands of race fans who poured into the Speedway that day did not come to see Reagan. They were there with the hopes of seeing history unfold over the 2.5-mile tri-oval.

The throng got what they wanted -- to see Richard Petty win for the 200th time in the Winston Cup Series.

"It is one day amongst a bunch, but it was one huge, special day for me," Petty said in the days leading up to the 20th anniversary of that monumental victory.


"Twenty years?" Petty said. "It feels more like it happened yesterday."

Five weeks before Daytona's Pepsi Firecracker 400, Petty, the undisputed "King of Stock Car Racing," had won the 199th Winston Cup Series race of his career.

That victory came at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and the watch for win No. 200 was going strong, even though Petty was in a rough patch.

In the four races between Dover and Daytona, Petty finished 34th, 23rd, 13th and 34th, dropping out of two events with mechanical failure.

Petty celebrated his 47th birthday on July 2, 1984, and hoped Daytona would help get him out of his little funk. After all, he had won seven Daytona 500s and become synonymous with high performance at NASCAR's premier facility.

In those days, the summer race started at 10 a.m. because of the intense heat and clockwork afternoon thunderstorms. The Speedway did not install lights until 1998, when the race was moved to night.

Reagan gave the command to fire the engines while en route here on Air Force One. By the middle of the 160-lap run, it hadbecome a two-car battle between Petty and his familiar nemesis, Cale Yarborough.

As the laps wound down, Petty's No. 43 Pontiac was in the lead just ahead of Yarborough's No. 28 Chevrolet. Yarborough was waiting to use his signature "slingshot" pass to win the race.




"Cale was sitting back there waiting for the last lap, and I knew that," said Petty, a seven-time NASCAR champion.

Rookie Doug Heveron changed the game plan for both drivers. His No. 01 Chevrolet spun off the course in Turn 1 and as Petty and Yarborough thundered past the start-finish line to begin Lap 158, the yellow flag was displayed behind them.

"With three laps to go, we both seen a bunch of dust or something up in the air," Petty said. "We went past the start-finish line and the caution came out. I knew I had to get back to the finish line first. Cale realized the same thing."

The Pepsi Firecracker 400 had suddenly turned into a one-lap drag race between two NASCAR legends in the twilight of their driving careers.

As they raced down the back straightaway, Yarborough passed Petty for the lead going into Turn 3.


"When the caution came out, I knew the race was over," Yarborough said. "I was too far behind him to make the run I wanted to make on him. I got by him anyway."

Petty said Yarborough's Chevrolet had so much momentum, it washed up the east banking, leaving the inside racing lane open. Petty stuck his blue and red Pontiac in that hole.

"I got in there and got up beside him and we raced back to the flag," Petty said.

The yellow flag.

Even with two laps remaining, the first driver to the yellow flag would be declared the race winner. NASCAR does not allow racing to the yellow flag today.

The two legends touched at least three times as they exited Turn 4 and came screaming through the tri-oval bend.

"The basic deal was this," Petty said. "I was on the inside of the track and he was on the outside and when we turned in the dogleg, he had to go three or four more foot than me and that's how much I beat him by."

While there was a lot of sentiment for Petty to win, Yarborough felt it was his job to make him earn it.

"I think everybody was talking about his 200th win, but everybody was also thinking about not letting him get it, too," Yarborough said. "I didn't have a problem with it. I didn't want him to have it either. I wanted it."

Instead, he became the subject of a racing trivia question: who finished second in the 1984 400? The answer: Harry Gant.

When Yarborough came back around the track for the first lap of caution, he pulled into the pits thinking the race was over, then rejoined the field for the final lap.

Afterward, he said the frantic finish had "completely blow'd his mind." NASCAR awarded Yarborough third place that day.



"It was one race that I'd love to run over one more time," Yarborough said. "I feel like I left that one laying on the table."

After completing the two laps behind the pace car then the cool-down lap, Petty parked his war horse at the start-finish line and was escorted through the grandstands to see Reagan, who was watching from a suite.

Then the party started.

"That was a big celebration for us and our family," Kyle Petty, Richard's son, said. "All of my sisters were here. All of our family was here. The President was here. It was a big day in NASCAR in general but it was a really big day for the Petty family."

"I guess if you look at the way my career evolved all them years, it built up to that day," Richard said. "If you had been really Hollywood, it would have been get out of the car and say 'See ya.' "

Petty raced another eight years without winning because he "loved driving a car too much" to retire.

July 4, 1984 will go down as one of NASCAR's all-time banner days, a day of kings and presidents and a classic, fender-rubbing finish.

[NormsRevenge]

Petty Provided Fireworks At '84 Firecracker

http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGBMWDT74WD.html

By TONY FABRIZIO
Published: Jul 1, 2004


DAYTONA BEACH - To mark NASCAR's first 50 years in 1998, Sports Illustrated ranked the 10 greatest races of all time.

Daytona's 1984 Firecracker 400 was No. 7.

For certain, the '84 Firecracker stands as one of NASCAR's milestone races. With a sitting U.S. president in the house for the first time at a big stock car race, ``King'' Richard Petty earned the 200th and, as it would turn out, final victory of his legendary career.

That was 20 years ago this week, and Daytona will commemorate the anniversary before Saturday night's 46th Pepsi 400. Petty will carry a checkered flag around the track in his old No. 43 Pontiac, and the 1984 Victory Lane ceremony will be recreated.

``It was one of those unbelievable days - winning the race, winning it right at the end and winning with the president of the United States there,'' Petty recalls now. ``I just can't believe it has been 20 years since I won a race.''

Ronald Reagan gave the command for drivers to start their engines from Air Force One, then landed at the adjacent Daytona Beach airport and watched the race from a speedway suite.

What cemented the race's place in history was that Petty had to battle one of his fiercest rivals for the win, beating him by only a few feet.

Petty and the tenacious Cale Yarborough were running 1-2 on the 157th of 160 laps. When Doug Heveron wrecked in Turn 1 to bring out a caution, both leaders knew they were on the last contested lap and that the race would end under caution.

Yarborough made his move on the backstretch, using the old ``slingshot'' pass to pull ahead going into Turn 3. But he carried so much momentum into Turn 4 that his car slid up the banking, providing an opening for Petty.

Petty pulled even on the inside, and the two warhorses raced side by side on the tri-oval, touching three or four times before passing the flag stand.

``It was so close, I couldn't call it,'' said Barney Hall, who announced the race for Motor Racing Network. ``Mike Joy said, `I think Richard Petty won by inches.' It turned out he did. But it was so close. I was as excited as everybody else was when they came off Turn 4, beating and banging.''

As many trivia buffs know, Yarborough didn't even finish second that day. He was so flummoxed after losing by such a close margin that he pulled down pit road with a lap remaining. That allowed Harry Gant to pass him for second, giving Yarborough third.

``My brain blew up, I guess,'' Yarborough said later.

While Daytona's 80,000 fans were focused on seeing a piece of history, Yarborough had been determined to prevent it. And he nearly did. Some wonder whether Petty would have gotten to 200 had he not won that day. He raced another eight years without getting a victory.

``Everybody was talking about his 200th win [before the race],'' Yarborough said. ``But everybody was also thinking about not letting him have it, too. I didn't want him to have it, either. I wanted it.''

Afterward, Petty - then and now a staunch Republican - visited with Reagan and other dignitaries. It's a memory he relived, he says, after Reagan's death on June 5.

``We went upstairs and talked to him a little bit after the race and had some pictures taken,'' Petty remembers. ``Then we came down and had a dinner with him - a luncheon or whatever you want to call it. All the drivers got to meet him. I thought that was a very personal thing. Of course, that was Reagan. That was the kind of person he was.''

Both Petty and Yarborough were on the down sides of their careers in 1984 after winning seven and three championships, respectively. Petty had won only eight races in the 1980s. Yarborough was racing part-time, although he had won that year's Daytona 500 and Winston 500 at Daytona's sister track, Talladega.

Nevertheless, the 1984 Firecracker 400 finish became their most famous duel.

``The fact it was Cale I had to beat wound up making it a memory that's special for me,'' Petty says now. ``Maybe it's not too special for Cale. But we'd run a bunch together, and he was one of the best at that particular time.

``As for who I'd ran against at Daytona, the only person I probably would have liked to have beat more was David Pearson.''

[NormsRevenge]

A little Nascar history.

[mnp51mustang3]

ok, im new here and i must admit im a liberal, and im not pissed that ur a nascar fan but what does piss me off is that u put this sites logo on the side of my favorite drivers car

[LasVegasMac]

ok, im new here and i must admit im a liberal, and im not pissed that ur a nascar fan but what does piss me off is that u put this sites logo on the side of my favorite drivers car

Man, you struck out twice. Only one more to go!!

Liberal.

Jeff Gordon's twin.

Oops, you can't spell worth a crap.

Sorry.

LVM

[NormsRevenge]

lol ... oops.. DUhhh on the car just wouldn't look quite right. ;-)

Jimmy is on a roll , that is for sure.

Evernham Racing is going great guns of late...

[mnp51mustang3]

hey lvm thanks for comparing me to the greatest nascar driver on earth and for calling me a liberal, u made my day

[giznort]

Welcome, Newbie.

[giznort]

Thank you for some of the great moments in NASCAR Winston Cup, or the former Grand National Series.

Please excuse the whinings of the newbies still wet behind the ears. Hubby and I long for the days when racing was racing, men were men, and women were glad of it. Nowdays we have these woosies like Dale Jr. who want us to see Fahrenheit 9-11, and Jeff (I'm almost a man) Gordon, and I wonder what in the Hell has happened to my sport?

[NormsRevenge]

NASCAR Fines Stewart $50G, Loses Points

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040630/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_nascar_stewart&e=1&ncid=

Wed Jun 30, 7:46 PM ET

JENNA FRYER, AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Tony Stewart avoided suspension Wednesday when NASCAR (news - web sites) fined him $50,000 and docked him championship points for his altercation with Brian Vickers.


Stewart lost 25 points in the driver standings, car owner Joe Gibbs lost 25 points in the owner standings, and Stewart was also placed on probation until Aug. 18.


"This action we've taken speaks for itself," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "Tony Stewart is well aware of what is expected of him going forward."


Stewart could have been suspended for Saturday night's race at Daytona International Speedway for his latest infraction. But NASCAR declined to park him for a race, which saves the 2002 series champion's bid for the Nextel Cup championship.


Stewart said he met with NASCAR chairman Brian France to discuss the matter.


"I understand and accept NASCAR's penalty," he said. "With NASCAR's continued growth and their rise in mainstream popularity, I realize their rules have become stricter than they were in the past.


"And after meeting with Brian France, I know it's my job to live within those rules."


Vickers was knocked out of Sunday's race in California following contact from Stewart. After the race, Vickers said Stewart came up to his car window and confronted him.


Vickers said the two were discussing the on-track contact and Vickers began to laugh about it. He claimed that Stewart then reached for him inside the car and "knocked the breath out of me."


"He hit the armrest and he reached in the car and he grabbed me in the chest and when he did hit me, it was kind of open palm," Vickers said after the race. "My team grabbed him and pulled him off of me."


Missing a race would have crippled Stewart in his bid for the cup championship. Under NASCAR's new points system, only the top 10 drivers in the standings and anyone else within 400 points of the leader will be eligible to race for the title over the final 10 races of the season.


Stewart, who was in fifth place in the standings and 307 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, drops to sixth in the standings after the penalty and is now 332 points back.


Had he been forced to sit out a race, Stewart would have almost certainly dropped out of the 400-point range to qualify for the title hunt.


The $50,000 fine NASCAR levied against the hot-tempered Stewart is not the largest he's received. He was fined a total of $60,000 by both NASCAR and sponsor Home Depot in 2002 for punching a photographer.

[glock rocks]

Updating doppler...

[NormsRevenge]

Pepsi 400 Entry List ..

Qualifying later today on SPeed Channel -- 5pm Pt / 8pm ET

Have a safe one out there!

[Vigilantcitizen]

You're welcome to come back and join the thread on race day, even if you are a liberal.

We've got plenty of air freshener.

[stainlessbanner]

Are you a Team Dean Racing fan or a Bob Grahm Craftsman series fan?

[Fierce Allegiance]

Straighten up a bit and you can have a great time here. WSG may even let you join next years Freeper Fantasy racin league, but ya gotta chill.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Thanks for running the thread this week. I may miss the race due to I gotta cook the pig at another cookout saturday, out of town.

Have a good race, guys (and Gals), and here's hoping to a safe race finishing under green!

[flutters]

Petty pulled even on the inside, and the two warhorses raced side by side on the tri-oval, touching three or four times before passing the flag stand.

I would love to see that race. Does anyone know if it's available on video or DVD?

[NormsRevenge]

That sounds like fun! Have a good one.

[Dog Gone]

``My brain blew up, I guess,'' Yarborough said later.

This happens to me a lot.