Petty recalls Reagan visit for perfect 200th victory

There are times when even a King gets the upper hand on a President. Such was the case 25 years ago in the 1984 Firecracker 400.

Crowning the King

Richard Petty reflects on his 200th career victory, a win he captured in front of President Ronald Reagan.

• Video: King's 200th victory

With Ronald Reagan among the 80,000 in attendance at Daytona International Speedway, Richard Petty rose to the occasion, outracing Cale Yarborough to the yellow with two laps remaining to score his 200th victory, two days after Petty turned 47. But just to show that the day was anything but ordinary, Yarborough suffered a rare brain fade and wound up third behind Harry Gant.

Reagan, in the middle of a coast-to-coast campaign swing in his bid for re-election, gave the command for drivers to start their engines via radio from Air Force One, en route to the race in Florida. And while the event was under way, the plane landed at the airport which parallels the backstretch.

Petty, now 72, recently recalled the events of that day.

"I'm going to tell you the things that really stood out with me," Petty said. "The big deal was the President of the United States was going to come on July Fourth. He was coming to the race, and you know, he was the one that said, 'Gentlemen, start your engines.' He was flying from somewhere to Daytona."

By the halfway point, the battle at the front had settled into a three-car fight between Petty, Yarborough and Gant. With all three leaders needing one final stop for service, Petty pitted first. Then on Lap 123, Yarborough headed for pit road, handing the lead over to Gant, who then pitted four laps later, putting Petty atop the leaderboard.

Petty built a sizeable lead over Yarborough, but in the closing laps the No. 28 Chevrolet began reeling in the No. 43 Pontiac at an amazing rate and the two cars were nose-to-tail with three laps to go. Just as Petty and Yarborough crossed the stripe, Doug Heveron flipped in Turn 1, bringing out the caution.

Back in the days before frozen fields and green-white-checkered finishes, the two veterans knew they had less than two miles to settle the issue. Petty described what occurred on that last lap. (Continued)