Daytona's July race has a rich history all of its own

It has been like the attractive stepchild who nonetheless rarely garners the attention of the favorite son.

But make no mistake about it. Although the annual July race at Daytona International Speedway has gone by multiple names -- and raced under a couple of different formats -- it has produced some beautiful memories much the same way its far more famous sister race, the Daytona 500, has done.

This is the NASCAR race that almost never was. Originally, so the story goes, NASCAR founder Big Bill France intended to hold a major open-wheel race per year at the 2.5-mile superspeedway every summer, and not necessarily a second major stock-car event. But France changed his thinking after two driver deaths in the first four months of the track's operation -- the first after Marshall Teague, attempting to set a new speed record in a reconfigured IndyCar, went airborne and crashed; and the second when George Amick lost control of his open-wheeler while exiting Turn 2 on the last lap of a 100-mile USAC race.

"It was kind of felt they didn't have the right tire technology and the cars weren't really conducive to those kinds of speeds on that kind of track," said Buz McKim, historian for the NASCAR Hall of Fame that is scheduled in open in Charlotte, N.C., in May of 2010. "The cars were getting airborne. So they just went ahead and just made [the major July race] into another NASCAR event, basically."

RacingOne

Bill France Sr. (far right) and Bill France Jr. (far left) look over plans for the new Daytona International Speedway with contractor Don Smith in 1957.

At first the race was only 250 miles -- half the distance of the Daytona 500. Right away, though, it was known as the Firecracker 250 and it was run at 10 a.m. to minimize the possibility of afternoon interference from thunderstorms known to frequent Florida, and to maximize the potential for competitors hooking up with friends and families for an afternoon of fun on the nearby beach. From 1959 until 1988, the race always was run on July 4, regardless of which day of the week the holiday fell on. That all changed with the increased involvement of television in the sport and eventually the addition of lights at the facility in 1998 -- which led to having it run during prime time on the Saturday closest to the holiday, although rarely on the July 4 holiday itself. As a result, this Saturday's event will, in fact, be the first one run on July 4 since Ernie Irvan won in 1992.

It became the Firecracker 400 in 1963, and the name changed only slightly on three occasions in the next 20 years -- in 1969, 1971 and 1973, respectively, when NASCAR decided to honor Congressional Medal of Honor winners by bringing them in for what in those years was called the Medal of Honor Firecracker 400.

"Those were truly star-studded events, very special," McKim said.

It became the Pepsi Firecracker 400 in 1984, was shortened to the Pepsi 400 in 1989, and became the Coke Zero 400 just last year. Along the way, the most famous race arguably came in 1984, when Richard Petty won the 200th and final race of his storied career in dramatic fashion with President Ronald Reagan in attendance -- but that is only one of many great memories this event, by any name and on whatever date, has produced.

In chronological order, what follows is a closer look back at not only the '84 race but others before and after it that have helped shape the formidable scrapbook this July staple has produced throughout the history of NASCAR.

Images & Archives

Fireball Roberts won back-to-back Firecracker 400s in 1962 and 1963.

JULY 4, 1963
After limiting the first four July events in Daytona to a mere 250 miles, Big Bill France made the decision to expand the race to a length of 400 miles in 1963. His reasoning behind doing so was very simple, and smart.

"With the fact that the cars were getting faster, and the race was getting over so quickly, Bill France thought the fans weren't getting their money's worth," McKim said. "So that was the first year they went to 400 miles."

It was, predictably, a memorable event -- with three of the biggest names in the sport at the time battling for the victory down the stretch.

"Fireball Roberts, Marvin Panch and Fred Lorenzen were running together, under a blanket, for the last part of the race. You could throw a blanket over all three of 'em, they were running so close," said McKim, who grew up within walking distance of the track in Daytona and often strolled there even as a kid to catch events. "It was only the last two or three laps, but you couldn't tell which of them was going to win. Lorenzen slowed, hoping Fireball would pass him -- so then he could slingshot past Fireball. But Fireball wouldn't bite. He was the master of the slingshot coming off the fourth turn there.

"Those three drivers were big-time in 1963. Fireball won, or course. That was his third Firecracker [win in only five tries], and his second in a row. And that was Fireball's last win in his hometown, because he died a year later after the wreck [during the World 600] in Charlotte."

JULY 4, 1966
Little-known Sam McQuagg drove to victory in a Dodge Charger owned by Ray Nichels, who two years earlier had fielded the winning car in the race as well -- with A.J. Foyt as the driver then. The '66 triumph ended up being McQuagg's only victory in NASCAR's top series. But there was significance to his win, according to McKim.

"Nobody could touch him. That was the first time a rear spoiler was ever used in NASCAR," McKim said. "They found that with that shorter trunk lid on those Chargers, that the air was getting under the car and actually lifting the back of the car up and sometimes actually breaking traction [with the surface of the track]. So NASCAR allowed them to run -- it was only like an inch and a half strip of metal across the rear trunk lid -- and it was the first spoiler ever used.

"You see now all the stuff they're using today. The wings [on the Cup cars]. Even on the Nationwide cars, they've got these big ol' monster things. The first spoiler was just a little strip of metal."

McQuagg had a hand in paving the way for other history makers in the sport. A year earlier, he was rookie of the year while driving for female owner Betty Lillie, who used a wheelchair. When McQuagg gave that ride up for a factory-backed one in '66, he was replaced by none other than a young Bobby Allison.

Images & Archives

David Pearson won the Firecracker 400 three consecutive years from 1972-74.

JULY 4, 1972
With a crowd estimated at 67,200 in attendance, David Pearson took the lead with six laps remaining and held off both Richard Petty and the now-older and more established Bobby Allison in what one writer described as a "spine-tingling finish." Certainly, it was an All-Star finish. Pearson, Petty and Allison arguably were the top three in their profession then -- and with the advantage of an added historical perspective now of 37 years, one could contend it proved to be a battle of the three greatest giants in the history of the sport, or at least close to it.

Pearson, then in his first year of what would prove to be a fortuitous arrangement driving for Wood Brothers Racing, ended up edging Petty by a mere four feet. Allison finished less than a car length behind the pair in third.

"I thought Richard would have tried to pass me on the backstretch of the last lap," Pearson told reporters afterward. "I think he waited too long."

Petty merely contended that his car just wasn't good enough to take Pearson on the final lap, saying he could close in the corners but then Pearson would pull away again on the straightaways.

"There wasn't any way I was going to beat him," he lamented.

Meanwhile, Coo Coo Marlin, whose son Sterling would go on to win back-to-back Daytona 500s in the 1990s, was happy just to finish fourth after having to "pull some strings to get out of jail in order to drive in the race," according to one newspaper account. It seems that three days before the race, Marlin was having a great time in a Daytona night spot with fellow drivers Elmo Langley and Dub Simpson. Two men at an adjacent table got into an argument, and one of the men swung and accidentally hit Marlin's wife, Eula Faye. The three drivers subsequently went after the two men, and the ensuing brawl eventually spilled outside the establishment, continuing to rage until local authorities arrived to break it up.

"We were ahead when the police finally came," Marlin joked later, after all three drivers had been arrested and served jail time before getting sprung for the race.

JULY 4, 1974
The official race box score would show that Pearson led the final 14 laps of the 160-lap race. That wasn't quite true.

After taking the white flag signifying one lap to go with Petty in hot pursuit, as he moved just past the tri-oval, Pearson suddenly backed off the throttle and swerved to the low groove of the track. Petty had to take what one writer described as "quick evasive action" to avoid plowing into him, but did so and moved out to a seemingly healthy lead.

It was all a ploy by the Silver Fox. Although he was two seconds off the pace being set by Petty with less than two miles to go, he was right where he wanted to be. He gunned his Mercury, caught Petty in the fourth turn, and dove to the inside for the pass that relegated King Richard to a second-place finish in the race for the fourth consecutive year.

"Richard was hot after the race," McKim said. "That was one of the few times I've actually seen him mad."

Petty was, in fact, downright furious with Pearson for duping him, calling the winning move unsafe.

"David usually drives a safer, saner race," Petty told reporters. "It was a beautiful move as long as he had the faster car and knew he could catch me. If our cars would have been equal, it would have been a stupid move. ... We both could have crashed. I was mad because what he did was risky and unnecessary."

Pearson disagreed, insisting the move was absolutely necessary to prevent Petty from drafting off him and then executing a slingshot pass at the very end. But the Silver Fox fooled even his own car owner, Glen Wood.

"I thought something had gone wrong with the car," Wood said. "Then we saw David catch up on the backstretch and realized he had tricked Petty."

In another sidelight that has long since been forgotten by just about everyone, Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough battled for third place -- and both legitimately claimed it.

"Another thing about that race is they had two third-place finishers. Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough crossed the line in an absolutely dead heat," McKim said. "So there was no fourth-place finisher in that race. They both got third-place money, and to our knowledge, it's the only absolutely dead heat ever in the Cup Series."

JULY 4, 1977
For the first time in 28 years, three female drivers were in the field for a NASCAR race. But Petty exorcised some of his previous Firecracker demons and won the race.

"None of the women set the world on fire," McKim said.

That was an understatement, although at least one of their engines did catch fire. Lelle Lombardi, a sports-car driver from Italy, started 29th and finished 31st, completing just 103 laps "until her rear end went out." Fellow sports-car driver Christine Beckers from Belgium started 32nd and finished 37th after her brakes failed. And Janet Guthrie started 20th and finished 40th in the 41-car field when her car's engine blew up after just 11 laps.

"I didn't see any of them gals but once, and that was when one of them was blowing up," Petty cracked afterward.

Getty Images

Richard Petty ate a picnic lunch with Ronald Reagan after winning the 1984 Firecracker 400.

JULY 4, 1984
In one of NASCAR's most celebrated golden moments, Petty won the 200th and final race of his long, legendary career as President Ronald Reagan watched from an unidentified VIP suite at Daytona.

"What was interesting about that, with Reagan being there, they draped the whole back of the grandstand in black material, so no one could tell which suite Reagan went into," McKim said. "There was a tremendous amount of security. They blocked off the traffic in front of the speedway, like from Turn 4 all the way around to Turn 1. They shut it down, and there was no traffic allowed at all in front of the speedway during the race.

"I remember walking down Speedway Boulevard to get to the track. Everybody had to go through a metal detector, which was unusual for back then. They checked all the coolers; there was a metal detector at every gate. Security was incredibly tight."

Reagan gave the command to start the race from Air Force One, and when the Presidential plane finally touched down in Daytona, one famous photograph was snapped of it landing in the background while Petty's No. 43 car made its way around the track in the foreground.

"He gave the command to start engines from Air Force One," McKim said. "Then it was about a third of the way through the race when he finally touched down. That was awesome.

"And you know what was cool about Reagan? He was a race announcer back in the 1930s in Des Moines, Iowa, when he worked for the radio station there. He actually called the races at the Des Moines Fairgrounds."

Reagan was settled in his mystery suite when the real fireworks began with three laps to go. That was when Doug Heveron lost control of his Chevrolet just past the tri-oval. As it slid onto the grass, it briefly got airborne and bounced onto the roof before landing upright again on all four tires. Remarkably, Heveron was uninjured.

Petty and Cale Yarborough, meanwhile, engaged in an exciting race back to the start/finish line after the yellow caution flag was waved. After banging together, Petty completed Lap 158 roughly six inches in front of Yarborough, who was so disappointed he headed straight for the pits, thinking mistakenly the race was over. They still had one lap to run under caution, however, and Yarborough lost one spot to Harry Gant before realizing it.

Meanwhile, the King stopped his car at the start/finish line and headed upstairs to chat with the President of the United States. "We all shook hands and then the President and I talked," Petty said later. "I think it blowed his mind that Cale and I were really running into each other at 200 mph."

JULY 1, 1989
In an event marked by a series of wild wrecks that eventually took out a total of 13 cars, Mark Martin's bid for his first Cup Series victory was foiled in the closing laps when his car owner, Jack Roush, badly miscalculated the fuel mileage the Ford could get.

Attempting to go the final 145 miles without stopping for gas, Roush came over the team radio and told his driver he had "about a five- or six-lap cushion." Instead, with five to go, Martin's engine coughed and came up empty just as he passed the start/finish line. Davey Allison led a pack of four cars past Martin and held off Morgan Shepherd for the victory.

Martin was left to coast all the way around to the pits to come in for gas and ended up 16th. He had to wait another three months to gain career win No. 1 at Rockingham.

"That was really unfortunate for poor old Mark. ... That was the race where they had all the flips and all kinds of weird stuff happen," McKim said.

"Roush had figured that they had plenty of gas. Evidently, their figures were not quite correct. Poor Mark paid the price. And that was after getting spun early in the race and battling all the way back to take the lead. He got tapped coming through the tri-oval earlier in the race and spun out into the infield. Then he managed to work his way back up. So he had the car. It was just one of those things that didn't work out. That was a shame."

A dejected Martin told reporters: "I thought I had the race won. I don't have much to say about the gas situation because the gas is not part of my deal."

Getty Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2001 victory came less than five months after his father died at Daytona.

JULY 7, 2001
Eleven years to the day after his father claimed his first Cup points victory at the Daytona track -- and less than five months after his father died at the same place during a final-lap wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove from sixth to first over the final six laps to win the Pepsi 400 in front of an estimated crowd of 180,000 that roared its approval.

"That was incredible. He drove like his dad was driving the car. It was just amazing," McKim said.

A teary-eyed Tony Eury Sr., Junior's crew chief, credited the elder Earnhardt with helping the younger Earnhardt to Victory Lane in the first race at Daytona since the tragic accident the previous February.

"He had a good teacher. He told him a lot about this place. He loved this place," Eury said. "Hell, listen to those fans cheering. They love this kid to death."

An emotional but exhausted Earnhardt Jr. said of his deceased father: "He was with me tonight. I don't know how I did it, but he was there."

The victory set off a wild celebration in the infield grass, as fellow drivers and others involved in the sport flocked to Earnhardt's winning car. Michael Waltrip, Earnhardt's teammate at Dale Earnhardt Inc., who helped push Earnhardt to victory while finishing second, pulled his car up alongside. Soon Earnhardt and Waltrip were locked in a tear-filled, emotional embrace on top of Waltrip's car.

"That was really something people will never forget," McKim said. "That was great, one of those classic moments."

It was one of many produced by Daytona's July race.