1984 Firecracker 400

The 1984 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 4, 1984, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Richard Petty, driving the #43 Pontiac for Curb Racing, won the race. The victory gave Petty his 200th win in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition, extending his longstanding record. It was also his final race victory before his 1992 retirement. The race was also notable for U.S. President Ronald Reagan's attendance.

Rival driver Cale Yarborough's premature retirement to the pit road has prompted conspiracy theorists to allege that organizers fixed the race in order to receive good publicity for the event.

Petty had been campaigning for Reagan in North Carolina and after the race went to the president’s suite to celebrate.

What really fueled the rumor, though, was Cale Yarborough, after a fender-to-fender duel with Petty over the final laps, apparently making a mental error by going down pit road on the final lap, thinking the race was over. By the time he recovered, Petty had won and Yarborough was third.

It didn’t help that in 242 more races, Petty never won again.

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Source: www.wikipedia.com

www.latimes.com