The 1981 Daytona 500 marked the debut of the so called "little" cars, with a 110-inch wheelbase, as opposed to 115-inches on the old reliable Monte Carlos and Cutlasses most teams had been running for years. The teams and drivers approached that year's event with no little trepidation. Early tests on the new shorter cars had not gone well, and the new cars turned out to have an alarming tendency to get twitchy at high speed and get airborne once they were out of shape. One team, Harry Ranier and Bobby Allison, showed up at Daytona with a "secret weapon", a Pontiac LeMans, which was more of a two door sedan than a coupe like the other teams entries. Most importantly, the LeMans had a sloped rear window, which put more air on the rear spoiler and helped keep the car stable, and on the pavement. Right out of the box, Allison showed the other teams that he was the man to beat, winning the pole, then running roughshod over the field in the first qualifier. But even more attention was focused on two wrecks that occurred during that event than on Allison's dominance. John Anderson spun on the 28th lap and the car rose up off the ground, flipped over backwards and rolled five times. Three laps from the end, Connie Saylor's Olds got sideways on the back chute. The rear of the car lifted straight up in the air, and Saylor wound up on his roof as well. Fortunately, neither driver was seriously injured, but both said the cars got out of shape and took off with no warning. For the second time that week, NASCAR decided to let the teams increase the size of their rear spoilers, trying to put an end to the aerial acrobatics. Darrell Waltrip won the second qualifier in his new ride, Junior Johnson's Buick, with a daring last lap pass on Benny Parsons. After the race, several drivers were extremely critical of Waltrip's kamikaze driving style during the event and his "take no prisoners" passing, especially in light of how high strung everyone else was about the instability of the new cars.
Engine problems ruined the debut of the Johnson-Waltrip team at that year's 500, which would go on to achieve such success. Like Baker, Waltrip seemed to have lousy luck at Daytona. With the only driver who could keep him in sight sidelined, Bobby Allison dominated the event and seemed headed for the win. Geoff Bodine was involved in a scary wreck when he spun his Pontiac in turn four, went up and over an embankment and into the infield on lap 48. Spectators ran for their lives as Bodine's errant race car hit a car owned by reporters from a local television station there to cover the event. Miraculously no one was hurt and Bodine managed to wind his way back to the pits and get repairs, winding up 22nd, 22 laps off the pace.
With 27 laps to go, Allison ducked into the pits for two tires and fuel, with Buddy Baker and Dale Earnhardt following his cue. Dale Inman, crew chief to the King, decided the 43 team had one last shot to win and decided on a gas and go stop. The strategy put Petty into the lead and he managed to hang onto it, despite the badly worn tires. It was Petty's seventh win at the Daytona 500. Ironically it was also Inman's last race with the Petty team that year. A few short days later, he announced he was leaving the King, a driver with whom he had shared incredible success, and going over to become Dale Earnhardt's crew chief. The top six finishers showed there was a changing of the guard going on in the Winston Cup ranks. Legendary veterans Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker finished 1-2-4, while newcomers Ricky Rudd, Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott took positions 3-5-6 respectively.
A brash newcomer made quite a splash at the 1982 Daytona 500. JD Stacy owned two teams outright, with drivers Joe Ruttman and Jim Sauter at the wheel, and sponsored five more teams that fielded entries for Terry Labonte, Benny Parsons, Jody Ridley, Dave Marcis and Ron Bouchard. All the teams carried his name on the quarter panels. 1982 was also the first time that the Daytona 500 was the first event on the Winston Cup calendar. Until that year the road race at Riverside in January had held that honor.
Defending Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip was loudly criticized by his colleagues after more controversial driving in a qualifier for the 1982 Daytona 500. DW found himself out of the draft and about to lose a lot of positions as rain began pelting the track, threatening to end the event early , so he just cut over back into line shoving Dale Earnhardt out of his way. Judging by Earnhardt's remarks after the event he was none too happy. Neil Bonnett, who nearly got caught up in the mess was equally angry. (Ironically enough he would later wind up as DW's teammate.) Buddy Baker won the race with "Buttinski" Waltrip on his tail, followed by Ruttman, Earnhardt and Kyle Petty. While the first qualifier lacked the second's controversy, it did provide a memorable finish, with Cale Yarborough passing Bobby Allison down the back straight, with help from Terry Labonte who drafted with him, on the last lap. Yarborough won the race, with Labonte second and Allison relegated to third after having been leading at the white flag.
There was quite a bit of controversy in the Daytona 500 of that year as well. Bobby Allison's rear bumper fell off his car, early in the event after being brushed by Yarborough. It was Allison's first race with DiGard, and many accused DiGard crew chief Gary Nelson of purposely rigging the bumper so it would fall off, including Darrell Waltrip, no fan of the Gardner's after his stormy tenure there. The rear bumper was known to create a lot of drag and Allison's car was a rocket ship after the bumper came off, leading almost three quarters of the laps. Ironically, it is that same Gary Nelson that is now in charge of seeing to it Winston Cup teams don't cheat. Favorites Benny Parsons, Richard Petty and Neil Bonnett were all eliminated in a single wreck. Petty got the worst end of the deal, breaking his foot. Waltrip was once again snake bitten at Daytona, losing an engine on lap 151. Other notables who lost engines included Dale Earnhardt, first time Daytona 500 participant Mark Martin, and Rusty Wallace, who was returning to Winston Cup racing as a reigning ASA champion and would go on to become rookie of the year. Allison cruised on to an easy victory, beating Cale Yarborough, Joe Ruttman (yes, the guy who drives trucks these days) Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott to the line. Once again the veterans had prevailed.
The 1983 Daytona 500 added yet another fairy tale finish to the Daytona record books, but at the same time was marred yet again by horror. In the first qualifier journeyman driver Bruce Jacobi was involved in a terrible wreck that left him paralyzed and comatose. Four years later he died of the injuries he sustained that day. Dale Earnhardt managed to win that event, with Buddy Baker tailing close behind. Rusty Wallace was injured in a frightening looking wreck that saw him rolling several times down the backstretch. He was hospitalized overnight with a concussion. The second qualifier provided one of the closest finishes in Daytona history, with Neil Bonnett passing Richard Petty on the last lap and holding off the King's determined charge to regain the lead by a fender length at the line.
Cale Yarborough had retired from running the entire Winston Cup circuit back at the end of 1980, and only ran the big events. Of course they don't come much bigger than the Daytona 500. Earlier in the week, on pole day, Cale had blistered his first lap at an average pace of 200.502 miles per hour. On the second lap the car got sideways, rolled over and slammed the wall. Yarborough was lucky to avoid serious injury but the car was totaled. Under NASCAR rules if a team goes to a backup car, their qualifying time is disallowed and they must start the race at the back of the field. The team had run Pontiacs in 1982, and didn't have a back up superspeedway Chevrolet like the one that Cale had wrecked. Thus the team had to resort to a Pontiac back up car, ironically enough one that had started life as Bobby Allison's dominant car at the '81 Daytona 500. Yarborough's wreck left a surprise pole winner claiming top spot, Ricky Rudd.
The '83 Daytona 500 was slowed for caution flags six times. Darrell Waltrip had an unsuccessful debut of Junior's new Pepsi Challenger when he popped the wall racing back to the yellow, trying to make up a lost lap. A car ahead had slowed down for the flag, DW rearended it and hit the pit wall hard. He was hospitalized overnight with a concussion. The caution had flown for Dale Earnhardt's blown engine which oiled down the track. Mark Martin was also eliminated in a wreck. There was a long list of contenders felled by mechanical problems as well, including Richard Petty, Benny Parsons, Tim Richmond, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd and Sterling Marlin. The finish turned out to be a thrilling one. Buddy Baker was leading on the last lap, but Cale Yarborough in his back up Pontiac, was in a three car draft with Joe Ruttman, who led the most laps that day, and Bill Elliott. The trio ran down Baker, and Yarborough blasted into the lead, leaving Ruttman, Baker and Elliott to stage a thrilling door handle to door handle scrap for second. Bill Elliott got runner up honors, Baker recovered to come home third, and a dejected Joe Ruttman, who had had easily the fastest car on the track that day, had to settle for fourth. It was Yarborough's third Daytona 500 victory, each with a different team owner, and each in a different make of car. Aboard for the ride was a prehistoric in car camera, providing the CBS viewers at home a passenger seat vantage point from the race winning car.
Cale Yarborough returned to Daytona for the 25th running of the event in 1984 with the Ranier team again, but with a Chevy for the event. Cale put everyone on notice that he meant to be a contender, by taking the pole for the event at 201.89 miles per hour. In the first qualifier, Cale put on an impressive show of speed. Buddy Baker had been passed once too often by the slingshot move on the last lap and decided that he wanted to be in second, not first when the white flag flew, so he could use the same trick. He let Cale by and Cale just motored away from Buddy's fleet Ford. In fact, once he lost the draft, Baker fell into the clutches of Bill Elliott who took second place. "That didn't work too good, did it?" a red faced Baker asked reporters after the event.
1996 and 97 Busch series champ, Randy LaJoie, was entered in the second qualifier. He brought out a red flag that lasted over an hour by rolling his car end over end and tearing down a section of pit wall. Any more questions why Randy doesn't want to move up to the Cup league? Bobby Allison ran away with the race, beating Harry Gant. Terry Labonte, Benny Parsons and Tim Richmond were third, fourth and fifth. The newcomers had more top five finishes in the qualifiers then the veterans. But in the 500, experience prevailed. Baker and Allison went out early with mechanical problems. Rusty Wallace was involved in another nasty crash. That left it to Cale and Darrell to settle things between them. Waltrip and Yarborough had been feuding for years and there was no love lost between them. For most of the race there were only inches between them as well, as the crowd held its breath. Waltrip had often ridiculed Cale for being too old to handle the heat of a race, but that day, Cale demonstrated a trick he had mastered along the way. He patiently waited in second place until the last lap, then used one of his trademark slingshot moves on the last lap to take the win. Cale became the second man to win the Daytona 500 two years in a row. Cale brought Dale Earnhardt with him when he blew past Darrell and Dale took second while DW had to settle for third. Neil Bonnett finished fourth and Bill Elliott scored his third straight top five finish in the 500. Chalk up another one for the veterans.
The 1985 Daytona 500 can be summed up in two words; "Bill Elliott." Right from the first practice session that year Elliott had the dominant car, and he stunned everyone by posting a 205.114 qualifying lap. The first qualifier wasn't much of a race. Elliott had almost lapped the field by the time that the checkered flag flew to end the other drivers misery. Veterans Darrell Waltrip, manning Junior Johnson's Chevy, Benny Parsons in the Jackson Brothers Olds, and Buddy Baker in his first race as an owner driver finished a distant second third and fourth. Cale and David Pearson upheld the long-timers honors, finishing first and second in the second qualifier. Richard Petty, driving for Mike Curb, finished fourth, right behind his son Kyle, making his debut in the Wood Brothers 7-eleven Ford. For the first time since 65, there was no Petty Enterprises car at the Daytona 500. Yarborough employed his "last lap" slingshot trick yet again, to take the victory in the qualifier. Daytona rookie Davey Allison, Bobby's boy, didn't fare as well as Kyle. He finished dead last in the second qualifier, after blowing a clutch on the first lap, and thus didn't make the field for the big show.
Perhaps Davey just spared himself the embarrassment of being grist in the mill for Elliott's Coors Thunderbird like the rest of the field. The green flag dropped and Elliott checked out, with only Cale Yarborough able to run even near him. Cale popped a motor on lap 62 and that was about it. Elliott ran an astounding 192 mile per hour pace for the first 100 miles of the event, and engines began blowing like popcorn as other drivers twisted the tiger's tail a little too tight, trying to keep up. Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Benny Parsons, AJ Foyt, David Pearson, Harry Gant, Terry Labonte, and Sterling Marlin all lost engines in plenty of time to watch Bill streaking towards victory from atop their trailers. NASCAR did add a little drama to the proceedings. Elliott pitted for the final time on lap 145 and made a quick stop. But NASCAR officials noted a headlight block off plate was ajar and ordered the crew to call Bill back in to repair it. Ernie Elliott used racers tape to fix the hole, but the stop consumed nearly 42 seconds. Elliott charged back out onto the track and reclaimed the lead in 11 laps. Neil Bonnett, in another Junior Johnson Chevy, made one final charge but blew his engine. Second place and "best in class" fell to Lake Speed. After the race, a reporter found Darrell Waltrip rubbing his chin and staring at the front end of Bill's car. Perhaps thinking DW was onto something illegal about the car, the reporter asked Darrell what was wrong with it. "Nothing" DW muttered. "I just wanted to see what the front end of this car looked like…. I ain't seen it all week." Afterwards Darrell (who finished third for the third year in a row) launched into one of those "Why NASCAR has to slow these Fords down…" deals that have become the norm for this decade. Bill Elliott claimed a monster payday of $185,500 for the win. To put that in perspective, Richard Petty claimed almost as much prize money for finishing 34th that day as his dad Lee did for winning the 1959 Daytona 500. More importantly, that win was the first leg of the new Winston Cup Million that Elliott went onto claim later that year in dominating style. And at last the new comers had beat the old timers. The torch was being passed.
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