The 1984 Firecracker 400 race is one of the most iconic events in the history of NASCAR. Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough were involved in a fierce battle over the final few laps of the race. Petty managed to pull off a slide job on Yarborough as they raced for the finish after the caution. The record books show that Petty won his 200th career race, but very few know that he had a favor from a rival on the track during the final-lap push.
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Ken Ragan was running a lap down while the leaders were racing for the win. And this is where Petty’s cheeky trick came into play. “Just as we go on the start-finish line, they go by me on the outside. I’ve looked in the mirror and I see smoke and there’s hard racing. I know Richard came out and said, ‘I picked off a little draft off of Ragan and helped me beat Cale to the line,’” Ragan said on Dale Jr. Download.
On superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega, drafting comes in quite handy. What Richard Petty did was fill the pocket left behind by Ragan’s car to beat Yarborough to the line. Interestingly, this was also the last time King Petty won a NASCAR Cup race. Two hundred wins—a record that remains untouched—and that too in front of the President of the United States.
For the first time ever, a sitting president attended a NASCAR race. Back in 1984, Ronald Reagan gave the command and also shared Kentucky Fried Chicken after the race. This marked a monumental shift in the mainstream popularity of NASCAR. Even Dale Jr. remembered the picnic President Reagan had with the drivers.
“I was there. We were all sitting at these picnic tables, these long rows of picnic tables eating chicken out of a box,” Jr. recalled. Another moment that stood out for both Ragan and Dale Jr. was the performance by country star Tammy Wynette. This race is remembered by fans as the day when the President met the King. And ever since, the great American sport has been graced by the presence of multiple presidents.
The 1984 Daytona race could’ve turned out differently had it not been for Ragan’s positioning on the last lap. King Petty solidified his legacy with his 200th victory, and the moments after the race helped propel NASCAR into popular culture and mainstream success.