The 1984 Talladega 500 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

race held at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

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 William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

, 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 William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

qualified second.

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

complex located north of

Talladega, Alabama Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham. ...

. It is located on the former

Anniston Air Force Base Anniston Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force airfield located approximately 10 miles north-northeast of Talladega, Alabama. It was active from 1942 to 1945 and 1949 to 1952. It is currently the site of the Talladega Superspeedway a ...

in the small city of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

. The track is a

Tri-oval A tri-oval is a shape which derives its name from the two other shapes it most resembles, a triangle and an oval. Rather than meeting at sharp, definable angles as the sides of a triangle do, in a tri-oval these angles are instead rounded into sm ...

and was constructed by

International Speedway Corporation International Speedway Corporation (ISC) was a corporation whose primary business is the ownership and management of motorsports race tracks. ISC was founded by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in 1953 for the construction of Daytona International ...

, a business controlled by the

France Family The France family is known as the "first family" of NASCAR racing. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. in 1948 and to this day France family members own and operate NASCAR. Jim France, one of the sons of the founder, is the current chairman and ...

, 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

series such as the

Monster Energy Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, and the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest

oval with a length of , and the track at its peak had a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 175,000 spectators.

Race report

Four

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

drivers failed to qualify for this race:

Delma Cowart Delma Cowart (July 6, 1941 – November 10, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver. While never achieving much success, Cowart achieved notoriety for being the "clown prince of racing" in the 1980s and 1990s. His jovial nature made him a ...

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

Blackie Wangerin Blackie Wangerin (born April 4, 1935) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from Bloomington, Minnesota. In 1971 he attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 but did not make it past the qualifying race. He returned to the series in 1977 and made ...

and Tommy Gale.Attendance and non-qualifying driver information for the ''1984 Talladega 500''
at Racing Reference Rounding out the race's top ten starters were

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A two ...

, dark horse racer

Tommy Ellis Tommy Ellis (born August 8, 1947) is an American former stock car racing driver who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Often referred to as "Terrible" Tommy Ellis for his rough tactics, he won the last national late model sportsman championship in 1 ...

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...

Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby an ...

Ron Bouchard Ronald R. Bouchard (November 23, 1948December 10, 2015) was an American NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His father-in-law, Ed Flemk ...

, and rookie

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

, who'd won the

Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series cir ...

earlier that month, qualified 11th following word that the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

wanted to put on permanent display the racecar (a 1984

Pontiac Grand Prix The Grand Prix is a line of automobiles produced by the Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1962 until 2002 for coupes and 1989–2008 for sedans. First introduced as a full-size performance coupe for the 1962 model year, the model varied ...

stock car under the ownership of Curb Motorsports) with which he'd won Daytona.

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and ...

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 CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

broadcast booth alongside

Ken Squier Kenley Dean Squier (born April 10, 1935) is an American sportscaster and motorsports editor from Waterbury, Vermont. From 1979 to 1997, he served as the lap-by-lap commentator for ''NASCAR on CBS'', and was also a lap-by-lap commentator for T ...

and

Ned Jarrett Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR Grand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former drivers Glenn Jar ...

for the telecast. Working pit road was veteran

MRN Radio Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...

broadcaster

Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...

and

National Speed Sport News ''Speed Sport'', formerly the ''National Speed Sport News ''(NSSN) is an American magazine and Web site covering national, local, and regional auto racing topics. Yahoo! News called it "one of the most famous motorsports publications in the country ...

editor

Chris Economaki Christopher Constantine Economaki (October 15, 1920 – September 28, 2012) was an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Economaki was given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism."

; 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 The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a two-door coupe that was manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. Deriving its name from the city in Monaco, the Monte Carlo was marketed as the first personal luxury car of the Chevr ...

for

Richard Childress Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. As the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), he became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. In 2004, he opene ...

, 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 Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

, Petty, and Labonte. Petty passed Yarborough and Earnhardt on Lap 31 but Earnhardt beat him to the stripe; soon after

Elliott Forbes-Robinson Elliott Forbes-Robinson (born October 31, 1943 in La Crescenta, California) is a road racing race car driver. He is known for his race wins and championships in many different series, including the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), Super Vee, Trans ...

crashed and Petty's transmission broke on the subsequent pitstop. Lap 157 provided the most serious accident of the day when

Trevor Boys Trevor Boys (born November 3, 1957) is a Canadian race car driver. He raced in 102 Winston Cup races from 1982 to 1993, posting two top-ten finishes, and ran six races in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2003, his best finish a 22nd at Memphis Motors ...

, 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 instantly; the only bad thing that happened is that he had to tie his shoe. 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 Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace ...

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey e ...

Darrell Bryant Darrell Bryant is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose claim to fame was his two "top ten" finishes in addition to racing 2389 laps - for a distance of . Bryant has driver for Chevrolet, Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Mercury during his driv ...

Joey Arrington Joey Arrington (born July 25, 1956) is an American former NASCAR driver, team owner, and crew chief from Rocky Mount, Virginia. He made nine Winston Cup Series starts with a best finish of 12th. He made his first start in 1974 as a 17-year-old a ...

, Cecil Gordon,

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

Travis Carter Travis Carter (born November 21, 1949) is a former car owner and crew chief in the NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known fo ...

Waddell Wilson Waddell Wilson (born December 29, 1936) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series crew chief and engine builder. He was the winning crew chief for the Daytona 500 in 1980 Daytona 500, 1980, 1983 Daytona 500, 1983, and 1984 Daytona 500, 1984. He was cr ...

Tim Brewer Timothy Ivan "Tim" Brewer (born February 4, 1955) is an American former stock car racing crew chief and television analyst for ''NASCAR on ESPN''. He was part of ''NASCAR Countdown'', the pre-race show, with host Brent Musburger and fellow analys ...

, Bud Moore, Jeff Hammond,

Jake Elder J. C. "Jake" Elder (November 22, 1936 – February 24, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief. He was the championship crew chief for two years and for part of a third season. Elder had these successes despite never pas ...

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

and

Kirk Shelmerdine Edward Kirk Shelmerdine V (born March 8, 1958) is an American stock car racing driver and former championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt. Crew chief After spending his early NASCAR career as an engineer for Hylton Engineering, in 1984 ...

Qualifying

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

radioed Labonte to get out of the lead with two to go fearing a last-lap pass, but by this point

Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...

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

Standings after the race

References

{{authority control

Talladega 500 The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of ...

NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway