Race report
Because of reduced sponsorship money being given out by the "Big Three" automobile companies in Detroit, NASCAR decided to hold six of their smaller Winston Cup Series races in conjunction with the "minor league" NASCAR Grand American Series. [5]
The complete time of the race was one hour and twenty-three minutes. [2] Six cautions slowed the race for 36 laps with Bobby Allison defeating Richard Petty by a margin of three seconds. [2] Fourteen thousand people attended this live race with speeds approaching 44.472 miles per hour (71.571 km/h). [2] Richard Petty qualified for the pole position [3] with a speed of 55.283 miles per hour (88.969 km/h) in the solo qualifying portion of the race weekend. [2] There was a 29-driver grid; making the racetrack overcrowded with racing vehicles and forcing the race to devolve into a glorified demolition derby. [3] Bill Seifert, Cecil Gordon and Bill Shirey all quit the race before it was over. [2] [3] The result of the race would have long-reaching effects at the 1984 Firecracker 400; where they were determining whether Petty had his "200th win" or his "201st win."
Richard Petty and Bobby Allison shared their turns as being the joint leaders of the race. [2] [3] Future NASCAR car owner Richard Childress competed at this race as a driver. [2] [3] [6] J.D. McDuffie was also a notable driver who competed in this race. David Ray Boggs would earn his first "top-10" finish racing at this event. [2] [3] Almost 25% of the field was out by lap 18, which was probably about five minutes into the race, being at Bowman Gray. [2] [3]
Notable crew chiefs for this race were Dale Inman, Vic Ballard, and Lee Gordon. [7]
As Bobby Allison was not racing in a Grand National car, he never received credit in that series but was credited with a Grand American Series ("pony" cars) win. Vehicles that competed at the Grand American series were in Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Mustangs and AMC Javelins as opposed to their full-sized equivalents from their manufacturers. [8] NASCAR rules for combination races, which were in effect for Riverside and other West Coast races where the West Series raced with the Cup Series, and later used by other multiple-division races in NASCAR, state each division is scored separately, similar to rules used in the NASCAR-owned International Motor Sports Association sports car racing series. Under current rules, Richard Petty would be credited with a Grand National Series win.
53 years later, on October 23, 2024, NASCAR awarded Bobby Allison as the official winner. [9]
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