|| *Comments on the 1985 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#67> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Chicago posted: 10.29.2005 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only car that could consistently run with Elliott was Cale Yarborough, and when his engine went up in smoke the race was for all intents and purposes over. All of the top cars like Petty, Allison, Parsons, Foyt, and Earnhardt had tuned their engines as far as they could go to try to keep up and Elliott ran them all into the ground. Elliott throttled it back after he had taken out his competition, probably trying to keep NASCAR from looking into why they were so dominant, which is why unlikely Lake Speed driving for Butch Mock came home behind Elliott only around a second behind. The win that launched Bill Elliott into unwanted stardom and was a telling sign of what was to come in 1985. 2. MOST posted: 05.07.2006 - 7:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A lot of yellows also helped Lake catch up. I wonder if we ever will know if Bill was cheating in '85 3. Jim posted: 06.12.2006 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think Bill was cheating - the Ford Thunderbird was a better car aerodynamically and Ernie had a very good engine package for super speedways. Bill said he was pretty much full throttle the whole way keeping up with Cale early in the race so it would have been interesting if Cale did not blow up. If you recall in this race Bill was held in the pits for a ridiculous long stop fixing a head light cover in NASCAR's attempt to make a race of it. Of course old Billy showed what he had after that pit stop and quickly worked his way to the front by cutting some 200+ mph laps. 4. Matthew Sullivan posted: 06.23.2006 - 3:34 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Elliott was cheating he would have been caught. The Melling team knew what they were doing in 1985. 5. nascarman posted: 11.16.2006 - 1:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) After Cale blew up Neil Bonnett was the only one able to keep up with Awesome Bill 6. most posted: 01.06.2007 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember that light cover deal. Reminds me of Dover 98 when they black flagged Gordon for the fender sticking out, Evernham was pissed. 7. myself posted: 02.15.2007 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (9) The first words out of Bill's mouth in his victory lane interview: "Well, Cale ran a heck of race! If he hadn't have had trouble, it would've been a hell of a race!" I hated the Elliott during the rest of the 80s. Their secrecy & "standoffishness" drove me crazy! 8. MegaRacer posted: 02.18.2007 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Believe it or not, this was the first Daytona 500 won by a car using a single digit car number (9). ALL previous Daytona 500's were won using double digit car numbers. 9. Lawrence posted: 02.21.2007 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott was the best driver in 1985... Feel kinda sorry for Lake Speed though... Poor guy only had one career win. 10. Anonymous posted: 07.24.2007 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The first words out of Bill's mouth in his victory lane interview: "Well, Cale ran a heck of race! If he hadn't have had trouble, it would've been a hell of a race!" I hated the Elliott during the rest of the 80s. Their secrecy & "standoffishness" drove me crazy!" You hated him for saying "Well, Cale ran a heck of race! If he hadn't have had trouble, it would've been a hell of a race!"? Jeez. 11. DieselDan posted: 12.07.2007 - 3:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lake Speed was crying in a post race interview with CBS. His team barely made the race and were sleeping in the truck to save on lodging. They were sponsored by Nationwise Auto Parts after the last practice. 12. Douche Bagolow posted: 12.17.2007 - 6:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) OH, WAHHHHHH!!! 13. Clayton posted: 06.09.2008 - 10:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill wasn't cheating!! They were just that good!! They wouldn't give anyone their information and you can't hate a guy for dominating! Which is what they did!! The only reason why restrictor plates are ran today was to slow Bill Elliott down. NASCAR tried everything to screw Bill. They made him raise his roof one half an inch one race, and had him ran a carburetor plate one race too!! Like the old tune goes "Ole NASCAR Can't Slow Bill Elliott Down!" 14. Josh posted: 07.28.2008 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What dominance Elliott had in this race. It seems like Lake Speed would of have to been cheating to keep up with drivers of caliber such as Waltrip, Rudd, and Bodine. 15. RaceFanX posted: 01.06.2009 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty's first race with a #2. It would be far from his last 16. Anonymous posted: 01.26.2009 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First NASCAR cup race for sponsors Burger King and Motorcraft. Last Daytona 500 for a Chrysler powered car untill 2001. 17. Ryan posted: 01.29.2009 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) Bill ran a 7/8 scale car this race. Remember like it was yesterday. 18. myself posted: 02.13.2009 - 12:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You hated him for saying "Well, Cale ran a heck of race! If he hadn't have had trouble, it would've been a hell of a race!"? Jeez. | 07.24.07 - 1:31 am" No. I hated him b/c he won so much. 19. jp posted: 02.21.2009 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) i bet half of his wins that year came from cars that he had rigged in some sort of way. 20. Jim posted: 05.13.2009 - 9:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Thank God CBS got rid of David Hobbs. He was cluless when it came to Nascar. 21. myself posted: 07.26.2009 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hobbs lasted through the 1991 season w/ CBS, did he not? 22. Russ Shurtliff posted: 09.15.2009 - 9:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Davey Allison's first attempt (DNQ). His first race will not come until Talladega in July. 23. Madison posted: 12.20.2009 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Lake Speed and car owner had a tearful interview later in the race. What a class act. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssjQlUbUGzU&feature=related 24. 3man posted: 01.28.2010 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Hobbs lasted through '96. Anyone who thinks the Elliott boys were cheating must be crazy. NASCAR held these guys to standards no one else had to deal with. Junior Johnson and ol' DW got away with all kinds of cheats back in the '80s, and they just considered it funny how they got away with it. The 7/8ths car rumor was started by DW himself. The car is sitting in the Darlington museum, why hasn't anyone walked in and measured it to see if the rumor is true? In the early 80s the Elliott's couldn't get the other Ford teams to help them for nothing, then they start dominating and those same teams want them to share their secretes...I would have stayed secretive and standoffish too! 25. Anonymous posted: 02.25.2010 - 1:06 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Junior Johnson and ol' DW got away with all kinds of cheats back in the '80s, and they just considered it funny how they got away with it." Look everyone, Bobby Allison posts comments on Racing-Reference! 26. Anonymous posted: 03.16.2010 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this is the only time that the race restarted on the final lap of the 500. After Neil spun out on the 196th lap. 27. myself posted: 05.20.2010 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The post from 2/25/10 is absolutely hilarious!!!! 28. Steve posted: 10.19.2010 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmy Means' biggest one-race paycheck: $20,435. The Lake Speed story is that of a true underdog. No sponsor until Saturday night, the crew sleeping in trucks because they can't afford a hotel, and the Lord rewards their humble efforts with a 2nd place finish, and the 85 grand they receive helps pave the way for their 1985 season. The kind of story missing from today's NA$CAR. What's the smallest operating budget these days? A team owner needs at least 1 to 2 million just to show up. And, as everyone knows, the common man (doing uncommon things) always has a couple million bucks laying around... 29. Jimmy posted: 02.18.2011 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Am i crazy, or at one point in the broadcast did they say that Maurice Petty had taken over driving the unsposored #1 Petty Enterprises car for Dick Brooks? If so, wouldn't that have been his first time in a race in 20 years? 30. cjs3872 posted: 01.20.2012 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, many of the rest of the top temas ran themselves out of the race by halfway. Ron Bouchard, Kyle Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Benny and Phil Parsons, A.J. Foyt, and David Pearson all had engine-related problems and Richard Petty had a faulty clutch, not to mention a fife caused when his crew used ether to restart his engine during the first caution when his car ran out of gas in the pits. Terry Labonte also had clutch problems caused by an oil leak. Harry Gant joined those out of the race with engine problems at 125 laps. A number of those that didn't have engine problems were knocked opff the lead lap when they pitted for a second time under the green and were caught by the first caution for Tim Richmond's crash. Included among those were Ricky Rudd, Buddy Baker (who had been lapped due to overshooting his pits during the first round of pit stops, but was not lapped a second time as a result of his second pit stop), and David Pearson (prior to his engine failure). Darrell Waltrip was lapped early in the race, but used the heavy attrition to move from 23rd at one point to finish third, despite never making up his lost lap. The main reason Elliott did not lap the entire field, even with his more conservative pace (192 MPH instead of 198) during the second half of the race, had to do with a bizarre sequence that played out on his lap 145 pit stop. A piece of debris which had apparently been hit by a car Elliott was lapping, damaged his right front headlight door, and for safety reasons, NASCAR held him in the pits for 41.2 seconds while it was getting repaired (though the true motive behind NASCAR holding Elliott in the pits is highly debateable). Had it not been for that, Elliott would have had both Lake Speed and Neil Bonnett lapped by the time the caution for Dave Marcis' stalled car came out on lap 162. Speed's pit stop during that pit sequence was 38 seconds, because his crew changed four tires, and Bonnett gained about 15 seconds on Elliott. Had Elliott's pit stop been routine, both Speed and Bonnett would have been lapped. 31. cjs3872 posted: 01.20.2012 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here is the caution flag summary for the 1985 Daytona 500: Caution flags: Laps 72-77 27-Richmond crash BS (6 laps) Laps 162-164 71-Marcis stalled T4 (3 laps) Laps 174-176 1-Brooks crash T2 (3 laps) Laps 192-194 48-Pond spun out FS (3 laps) Laps 197-199 12-Bonnett blown engine (3 laps) 32. 1995z71 posted: 06.01.2012 - 11:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Party Man, Delma Cowart finished dead year. Only career DNQ for: Jody Ridler (1980 Rookie of the year.) Satch Worley Dean Roper (Tony Roper's dad) Bob Park (Steve Park's dad) Glenn Jarrett (Ned's son and Dale's Brother) Joey Sonntag 33. nascarfan2234 posted: 07.23.2012 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) i dont think a ford tempo wood catch bill Elliott 34. Jim4Bill posted: 01.20.2013 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) The car was legal - DW is an ahole and crybaby. He is mad Bill was the star that season even though DW won the championship. Just remember he is mostly about his legacy - and anyone that tarnishes it DW hates. The Tbird was a big advantage aerodynamically - NASCAR did everything they could to slow down the Melling team after that race. Bill essentially built the cars himself and crew chiefed it from the driver's seat. Ernie built the motors. And what motors they were. Read some stuff about the R&D - Ernie was on the bleeding edge with the CNC machines grinding heads, airflow, etc. At that time - pretty much ONLY Ernie was using a CNC in NASCAR - estimates are they had 40 or more horsepower on the field at Daytona. Part of the secret nature of it had to due with the guys that Ernie tapped into (non Ford race guys) that did not want any manufacture to get access without paying big bucks. And the fact they were not ready for all that attention as a small Georgia team. 35. RaceFanX posted: 02.10.2013 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ entries (driver- car- owner): Satch Worley- #37 Hayes Jewelers Chevrolet- Chip Lain Rick Newsom- #20 Tucker Construction Chevrolet- Rick Newsom Jody Ridley- #00 Helen Rae Special Chevrolet Dean Roper- #05 Spohn's Body Shops Ford- Ron Spohn Joe Thurman- #06 Thurman Enterprises Chevrolet- Davis Racing Randy LaJoie- #07 Snellman Construction Chevrolet- Bob Johnson Eddie Bierschwale- #6 U.S. Racing Chevrolet- D.K. Ulrich Bob Park- #19 Park Racing Pontiac- Bob Park Glenn Jarrett- #41 Cap'n Coty's Chevrolet- Ronnie Thomas Donny Paul- #53 Chevrolet- Donny Paul Joey Sonntag- #65 Sonntag Racing Chevrolet- Joey Sonntag J.D. McDuffie- #70 Restore Chevrolet- J.D. McDuffie Davey Allison- #77 Chevrolet- Marvin Ragan Dick Skillen- #79 Chevrolet- Tom Goff Mark Stahl- #82 Auto Bell Car Wash Ford- Mark Stahl Connie Saylor- #99 Chevrolet- Ralph Ball Tom Sneva- #42 Curb Racing Pontiac- Mike Curb 36. myself posted: 05.24.2013 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why did Cliff Stewart's team change their car number for this year? 37. 83andJoe posted: 09.17.2013 - 5:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #07 owner: Kaj Snellman #07 crew chief: Bob Johnson 38. Jeff posted: 02.13.2014 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was only 1 first time Daytona 500 starter in this race and that was Ken Schrader. There's been only 1 other Daytona 500 where this has also happened and that was in 1997 when Mike Skinner was the only first time starter. Skinner also happened to win the pole that year. 39. 23andJoe posted: 04.02.2014 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #47 crew chief: Wayne Baumgardner (through the Budweiser 500 at Dover) 40. Paul posted: 06.18.2014 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Updates to the sponsor list #06 Joe Thurman - Deasy Auto Parts #31 Slick Johnson - Sheehan Pontiac-GMC Trucks #52 Jimmy Means - Broadway Motors/Down The Hatch #79 Dick Skillen - Bill's Barbeque 41. CBASS posted: 06.20.2014 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More updates #0 Coastal/ Heyward Grooms Construction #4 Folger's/ T.G. Sheppard's #20 T.R. Tucker Const. Co. (The correct name for the sponsor) #48 Burger King/ Pepsi #89 Dairyland Transport/ Midstate Corp. Source: Howie Hodge Photo/ thechromehorn.com 42. CBASS posted: 08.16.2014 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some more #1 Petty Enterprises/ Pearah/ Bernstein #15 Motorcraft Quality Parts/ Camelot Motor Corp. #51 Bill's Bar-B-Q/ TAP Engine Parts 43. RaceFanX posted: 05.24.2015 - 1:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Pearson's final Daytona 500 sees him start up front after a runner up finish in his 125 but ultimately be sidelined before halfway by a blown engine. 44. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.11.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #53 Paul Racing #77 McCord Gaskets (Same at Atlanta) #99 Ball Racing 45. James W. McLaughlin posted: 02.11.2016 - 12:36 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Until this year, this was the last Daytona 500 with a field of 40 cars. (It's also happened from 1970 to 1975 as well.) 46. Chuck C. posted: 02.15.2016 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember clearly their being lots of talk about how people should expect lots of blown engines because teams were really going wind those engines tight in an effort to keep up with Elliott. Boy, they were right! Bonnett blew up and slid right down the front stretch where I was standing. Bill's car was an awesome thing to behold that day. 47. JC posted: 03.22.2016 - 12:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Wood Brothers give up their famous #21 and run the #7 because of sponsorship from 7-Eleven. David Pearson ran the #21 for himself and Hoss Ellington until the end of the 1986 season. The Wood Brothers returned to the #21 to start the 1987 season. 48. Matt J posted: 04.24.2016 - 9:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As commenter #16 noted, this was Chrysler's last entry in the Daytona 500 until 2001. Morgan Shepherd drove Buddy Arrington's Chrysler's Imperial to a solid 15th place finish. Nice to see them go out with a decent finish before Mopar disappeared from the sport completely. During CBS' coverage of the race, early on when Morgan made his first pitstop, Ken Squirer, Ned Jarrett, and David Hobbs erroneously refereed to the car as a Dodge and talked about Dodge's future in the sport. They said Dodge may be working on a better super speedway car for 1986 with Lee Iacocca's support. Sadly, for Mopar fans, that was not the case, though by 1989 the Chrysler LeBaron would start running in ARCA. 49. James W. McLaughlin posted: 06.03.2016 - 3:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What was the name of that tune that played during the closing credits of CBS' telecast of this race? It sounded to me like "My Old Kentucky Home", but I may be wrong. Anyone know? 50. James W. McLaughlin posted: 06.09.2016 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HA HA HA! The joke's on me! As it turns out, that closing theme is "Rising Star", by Dave Grusin. It was the love theme from "The Electric Horseman"! Well -- as it turns out, too, I've just answered my own question! Tee-hee-hee! 51. myself posted: 01.12.2017 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where'd you find that out, James M.? 52. RaceFanX posted: 12.08.2017 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hendrick Motorsports landed its first big-time full season sponsorship for 1985 with Levi Garrett chewing tobacco coming aboard to sponsor the #5 Chevrolet of Geoff Bodine. The car's first points race in its new yellow-and-white paint scheme saw Bodine post a solid top-10 run, kicking off a several year partnership. 53. Brandon posted: 12.13.2017 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ #08 Unsponsored Chevy, Craig Spetman, owner was Carl Anderson 54. ThrobinRod posted: 02.25.2018 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) General Motors has chased after Ford w/ twice the amount of cars and NASCAR's blessing's to this day and still get beat on a regular basis... 55. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) First Daytona 500 start for Ken Schrader Last Daytona 500 starts for Bobby Wawak, Clark Dwyer, Lennie Pond, Slick Johnson, Dick Brooks, and David Pearson. 56. oldgrandnational posted: 10.17.2019 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) F.James McDonald, the President of General Motors, was the Grand Marshal that day. It must have been a little awkward in Victory Lane. Ouch. 57. MasonShell24 posted: 10.25.2019 - 11:25 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) First NASCAR race with a purse over $1,000,000. 58. Jacob posted: 02.07.2020 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Counted 12 cars that were knocked out just from engine problems; with a lot of big names affected (Neil Bonnett, who somehow finished 10th even with a blown engine; defending champion Terry Labonte; both Parsons brothers; Kyle Petty; Harry Gant; David Pearson; Bobby Allison and 2-time defending Daytona 500 champion Cale Yarborough among them) 59. NewGuyOnTheBlock posted: 04.07.2020 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CBS broadcast this race. Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, and David Hobbs were in the booth with Mike Joy and Chris Economaki in the pits. 60. Anonymous posted: 12.20.2020 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1985 at Daytona - A reporter asked Bill's crew chief/brother, what speed it was gonna take to get the pole for the 500? He said he thought around 205 MPH. The reporter asked Bill what he thought of that? Bills reply: "I wonder who they're gonna get to drive it?" Bill's pole speed was 205.114 MPH 61. Rich posted: 12.25.2020 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Along with being on pit road, Chris Economaki was the studio host. 62. HD11 posted: 01.06.2021 - 7:39 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) David Hobbs was actually crucial along with Ken Squier in getting CBS to televise the first flag to flag Daytona 500 but he was certainly interesting to listen to in the broadcast booth. Around the 2:33 mark in the satellite feed of the race on YouTube, after Elliott launched away on a restart he stated ?He isn't pussyfooting around now!? Lmao, can you imagine Dale Jr saying that today? Insane attrition as teams tried to dial up to the 9 but didn't last. Buddy Baker was the only past 500 winner to finish the event. Love the raw emotion from Lake Speed in the post race interview. I do miss those stories in the series. Interesting to see Bill's daughter Starr with Bill's helmet on behind the wheel in victory lane. Little did we know a future Elliott spawn (with different wife) would someday become the Cup Champ. 63. KentuckyOffroadRider posted: 01.06.2021 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Respond to Comment 62: And to think around 2017 or ?08 during the Southern 500. While Ken Squire, Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett were scheduled to call the entire second stage from the booth as part of the throw back weekend... Ken Squire referred to Daniel Suarez ?The Mexican? and they immediately ejected them outta the booth under the next commercial break bring back the regular broadcast crew. Which in my opinion was nonsense. O'l David Hobbs would never have survived if he'd been born 30 years later 64. KentuckyOffroadRider posted: 01.06.2021 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Respond to Comment 62: And to think around 2017 or ?18 during the Southern 500. While Ken Squire, Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett were scheduled to call the entire second stage from the booth as part of the ?throw back weekend?... Ken Squire referred to Daniel 65. possum posted: 01.06.2021 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @63 - it's odd how language works - had Squier said "Mexican driver Suarez" or "NASCAR's Mexican star", or something like that it would have been OK, a simple reference to his heritage. But a plain "the Mexican" with it's implication that Mexicans are somehow different, is a problem. Really, tho, the fault lies with whoever scheduled Squier as part of the show. It's been obvious for many years that his abilities have been failing, they should have expected some sort of verbal problem. A shame, because Ned Jarrett is still sharp as a tack, and it would have been nice to hear him and Dale for longer. Hobbo wasn't PC, but he was smart enough to stay away from anything ethnic. 66. Fuzzy posted: 01.06.2021 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @65 That's not how I see it at all. It is completely normal for racing commentators to say "the American" or "the Frenchman" or whatever, and no one bats an eye when Canadian NASCAR drivers are referred to as "the Canadian." Why "the Mexican" has to be understood differently is beyond me. Suarez is simply a person who happens to be from Mexico. That's all there is to it. 67. HD11 posted: 01.15.2021 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @50, CBS also used Dave Grusin's Electric Horseman soundtrack for the starting lineup theme for this race and a few others. While their coverage wasn't the greatest for its time, there was always a big race feel when a race was on their national coverage. I remember before we had cable looking forward to their races as they were the only ones I could watch at the time. I never found out for sure but I am quite certain this was the race that got my dad into NASCAR as a hardcore Bill Elliott fan. He didn't get excited about much but watching him get out of his chair in the closing laps of a race Elliott could win is a great childhood memory. It's what got me hooked on the sport as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: