1984 Domino's Pizza 500

The 1984 Pocono 500, the 14th running of the event, was held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 19, 1984. Branded as the 1984 Domino's Pizza 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Danny Sullivan.

Background

Drivers criticized Pocono Raceway's track conditions in 1983. Major bumps on the frontstretch affected cars to the point where the race had to start two-wide instead of three. Before the 1984 season, Pocono repaved the frontstretch.

Rick Mears won the Indianapolis 500. Mario Andretti won the Michigan 500. Domino's Pizza's offer of one million dollars to any driver who could win all three 500 miles races in Indy car's Triple Crown went unclaimed.

Practice and Time Trials

Practice - Wednesday, August 15

In practice on Wednesday, August 15, Kevin Cogan spun 360 degrees and crashed in turn two. Cogan suffered broken heels in both feet, a torn Achilles tendon on his left foot, and a shattered Talus bone on his right foot. On Thursday, he was flown to Los Angeles for rehabilitation. Cogan was driving for the Forsythe Racing Team, defending winners of the Pocono 500, replacing Teo Fabi who returned to Formula One.

Ed Pimm also crashed on Wednesday. He was uninjured but needed to go to a backup car.

Qualifying - Thursday, August 16

Rick Mears won the pole at a speed of 202.872 mph. It broke the track record he set in 1982. Bobby Rahal was second fastest at 201.496 mph. Mario Andretti qualified third at 200.294 mph.

Tony Bettenhausen Jr. was the slowest qualifier on Thursday with a speed of 172.364 mph, over 30 mph slower than Mears. On Friday morning, Bettenhausen crashed in practice.

Qualifying Day 2 - Friday, August 17

Friday's final round of qualifying set the final three starting positions for the race. Pete Halsmer started 31st with a speed of 189.036 mph. Ed Pimm in a backup car qualified at 188.695. Dick Ferguson was the 33rd qualifier at 178.887 mph.

Race

The race start was delayed two hours and eight minutes while the track was dried from a morning rain. Because of the freshly repaved frontstretch at Pocono, the race was able to start lined up in rows of three. Major bumps in the frontstretch had forced the race to start in rows of two in 1982 and 1983.

When the race began, Rick Mears drove off to a quick lead, a lead he held for 14 laps. Tom Sneva took the lead on lap 15. Roberto Guerrero crashed on lap 20. Under caution, Mears cycled back to the lead.

Mario Andretti was running third when the caution flew. At this point, the engine began running on seven cylinders. When he came into the pits, his crew took off the engine cover and replaced a spark plug. A handful of laps later, his crew replaced the spark box.

Danny Sullivan took the lead on lap 44 and led for 15 laps. Sneva returned to the lead on lap 60 and led 34 of the next 43 laps.

Dennis Firestone crashed on lap 93. During the caution, the CART pace car, driven by Roger Mears, experienced engine problems and was switched to a backup car.

Bobby Rahal took the lead on lap 139, and held the lead for the next 44 laps. Mario Andretti suffered an engine failure on lap 163. Al Unser Jr. crashed in turn one on lap 166.

The race saw a record 10 cautions. Bobby Rahal led the field to the final restart on lap 182. One lap after the restart, Rick Mears retook the lead and pulled away by over two seconds.

With 12 laps to go, the low fuel light on Mears' dashboard came on. The Penske driver was forced to run at a lower fuel number to conserve enough to finish. With six laps remaining, Rahal and Sullivan passed Mears for the lead on the frontstretch. Then going into turn two, Sullivan passed Rahal for the lead. Once Mears had saved enough fuel, he returned to full engine boost, but after re-passing Rahal, was almost two seconds behind Sullivan.

As Sullivan entered the last lap, he caught a pack of four lapped cars who spread out four-wide down the frontstretch, creating a blockade impassable to Sullivan. Entering turn three, Mears reached Sullivan's rear wing, but couldn't complete the pass. Sullivan won by 0.27 seconds, the closest finish in Pocono 500 history. Sullivan's win marked two consecutive years where a driver won in their first start at the track, joining Teo Fabi in 1983. It was Sullivan's second CART win and first on an oval.

For the second straight year, Mears won the Triple Crown points championship and the $10,000 prize that came with it.

Broadcasting

The Pocono 500 was broadcast by NBC's Sportsworld. Paul Page was the lead broadcaster, joined by Bobby Unser. Bruce Jenner and Gary Gerould reported from the pits. A one-hour delayed broadcast was aired two weeks after the race on August 27.1984 Pocono 500 Telecast: NBC-TV, August 27, 1984

Chip Ganassi served as a color commentator for the CART Radio Network broadcast. Ganassi suffered severe head injuries in a crash at Michigan four weeks earlier.

References

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1984 in American motorsport
Motorsport in Pennsylvania
Motorsport competitions in the United States