|| *Comments on the 1984 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#55> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Mike Lindeen posted: 12.12.2004 - 2:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Earnhardt's first race in the #3 car for Childress 2. Jake posted: 12.29.2004 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was his first full-time race in the no. 3 car. In 1981 after Rod Osterlund sold his team, Dale drove a few races for J.D. Stacy and wasn't happy. Earnhardt then drove to the end of the '81 season for Childress. He had two un-successful years at Bud Moore and then came back to Childress. Soon after he came back, he and Richard became a tough combo to beat. 3. je24go posted: 02.28.2006 - 4:49 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) First race for a team called Hendrick Motorsports. I wonder what ever happened to them? 4. MOST posted: 05.06.2006 - 5:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Randy Lajoie flipped into the fence, horrible looking crash. (In the Twin 125) 5. Greg posted: 08.21.2006 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (6) Bobby Allison wins this race with a last lap pass. 6. Bill posted: 01.09.2007 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) You mean Cale Yarborough wins it. 7. myself posted: 02.14.2007 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TRIPLE CROWN! Cale becomes just the 2nd driver to win back-to-back 500s! Only one guy has done it since. Would've like to have seen Cale run for the championship in that #28 Hardees Chevy....he might have nabbed #4 in it! 8. biffle16 posted: 05.30.2007 - 2:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace's 10th start. He would never miss a race until his retirement. 9. myself posted: 02.21.2008 - 12:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Once more....ITS CALE! 10. jr88fan posted: 09.27.2008 - 11:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ken Ragan's first Daytona 500. 11. Bronco posted: 02.03.2009 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt's first of what would be 5 2nd place finishes in the Daytona 500. (1984,1993,1995,1996,1999) 12. Anonymous posted: 08.18.2009 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) bullshit 13. myself posted: 02.09.2010 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) what is? 14. fannie davis posted: 02.27.2010 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) THANKS BRONCO THATS VERY TRUE THE FACTS ARE THAT HE DID INDEED 2-19-84 ST 29TH FD 2 2-14-93 ST 4TH FD 2 2-19-95 ST 2ND FD 2 2-18-96 ST POLE FD 2 2-14-99 ST. 4TH FD 2 THATS AWESOME INDEED..... 15. Ryan posted: 08.13.2011 - 4:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) He didn't get much love on Valentine's Day. What's awesome is he ran so well there all the way from the start to the end of his career. 16. cjs3872 posted: 11.06.2011 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Actually, Jack Ingram did qualify for the race in a third Junior Johnson car [no. 92], but Ingram's car was withdrawn, quite possibly due to a pit road incident the previous day in which Doug richert, Neil Bonnett's crew chief, suffered a broken leg. With only Jeff Hammond, and Johnson deciding to be Bonnett's crew chief for the race, the no. 92 car had no crew chief, so it was withdrawn. As a result, Sterling Marlin was given the 40th starting spot, though the lineup behind where Ingram would have started was messed up. The drivers that started behind Ingram were moved up a row, instead of up a starting position. Also, Tom Sneva, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion at the time, failed to qualify for the race in what was the remains of Jim Stacy's team, for whom he had also failed to qualify for the 1980 Daytona 500. Also, the 1984 Daytona 500 was, in my mind, the greatest Daytona 500 of all-time. There were no records set, or memorable happenings that occured in this race. All you had were the top drivers and teams in the sport at the time battling for the entire race. Men like Richard Petty [Curb Motorsports], Bobby Allison [DiGard Racing], Dale Earnhardt [Richard Childress Racing], Bill Elliott [Melling Racing], Harry Gant [Mach 1 Racing], Neil Bonnett and Darrell Waltrip [Junior Johnson], and Terry Labonte [Billy Hagan Racing] battling for the entire day with pole sitter Cale Yarborough [Ranier Racing]. But the three fastest cars belonged to Allison, Petty, and Yarborough. But the cars of Allison and Petty both dropped out with the exact same problem, a broken camshaft. Both Allison's and Petty's engines were built by Robert Yates, so it might have been a bad batch of camshafts. Petty's performance was especially noteworthy, considering that he started 34th and raced through the pack, effectively entirely under green flag conditions, and took the lead on lap 50. When Petty dropped out, there wasn't anyone left in the race that had the speed to beat Yarborough [Allison had dropped out earlier], as he joined Petty as just the second driver to successfully defend a Daytona 500 crown, and join Fireball Roberts [1962] as just the second driver to win the pole, his qualifying race, and the Daytona 500 in the same year. Yarborough would probably have acheived this in 1968, as well, but the quaslifying races were rained out and cancelled that year. 17. cjs3872 posted: 11.06.2011 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, Jack Ingram was to have started 29th in the third Junior Johnson car in the 1984 Daytona 500. Ingram won the 300-mile race the day before the Daytona 500 in 1975 and 1980, and I believe Johnson wanted to reward him for that success, as well as his overall success in what is now the Nationwide Series. 18. RaceFanX posted: 12.28.2011 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the year Dale Earnhardt ran a somewhat reversed paint job in the Daytona 500. For this race only in 1984 Dale ran a mostly yellow Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Wrangler and RCR decided after the race the car would be more visible if they painted the back of the car blue instead and they did just that for the remaining races that year. As such this was the first time Dale ran what could be considered a special paint job, albeit an unintended one. The different looks have been dubbed "yellow trunk" for the Daytona look and "blue trunk" for the later normal 1984 scheme by some of Earnhardt's fans to point out the difference. 19. cjs3872 posted: 01.20.2012 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RaceFanX, part of the reason for that may have been that Ricky Rudd's car was also sponsored by Wrangler Jeans, through Bud Moore's association with Dale Earnhardt, and they may have pulled the reverse paint scheme to prevent confusion. If that was the reason, it didn't work too well, as Ken Squier was constantly confusing Earnhardt's car with Ricky Rudd's during the race. On the other hand, aside from the car number, Junior Johnson's two cars ran the exact same paint scheme, which was a derivitive of the classic Wood Brothers' paint scheme, with the red and with paint job with the gold numbers on the side. By the way, that particular scheme did not run in the Daytona 500 again until 2011, when the Wood Brothers won with it. 20. cjs3872 posted: 01.20.2012 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here is the caution flag summary for the 1984 Daytona 500: Caution flags: Laps 5-9 75-Marcis spun out T2 (5 laps) Laps 64-67 8-Hillin, Jr. blown engine (4 laps) Laps 73-78 64-Gale blown engine (6 laps) Laps 99-104 88-Wallace crash T2 (6 laps) Laps 150-153 98-Ruttman crash T4 (4 laps) Laps 160-167 47-Bouchard, 90-Brooks crash T4 (8 laps) Laps 177-182 67-Arrington blown engine (6 laps) 21. Chris posted: 10.11.2012 - 5:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why did 2 different people qualify the 29 car? It says Connie Saylor drove it in the race and that Grant Adcox failed to qualify it. 22. Aldo posted: 01.03.2013 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think there is an error. Grant Adcox qualified the #29 Chevy but Connie Saylor drove it in the race. Saylor failed to qualified in the #37 Pontiac but at least won the consolation race. Some times, the so called "consolation" race (not only at Daytona) was not a proper consolation race but a repechage, a last chance to qualify for the race, but not in 1984 and 1985. 23. Aldo posted: 01.03.2013 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All Daytona Consolation races from 1981 to 1985 were just races for non-qualifiers. Instead, most consolation races from the early sixties to the early seventies were repechages to qualify for the main race. 24. RaceFanX posted: 01.10.2013 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #75 Dave Marcis- Simoniz DNQ entries (driver- car- owner): Jack Ingram- #92 Budweiser Chevrolet- Johnson-Hodgdon Rick Newsom- #20 Tucker Racing Chevrolet- Rick Newsom Jim Southard- #50 Southard Realty Chevrolet- Jim Southard Delma Cowart- #0 Heyward Grooms Contruction Buick- H.L. Waters Tom Sneva- #2 Simoniz Buick- Robert Harrington Randy LaJoie- #07 Snellman Construction Cehvrolet- Bob Johnson Joe Booher- #18 Booher Farms Chevrolet- Satterfield Racing Elliott Forbes-Robinson- #23 Oldsmobile- Dick Bahre Jerry Churchill- #25 Marine Corps Chevrolet- Jerry Churchill Grant Adcox- #29 Adcox Chevrolet Chevrolet- Herb Adcox Ronnie Sanders- #31 Gray Racing Chevrolet- Henley Gray Jim Hurlbert- #34 University of Illinois Fighting Illini Buick- Jim Hurlbert Ramo Stott- #38 Smith Racing Buick- Phil Barkdoll Blackie Wangerin- #39 Wangerin Racing Ford- Blackie Wangerin Mark Stahl- #82 Auto Bell Car Wash Ford- Mark Stahl Donny Paul- #53 Paul Brothers Chevrolet- Donny Paul J.D. McDuffie- #70 McDuffie Racing Pontiac- J.D. McDuffie Natz Peters- #60 Seminole Mall / Mitton Electric Buick- Natz Peters Jerry Bowman- #58 J.B. Racing Ford- Grimes Holcomb Jocko Maggiacomo- #63 Linro Motorsports Oldsmobile- Jim Rosenblum David Simko- #54 Mound Steel & Supply Buick- Elmer Simko Laurent Rioux- #68 Rioux Racing Chevrolet- Laurent Rioux Steve Moore- #73 C&E Enterprises Chevrolet- C&E Enterprises Bobby Wawak- #74 Chevrolet- Bobby Wawak Lowell Cowell- #76 Cam Farm Oldsmobile- Mike Potter Randy Baker- #87 Buck Baker Buick- Buck Baker Philip Duffie- #99 Duffie Sand & Gravel Buick- Philip Duffie Wayne Peterson- #06 Peterson Motors Buick- Wayne Peterson Jim Sauter- #6 Alugard Chevrolet- D.K. Ulrich When reigning Indy 500 champion Tom Sneva missed the race following a crash in the 125s his Simoniz sponsorship moved over to Dave Marcis and the RahMoc team (Marcis didn't run his own car in 1984). Marcis blew his motor early but Simoniz must have liked what they saw as they sponsored the team again at Atlanta. Jack Ingram didn't really DNQ. His #92 Chevy was a third Budweiser entry from Junior Johnson entered as a backup in case the new #12 team for Neil Bonnett didn't make the race. Ingram, Bonnett and teammate Darrell Waltrip all raced in but since Johnson only had two crews (#12 team did both cars in the 125s) the #92 was withdraw for race day. This may have been Busch champ Ingram's last attempt to race in Cup. 25. cjs3872 posted: 01.13.2014 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually RaceFanX, Dave Marcis did run his own car in 1984. He just didn't drive it. Mike Alexander ran it most of the year, including in the Daytona 500. Marcis' #71 car made 26 starts in 1984, 19 with Alexander and the other seven with Lennie Pond. And I also suspect that Junior had planned to run Ingram in the Daytona 500, but when Doug Richert, Neil Bonnett's crew chief, was injured in the 300-mile race the day before the 500, he didn't have a third crew chief, so he withdrew the car, and everyone that would have lined up behind Ingram was moved up one spot, and Sterling Marlin, who had missed the race in one of Roger Hamby's cars, was given the 40th starting spot. 26. Anonymous posted: 03.16.2014 - 1:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ correction: the #65 listed as Ferrel Harris should actually be listed as Driver: Ralph Jones Sponsor: Spohn's Body Shops Owner: Ron Spohn Car: Ford 27. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.09.2015 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #23 Bahre Racing #70 Wilder's #74 Superior Piping #87 Domino's Pizza 28. Ryan posted: 08.31.2015 - 2:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If that was the reason, it didn't work too well, as Ken Squier was constantly confusing Earnhardt's car with Ricky Rudd's during the race" Squier got a lot of things confused. When Petty went out he referred to him as the #53 car. He is a legend, but he got car numbers and teams mixed up quite a bit. Probably the biggest bonehead move he ever did was when he asked Ned Jarrett if the cars could bring out wipers when it was raining one time in the early 90's. 29. Ryan posted: 08.31.2015 - 2:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race doesn't get the respect it deserves. Look at the top 9 and then Labonte who should have been right there if not for late race trouble and then Allison and Petty running well early. The top 9 may all be hall of famers one day. Then Labonte and Allison and Petty, too. The top 9 had a lot of wins, including 17 championships. 30. kidracer posted: 12.16.2015 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last time until 2011 that a part time driver won the Daytona 500. 31. Schroeder51 posted: 12.17.2015 - 2:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Grant Adcox-#29 Adcox Chevrolet Chevrolet (Owned by Herb Adcox) Adcox competed in the qualifying races but was replaced for the 500 by Connie Saylor. 32. cjs3872 posted: 01.17.2016 - 3:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't agree more, Ryan (#29), and for the very reasons you mentioned, as well as for the fierce competition among many of the sport's all-time greats. Yet, in spite of that, there were no crashes caused by the fierce competition on the track that day, and given the caliber of the competition and what I just mentioned, it is for those reasons why I believe this was the greatest Daytona 500 of all-time, start to finish. And yet, while just six cars (a record at that time) finished on the lead lap, all but one of those top six changed places on that final lap (fourth place Neil Bonnett). There are major sporting events that seem destined to be a great event before it even starts. Events such as Super Bowls XIII (George Halas conducting the first ceremonial coin flip at the Super Bowl), XXV (Whitney Houston's National Anthem), and XXXVI (the ceremony dedicating the game to the memory of those lost on 9/11) all seemed destined to be a great event, and this race, the 1984 Daytona 500 was also hit with that feeling when President Reagan gave the command to start engines from the White House, just as he would help with the ceremonial coin flip for Super Bowl XIX exactly 11 months and a day later on the day of his second inauguration, January 20, 1985. (However, the 49ers would see to it that Super Bowl XIX would not be a classic.) 33. RaceFanX posted: 09.21.2016 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The fallout from being caught with an oversized engine and cheater tires after his win at Charlotte in 1983 led Richard Petty to leave Petty Enterprises for 1984, moving his STP #43 colors over to Mike Curb's team. King Richard's first race for Curb saw him run well but ultimately retire before halfway...they'd do quite a bit better when NASCAR returned to Daytona in July. This was Richard's first race for anyone but Petty Enterprises since Don Robertson fielded his dirt track entries in 1970. With Richard moving on Petty Enterprises made the switch from Pontiac back to Ford for 1984, fielding the Blue Oval brand for the first time since 1969. Kyle Petty moved into the role as the team's top driver but while he brought his new Thunderbird home with a top-10 in the 125s a blown motor quickly set him to the sidelines here. to the Wood Brothers for 1984, bringing his 7-Eleven sponsorship with him. 34. JSPorts posted: 09.21.2016 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder how Petty's career might have ended differently had he not been forced to switch teams. 1984 saw a decline in his wins, top 5s, top 10s, laps led, rank, average start, average finish, races finished and lead lap finishes. By the time he returned to his family team, his career was all but over. I know he was 46, but I don't think it was unrealistic to think he could've won some more races and contended for a championship or two. 35. Sean posted: 09.21.2016 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I doubt he was forced to change teams, but it certainly did likely break his career momentum a bit. 36. JSPorts posted: 09.21.2016 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I had read that after the illegal car at Charlotte, Bill France told Mike Curb he was making Richard Petty leave his team for at least a year and was looking for an owner to field a car for the King. Can't remember where I read this, probably NASCAR Illustrated or NASCAR.com. 37. nascarman posted: 01.05.2017 - 7:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crew chief correction: #12 Neil Bonnett - Crew chief: Junior Johnson While Doug Richert was officially Bonnett's crew chief, he was hit by L.D Ottinger on pit road in the Busch race the day before and broke his leg. Junior had to act as Neil's crew chief for this race. 38. myself posted: 01.12.2017 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Just goes to show how cheating helped Petty do so much winning while running the family team. 39. The Great Dave posted: 03.06.2017 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor update: #4 Lennie Pond Burger King / Jim Testa Chevy Chevrolet https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-hKZNVFt/A (Aside from Jim Testa's chevy dealership, Lennie brought his Burger King money to the team.) #43 Richard Petty STP Son of a Gun! Pontiac https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-WK9wJG5/A (Petty had decals on the side of his car for "Son of a Gun". A tire cleaning product STP produced and still to this day does) #48 Trevor Boys Hart Service / Hylton-McCaig Chevy https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-pnG6WBV/A (Aside from the Hylton-McCaig logos, boys had Hart Service on the C-pillar) DNQ Info #39 Blackie Wangerin Don's Garage Ford https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-GpbPX2F/A (Nothing else to add here,except the Sponsor) #38 Ramo Stott Helen Rae Special Buick https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-N9DqsFv/A (So this is clearly a Barkdoll entry w/ Phil's Sponsor and name on the car, so I presume he gave it over to Ramo to qualify the car. I guess Barkdoll should be listed as "Withdrawn") #54 David Simko The Tom Co / Mound Steel Supply Buick https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-M87LTfK/A (The Tom Co was on the hood,Mound on the side) #70 J.D. McDuffie Wilder's / Rumple Pontiac https://leejohnson.smugmug.com/NASCAR/1984-Winston-Cup/i-bXNvNPB/A (Rumple on the side, Wilders on the hood.) 40. Dave posted: 03.30.2017 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have to agree with "myself" on a couple of things. There's no denying Petty cheated, I don't think people realize that it wasn't just a small technicality; his engine was TWENTY FOUR inches too big after win #198 plus he was using all left side tires for an advantage. I mean there's a reason they got hit with a 30 thousand dollar fine (huge in the 80's and docked 100 points. And also about Cale, the man consistently competed for a top 20 spot in points while only running half of the schedule, so I can only imagine how many more titles he could've competed for running more full seasons. I'd say Cales become one of the more overlooked drivers over the years when you list a top 5 of all time. Just my opinion of course 41. Turn 4 posted: 09.17.2017 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another interesting fact is that only 20 cars finished the race. 42. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 11:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Daytona 500 starts for Ken Ragan, Greg Sacks, Mike Alexander, Connie Saylor, Doug Heveron, Bobby Hillin, Jr., and Trevor Boys. Only Daytona 500 start for Dean Combs. Last Daytona 500 starts for Dean Roper, Ronnie Thomas, and Tommy Gale. 43. Wil posted: 10.31.2019 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Woahhh another one in trouble is 07 Lajoie! Randy Lajoie slamming... INTO THE WALL! Randy Lajoie out of Norwalk, Connecticut...DESTROYING his automobile." Ken Squier was the best. (This was Lajoie's flip in the Twin 125). 44. Mile501 posted: 10.31.2019 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @43 - Those were the days. Do race commentators even talk much about where drivers are from anymore? 45. JSPorts posted: 10.31.2019 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They talk about Martin Truex being from every place in America each week, it seems like. 46. Corey posted: 10.31.2019 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @44 Not really. I think that's because its becoming somewhat irrelevant. Back in the 70's and 80's you had guys racing in regional series, that made a name for themselves there before they final went big time in NASCAR. Nowadays, they move up so quick, that this is never happens. It actually meant something coming from a particular region of the country. As an example, Ricky Craven had built up a substantial fan base in the northeast through the Busch North series before he started racing the Busch Grand National Series. It continued on through the rest of his career and every time they went to Loudon, he had cheers bigger then some of the top drivers. Take current New England racer Joey Logano. I don't think he has anywhere near the fan following that Craven got. 47. TTaylor944 posted: 10.31.2019 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) To tag on to Corey's post, those regional superstars could show up to a Cup race back in the day and race competitively. Today, the Cup cars are so far off from what local/regional drivers are racing, they don't have a chance. Start-up owners could also lease a car from an owner like Junior Johnson and show up with that regional driver and have great results. These days the best those guys can hope for is to swing a deal with Jay Robinson or Rick Ware. 48. JSPorts posted: 10.31.2019 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wish we could see a return to that. It would be cool if a driver from, say, the K&N East Series was able to jump up to Cup or Xfinity for a few northeast races each year, and actually run competitively. However, with the differences in the cars and the current sponsorship situation, that seems nearly impossible. 49. Wil posted: 10.31.2019 - 6:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Every time I watch old races/crashes at Daytona I'm horrified of the inside wall coming to pit road, which was at an acute angle to the track. It's a miracle nobody hit that thing head on and lost their life (DW had a nasty impact on it but he was just concussed). A very dangerous wall, it's probably lucky that Rudd and LaJoie flipped instead of hitting it straight. 50. possum posted: 10.31.2019 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @46 - I agree. Back in the 80's drivers from outside the south were not an every race thing, and Daytona especially brought in drivers from all over. Now-a-days we have drivers from all over every week, and they all live in Charlotte anyway. Considering the Squier example Wil posted, tho, Squier was from the northeast, and he was more prone to call out drivers from that area than others (probably because he was familiar with them from the local tracks). 51. TennesseeMountainMan posted: 11.01.2019 - 8:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I rewatched the Randy LaJoie crash on YouTube, if the 07 car had lifted a few seconds earlier and the roof of the car has slammed into the wall instead the bottom, no way LaJoie would've survived and think about how much this would alter the future of the sport. The 1996 & 1997 Busch Series championship and Corey LaJoie wouldn't exist today, thus no Sunday Money podcast for us to listen to every week 52. SweetRich posted: 06.29.2020 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Ken Squier and David Hobbs. The pit road reporters were Chris Economaki and Ned Jarrett. 53. Jordan posted: 11.04.2020 - 4:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know I am a bit late to the party here, but going back to the whole Richard Petty leaving P.E. for Mike Curb and his competitiveness. The biggest reason he had fallen off and ended up resorting to the oversized engine was due in no small part to Dale Inman leaving P.E. after the 1981 Daytona 500. Dale went on to win a championship with Terry Lebonte before returning along with Richard to PE in 1986. By the time they reunited Richard was 48 and it was probably too little too late at this point. He also injured himself in a wreck (captured on in-car camera) in the '86 500, racing a lot of that year injured. Luck seemed to no longer be on his side although he did rebound with a nice year in '87 (9 top 5s and finished 8th in points). Unfortunately he was never able to build on the success of 87. His famous crash in the '88 500 along with the switch to the higher downforce cars of the late 80s (the Grand Prix body style changed in 88) were the final nails in the coffin for him running competitively. Long Live The King! 54. Rich posted: 11.27.2020 - 9:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joining the 500 crew for the first of many appearances on TV was Mike Joy on pit lane alongside Gentleman Ned and Economaki. 55. Rich posted: 01.03.2021 - 7:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Along with his role on pit road, Chris Economaki was the studio host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: