Racing History Minute - Daytona 500 - 1983

Once more, in the 125 mile qualifying races, a driver would before a fatality. This time, however, that driver would survive in a coma for four years before passing. Setting up the details, Bruce Jacobi, from Indianapolis, having run 20 previous Grand National races, flipped violently on the sixth lap, suffering the injuries that would keep him lingering for four years.

Also involved in crashes in the first 125 were Delma Cowart, Mike Potter and David Simko. Even so, there were only 2 caution flags for a total of 12 laps.

The race came down to a duel between A. J. Foyt driving his own Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt driving the Bud Moore Ford. Unlike the Intimidator, Dale waiting until just the right time to draft by A.J., bringing with him the cars of Buddy Baker and Kyle Petty. As the field roared under the checkers, Dale had Buddy by less than a car length with Kyle Petty in third and A.J. coming home fourth.

Top five finishers:

1. Dale Earnhardt, Bud Moore Ford

2. Buddy Baker, Wood Brothers Ford

3. Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises Pontiac

4. A. J. Foyt, Foyt Chevrolet

5. Joe Ruttman, Ron Benfield Chevrolet

The second 125 had another of the violent crashes involving a car getting airborne and flipping several times. This time it was Rusty Wallace on lap 26. Rusty flipped several times and was transported to the hospital with a concussion. Doctors also had to remove mud from Rusty's eyes.

The race came down to a last lap pass by Neil Bonnett as the stormed around leader Richard Petty. Petty had a chance to get back by Bonnett heading for the flag, but slower traffic had him boxed in.

A crowd of 50,000 fans saw the race to the line become almost a photo finish as Petty lost to Bonnett by less than half a car length.

Top five finishers:

1. Neil Bonnettt, Raymoc-Hodgdon Chevrolet

2. Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises Pontiac

3. Cale Yarborough, Ranier Racing Pontiac

4. Dick Brooks, Junie Donlavey Ford

5. Mark Martin, J.D. Stacy Buick

The 1983 Daytona 500 was, from the incidents in the 125 milers and the pole qualifying earlier that week, a race of freaky circumstances. For instance, Cale Yarborough, driving his Chevrolet Monte Carlo sponsored by Hardee's had just qualified with a lap of 200.503 on his first lap and was going for more on lap two when the car went into a complete flip coming off turn four resulting in a violent crash into the wall. Cale was ok, but the car was junk. Ranier Racing had to pull out the back up Pontiac for Cale. Even then, going to a back up cost Cale the Pole which went instead to Ricky Rudd with a speed of 198.864. Rules were that if a car was entered, qualified, then withdrawn, the qualifying speed was disallowed. Ranier had no choice but to withdrawn the crashed Chevrolet.

The race got underway with what would become an absolute dog fight for first place with the lead changing hands almost every lap, and sometimes two or three times a lap. Leaders included Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Petty, Joe Ruttman, Dick Brooks, Bill Elliott, Cale Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, and Buddy Baker. It would be Joe Ruttman, however, who would lead the most laps but was unable to pull off the win. Joe said "I'd have to say I've done poorly on the last lap. I had a car that was capable of winning". The loss in the 500 backed up Joe's last lap losses in the 125 mile qualified and the Sportsman Race run the day before the 500.

Darrell Waltrip, defending Grand National Champion was taken to the hospital by ambulance after crashing on lap 53. Dale Earnhardt had blown an engine to bring out the caution flag. Waltrip, who was a lap behind, tried to race back to the flag to get his lap back when he ran up on Dick Brooks, who had backed off for the yellow, and Waltrip swerved to miss Brooks. Waltrip lost control and slammed into the wall. Waltrip was removed from the car unconscious, and spent the night in the hospital.

As the cars went under the white flag, Buddy Baker was leading, but Cale was tucked right under the rear bumper of Buddy's Wood Brothers Ford. As the cars raced down the back straight, Cale used the famous "slingshot" move and went around Baker and left a three car duel to fight it out to the line. As the three fighting for second came off turn four, Bill Elliott took the high side and took second in an almost photo finish with third place Baker and fourth place Ruttman.

Finishing order:

1. Cale Yarborough, Ranier Racing Pontiac, winning $119,600.00

2. Bill Elliott, Melling Racing Ford, winning $66,425.00 (5 car lengths back)

3. Buddy Baker, Wood Brothers Ford, winning $59,650.00

4. Joe Ruttman, Ron Benfield Chevrolet, winning $55,980.00

5. Dick Brooks, Junie Donlavey Ford, winning $44,545.00 (1 lap down)

6. Terry Labonte

7. Tom Sneva

8. David Pearson

9. Bobby Allison

10. Jody Ridley

11. A. J. Foyt

12. Lennie Pond

13. Phil Parsons

14. Jimmy Means

15. Dean Roper

16. Buddy Arrington

17. Ronnie Thomas

18. Jim Sauter

19. Ronnie Hopkins

20. Rick Baldwin

21. Clark Dwyer

22. Neil Bonnett

23. James Hylton

24. Ricky Rudd

25. Lake Speed

26. Ron Bouchard

27. Tommy Gale

28. Mark Martin

29. J. D. McDuffie

30. Geoff Bodine

31. Delma Cowart

32. Dave Marcis

33. Kyle Petty

34. Sterling Marlin

35. Dale Earnhardt

36. Darrell Waltrip

37. Harry Gant

38. Richard Petty

39. Bosco Lowe

40. Elliott Forbes-Robinson

41. Tim Richmond

42. Benny Parsons

PERSONAL MEMORIES: Frankly, the only real memory I have of this race is worrying about D. W. Yes, I know that I have never been a fan of D.W., even when he was a driver and most definitely not these days from the television booth, but when they removed him from the car and took him out in an ambulance, I was concerned that he was dead and I didn't want anyone to die in a race car.

I have a vague recollection of the last lap fight between Cale and Buddy as I watched from the top of the motorhome. I remember going into the pits after the race to find Richard, which I never did, although I did see a few drivers. Things are Daytona were changing as the sport was beginning (in my opinion) to experience that level of recognition that was making it difficult for low level press such as myself to have access to many places. My press credentials at Daytona that year limited me to pit access only before the race. That was the first race where I noticed a distinct change in the way minor press outlets, such as my radio station, were shuffled to the sidelines in favor of CBS and major newspapers. It was, fittingly, the last Daytona 500 I would attend, to date, as I was getting married in April, 1983, and taking on a wife and two teenage children would not leave much time, or money, to be making trips to Florida in February.

Well, folks, we have reached the end of February and the end of our Daytona 500 series. I hope that you all have enjoyed the series as much as I have enjoyed writing about them. I can't speak for TMC Chase and Dave Fulton, but I'm guessing they have enjoyed providing all the pictures and videos to really make this series come to life. It is a team effort all the way and I am quite proud of what RacersReunion accomplishes with these History Minutes.

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.

Before Dale Earnhardt in the new body style Wrangler Jeans / Bud Moore Thunderbird beat AJ Foyt in the first qualifying race for the 1983 Daytona 500, he was the center of a big controversy earlier in the week at the rescheduled Monday, Valaentine's Day Busch Clash won by Neil Bonnett.

Earnhardt's blue & yellow T-bird started smoking and received the black flag, causing Bud Moore to nearly swallow his plug of tobacco. Bud started screaming on the radio for Dale to stay out and ignore the black flag, which is exactly what Dale did. He didn't take the checkers, though, because he crashed with Terry Labonte on the final lap.

NASCAR quickly announced that Dale would receive the then largest fine in NASCAR history for having ignored the black flag in the Busch Clash... $10,000!

Bud and Dale screamed bloody murder and two days later the fine was reduced to $5,000, with $2,000 of thta amount to be refunded if Dale "behaved."

Greg or Bud Moore would have to confirm, but if memory serves, I don't believe a penny was ever paid to NASCAR for the black flag violation.

I got to watch the 2nd 1983 Daytona 500 qualifying race seated next to the late NASCAR founder, Bill France SENIOR in his private booth atop the tower at the Daytona Start/Finish line. A year ago I wrote a piece on the RR home page about that experience:

A Day at the Races with Big Bill France by: Dave Fulton

by: Dave Fulton

Things were different at Daytona International Speedway thirty years ago, on Thursday, February 17, 1983. I was 34 not 64 as I am today. And, Bill France, Sr., then aged 73, was still very much a presence at the Speedway.

Bill France, Sr. William Henry Getty France was usually referred to as either Bill, Sr. or Big Bill. Big Bill was a good fit, because Bill France, Sr. was an imposing tower of a man. The stories are well documented of how Bill France, Sr. led NASCAR in its early years and built its showplace racetrack Daytona International Speedway.

Bill France Sr.
From the Andy Towler Collection

I was called just plain Dave and on that Thursday afternoon I was handling various duties beginning my third full season as Manager of Wrangler NASCAR Special Events. I oversaw motorsports programs for the Greensboro, North Carolina-based jeans manufacturer, including our sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt in the blue and yellow Wrangler festooned Bud Moore #15 Ford Thunderbird.

Thursday of Speedweeks was always a busy day for me. Not only did Dale have to compete in the first of the UNO TWIN 125 Qualifying Races to secure his starting position in Sundays Daytona 500, I had to prepare and supervise our annual Wrangler Daytona Speedweeks party that night at the brand new Pelican Bay Club. That party, put together by and featuring the entertainment of the Fabulous Rhodes Brothers Revue , was the must do party of Speedweeks. Bill France, Sr. had already reminded me the previous week when I checked in for my credentials, to be sure to give him an ample supply of invitations so he could include the mayor and Daytona Beach City Council.

For the 1983 racing season, Ford had come out with an all new Thunderbird. Earnhardt hated it. He called the new design, which would become one of the biggest selling Ford designs ever, The Football. He did not like the way the car handled in traffic. A soon to be dominant Bill Elliott actually refused to run the car at Daytona, opting for the old shoebox 1982 model.

The Fords had been a tad slow in pole qualifying runs, so it was very important to gain a good finish in the Twin Qualifier to gain a good starting position for the Sunday Daytona 500.

Unlike this years Daytona 500, with only 45 cars on hand, the 1983 edition had seen 72 NASCAR Winston Cup stock cars check into the Speedway. The 36-car fields in each qualifier would be just nine cars less than the total at Daytona this February.

My plans were to split from the Speedway as soon as the first qualifier was over and Dale had secured his starting position for Sunday. I wanted to get cleaned up and head over to Pelican Bay to be sure all food, drink and entertainment preparations were on schedule. I especially wanted to be sure that the bevy of young ladies we were attiring in French maid costumes to serve as hostesses were all dressed and ready. It would be their job to be certain all partiers had full drinks and no Winston cigarette ever made it to a guests lips before they had a lighter out with the flame lit.

Dale Earnhardts performance in the first UNO Twin 125-Mile Qualifying Race caused me to hang around the Speedway longer than I had planned. The new Thunderbird proved to be excellent in the draft and a better handling car in traffic than Earnhardt expected. He raced to the front in Bud Moores blue and yellow Wrangler Thunderbird and hung just behind the venerable A.J. Foyt in his red #14 Valvoline Chevy. Lap after lap, Dale stayed glued to the cagey veteran, Foyts rear bumper.

Earnhardt took the white flag still glued to Foyts bumper. Coming out of turn two, Earnhardt was tucked in behind the Foyt Chevy, followed by Buddy Bakers Wood Brothers Valvoline Ford #21 and the #7 Kyle Petty 7-Eleven Pontiac.

Halfway down the back straight, Earnhardt ducked to the inside lane with Baker pushing him. They passed A.J. in a classic Daytona slingshot move going into turn three of the final lap. At the line it was Earnhardt the winner, followed by Baker and Petty, who edged Foyt in a bumping battle for third.

That thrilling last lap can be seen here:

I had run to Victory Lane carrying all the boxes of Wrangler hats I could muster. Mind you, proper voodoo etiquette dictates you dont get the Victory Lane hats together until after the checkers, unless you want to jinx your driver.

While up to my elbows in blue and yellow in the Daytona International Speedway Victory Lane, I began to hear my name paged over the Speedway public address system. Attention, Dave Fulton. Dave Fulton with Wrangler. Dave Fulton with Wrangler dial Speedway Extension #6682 immediately please.

I was familiar with many Speedway telephone extensions. I made numerous calls all the time to the Winston Cup Garage extension, Daytona Public Relations extension, the NASCAR Marketing extension and the MRN Radio extension. I had no idea what Extension #6682 was.

The always prepared Daytona Speedway had a telephone extension in Victory Lane. So while the cars were being lined up on pit road for the second Twin Qualifying Race and while UNOCALs Bill Broderick performed the Victory Lane hat dance, I dialed Extension #6682 .

One ring, two rings then, TOWER CONTROL, Bocky speaking. Tower Control was a tiny booth at the very top of the old blue Daytona International Speedway tower overlooking the start/finish line. Bocky was Jim Bockoven, close friend and high school pal of Bill France, Jr. He had a title something akin to Operations Director for the Speedway. He made sure things happened and he was usually beside Bill France, Jr.

I identified myself and after a brief pause, Bill France, Jr. came on the line. Dad wanted me to call you and congratulate you on Dales win. Dad also wanted to know if you might come up to the control tower and watch the second race with him. Well bring you over from Victory Lane in a patrol car, Bill, Jr. concluded.

The implication was that I would immediately be on my way in a patrol car with a motorcycle escort to watch the second 1983 UNO Twin 125-Mile Qualifier seated next to Big Bill France, Sr. There was never a real question mark placed by Bill, Jr. at the end of his question. I understood I was being given an order. It would be a command performance.

Getting from Victory Lane to the Tower in race traffic was no easy feat, even with escorts. I was not so nave as to think I was being invited to share a seat next to the most powerful man in auto racing because he thought hed enjoy my company. As we went through the infield tunnel my brain was going a hundred miles an hour.

I had spent a lot of money with International Speedway Corporation in my position at Wrangler. At that very moment there were two individuals working in the Daytona Credentials office on my expense account.

We had hospitality tents at Daytona and a suite at Talladega. I bought thousands of grandstand tickets to the races at both venues. We had an extensive Wrangler ad campaign boosting NASCAR racing and I ran special ticket promotions at both Daytona and Talladega that I had negotiated with Bill France Seniors wife, Anne France Annie B , Miss Annie or Mom as Bill, Jr. had first introduced her to me in 1981, when she signed off on my proposed ticket promotions at her tracks.

Miss Annie would not be in the tiny booth atop the Daytona Control Tower when I arrived. She was always in the ticket office or at the money drops. Wherever the money was to be found was where Bill France, Seniors wife would be found. It had always been that way. I recalled my good friend, Richmond promoter Paul Sawyer, telling me of going to the France house with Joe Weatherly after a beach race and finding Miss Annie on her knees on the kitchen floor, surrounded by stacks of currency.

No, there were only four people inside the Tower Control Booth when we got past the door security. Father and son France Sr. and Jr. were in the booth with the aforementioned Bocky and Bill Seniors personal assistant, Bob Mauk.

These were the days before David Hoots gave up his day job at UPS to become NASCAR Race Director. Bill France, Jr. was Race Director in those days at both Daytona and Talladega (just as Humpy Wheeler was Race Director at Charlotte) and he had his headset on, ready to begin the second Qualifier. Neither Bob Mauk nor Jim Bockoven engaged in conversation. That left just me and Big Bill. I was overwhelmed and overmatched.

Bill France, Sr. didnt spend too much time stroking my feathers. He was a pretty direct individual. He allowed as to how International Speedway Corporation was uncertain of the sponsorship for the two qualifying races the following season and it seemed to him that an exciting program like the Wrangler Racing program would be a perfect fit for sponsoring his two qualifying races. All the while we were munching on snacks and the second race was unfolding below me from a perch I could only have imagined in my wildest racing dream.

Bill, Sr. praised our Wrangler program and driver, Earnhardt while Bill, Jr. called cautions and dispatched wreckers and called for move over flags from Harold Kinder. All the while, far below me, Neil Bonnett in the Warner Hodgdon-sponsored Rahmoc Chevy was holding off Richard Petty in the STP Pontiac. Little did we know that a year later Richard would be driving for Mike Curb and not Petty Enterprises. Such is racing.

Third place Cale Yarborough in the #28 Hardees Ranier Racing Pontiac would go on to win the Sunday Daytona 500. I watched that Sunday race splitting my time between pit road and the infield Goodyear Tower in the Winston Cup garage.

I explained to Bill France, Sr. that our Wrangler budget operated on a fiscal year that began October 1 and ended on September 30. My new budget would be put together no later than June 30. Things were complicated splitting a calendar year racing series between two different budget years.

Ultimately, I declined to sponsor the two Daytona Qualifying races with Wrangler money. It proved to be an excellent decision. As fate would have it, I had to find funds to field two teams for the 1984 Winston Cup NASCAR season Dale Earnhardt at Richard Childress Racing and Ricky Rudd with Bud Moore Engineering.

1984 Rudd Earnhardt Wrangler Cars
Courtesy of J.C. Hayes

By the time the 1984 season began and I returned to Speedweeks, I had left Wrangler. After 13 years wearing blue and yellow, I moved to Dallas, Texas to become Motorsports Coordinator for The Southland Corporations sponsorship in NASCAR, at the time centered on Kyle Petty under the 7-Eleven banner. Uno continued with a one year renewal of the Twin Qualifying races for 1984.

However, if you search the records, youll see that my new employer had its name on the 1985, 1986 and 1987 versions of the Twin Qualifiers. The record book lists them as 7-Eleven Twin 125-Mile Qualifying Races each of those three years.

In retrospect, I guess Big Bill France got what he wanted from my 1983 visit to the Tower. He was an excellent salesman.

The 1983 Daytona 500 was the 25th edition of the Great American Race. Its still hard to believe Petty teams had won one-third of the 500s held over those 25 years.

Interesting how that Pontiac LeMans returned with more success. Funny too, if I understand it correctly, that the car had been turned into a show car. Today, sponsors and teams want the show cars to look identical to what's on the track. But back then, Ranier was running a Monte on the track and using leftovers to take to fast food restaurants.

Rahmoc brought a LeMans to Daytona in 1982 - a year after Bobby Allison drove Ranier's LeMans to a win in the 500 in 1981.

And though Ranier was forced to run the LeMans for Cale in 1983 as a backup, Raymond Beadle's Blue Max team brought a LeMans as the primary car for Tim Richmond. - Keith Koether

Richmond's LeMans behind Tom Sneva. - Jerry Bushmire

Keith Koether also got a photo of Cale's Monte Carlo during practice BEFORE he flipped it on his 2nd qualifying lap.

As Dave Fulton continued with Wrangler, his future employer made its Daytona debut with Kyle Petty. While Dave doesn't care for the orange-green-white 7-Eleven scheme, I personally really liked it - especially when Petty Enterprises mounted chrome or white wheels on it. Kyle finished a strong 3rd in his twin behind Earnhardt and Baker, but his 500 was forgettable. A blown engine built by Chief sent Kyle home with a disappointing 33rd place finish. - Ray Lamm

After Benny Parsons parted ways with Ranier's team mid-way through 1982, he joined a new team formed by Johnny Hayes and Skoal. Hal Needham's team with Harry Gant continued with Skoal sponsorship, but Hayes put more dollars into the sport with Benny and Skoal. The team's Daytona debut was in the 1983 500. I really like the look of this Buick - moreso than the dark green colors for Phil Parsons and the dark brown Copenhagen colors for Benny. - Craig Bontrager

Speaking of Phil Parsons, he made his Cup debut in the 1983 500 driving a 2nd Hayes car with Skoal sponsorship.

Terry Labonte raced with Budweiser as a sponsor for the first of two times. His Billy Hagan owned team had them on the car for a single season in 1983, and he raced for Bud again when he joined Junior Johnson's team. I'd have to do some thinking about drivers who raced for the same sponsor but with different teams - and with more than a one-season gap between sponsorships. Terry was building momentum in 1983 that resulted in his having a championship year in 1984. His new crew chief in 1983? NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Inman. - Thomas Craig

Waltrip's car after taking a hard, hard lick into the non-SAFER barrier wall with eventual winner Cale missing of him and Joe Ruttman in the #98 Levi Garrett Chevy trailing behind him. - J.C. Hayes

The unique trophy awarded for the winner of the 25th 500.

And Cale holding it in victory lane.

As many drivers of that era did, Joe Ruttman had a busy Speedweeks in 1983. His performance in the 500 with most laps led and a 4th place finish was a bit of an overachievement for the young Ron Benfield team. But I'm sure all drivers pretty well reject 'moral victories' if they don't get to kiss the pretty and take home the hardware.

Joe started 2nd and finished 5th in his twin as Tim referenced.He also qualified 2nd and finished 8th in the Goody's 300 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Division race. (Sam Ard was on the pole.)

But he also raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona driving a #28 Avanti. -

One of the stories Joe told me during a lunch last year was about one of the car's sponsors - Platinum Magazine. It was apparently one of those mags sold behind the counter at local convenience stores. On race day, as drivers were headed for their cars, Ruttman said he passed by one that had a number of drop dead gorgeous ladies standing by it. He said he chuckled and asked "Lucky guy, whose car is this?" and someone said "Yours."

Cale's 2nd qualifying lap for the 1983 Daytona 500:

If you'd have guessed that Dale Earnhardt would help rival Darrell Waltrip win the Saturday Goody's 300 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman race at Daytona in 1983 instead of close friend, Neil Bonnett, you'd have been one of a very few, but you would have been right.

At one time both Dale and Darrell drove team superspeedway LMS cars for Earnhardt's father-in-law, Robert Gee prepared at the shop behind Robert's house on Hudspeth Road near Charlotte Motor Speedway. In fact, Robert once candidly told me that DW helped him stay in the racing business with financial assistance.

For 1983, DW was campaigning his own LMS car, now housed in the shops on the side of the Goodyear building on the corner of the Charlotte Speedway property at Moorehead Road and U.S. 29. DW's operation was being run by former Earnhardt / Rod Osterlund crewman, Eddie Jones.

Earnhardt had led 11 laps early in the 300 going, but lost 7 laps in the pits with a mechanical issue on the Wrangler sponsored Pontiac owned by Robert Gee.

On the final lap of the race, Earnhardt went with DW instead of Neil and the Pepsi Pontiac of Waltrip was victorious.

Coverage below is from the Spartanburg paper.

1983 Goody's 300

NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race number 1 of 35
Saturday, February 19, 1983 at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
120 laps on a 2.500 mile paved track (300.0 miles)

Time of race: 2:01:55
Average Speed: 147.642 mph
Pole Speed: 185.774 mph Cautions: 5 for 22 laps
Lead changes: 22

1 5 17 Darrell Waltrip Pepsi (Darrell Waltrip) Pontiac 120 16,100 running 10 180
2 11 89 Geoffrey Bodine Plessinger Racing Pontiac 120 11,405 running 1 170
3 7 75 Neil Bonnett Warner Hodgdon (Butch Mock) Pontiac 120 9,045 running 11 165
4 8 28 Phil Parsons Skoal Bandit (Johnny Hayes) Pontiac 120 18,700 running 10 160
5 3 7 Morgan Shepherd Valvring (Ed Whitaker) Oldsmobile 120 6,700 running 43 155
6 1 00 Sam Ard Thomas Brothers Country Ham (Howard Thomas) Oldsmobile 120 15,150 running 24 150
7 10 12 Tommy Ellis Industrial Boiler Pontiac 120 12,150 running 0 146
8 2 82 Joe Ruttman Levi Garrett Pontiac 120 4,025 running 7 142
9 23 21 Larry Pearson Chattanooga Chew (David Pearson) Pontiac 119 3,550 running 0 138
10 28 6 Tommy Houston UNO / Mason Day Paving (Mike Day) Oldsmobile 118 9,550 running 0 134
11 18 26 John Utsman Gwyn Racing Oldsmobile 118 3,030 running 0 130
12 21 08 Ken Bouchard Ed's Auto Machine Pontiac 118 2,780 running 0 127
13 13 1 Pete Silva New Con Leasing Pontiac 117 6,580 running 0 124
14 26 32 Dale Jarrett Pet Dairy (Horace Isenhower) Pontiac 117 5,640 running 0 121
15 19 29 Satch Worley Arrington Racing (Buddy Arrington) Dodge 117 2,255 running 0 118
16 22 66 Darryl Sage Sage Racing Pontiac 117 2,130 running 0 115
17 9 88 Bobby Allison Plessinger Racing (Frank Plessinger) Pontiac 116 2,080 running 3 112
18 32 52 Steve Lawrence Matson Pool Manufacturing Pontiac 116 4,105 running 0 109
19 25 03 J.D. McDuffie Precision Walls Chevrolet 116 1,980 running 0 106
20 27 95 Bubba Nissen Metro Pontiac 116 2,930 running 0 103
21 6 15 Dale Earnhardt Wrangler (Robert Gee) Pontiac 113 2,380 running 11 100
22 40 42 Allan Powell Weast Racing Pontiac 113 3,630 running 0 97
23 36 86 Mike Watts Hartsell's Auto Center Pontiac 112 1,780 running 0 94
24 39 65 Bill Venturini B & V Racing Enterprise (Bill Venturini) Pontiac 110 1,730 running 0 91
25 29 4 Joe Thurman Thurman Enterprises Pontiac 108 2,180 running 0 88
26 30 57 Ken Ragan Ragan Chevrolet (Marvin Ragan) Pontiac 100 1,580 running 0 85
27 33 9 Bob Shreeves Denmark Racing (Bob Shreeves) Pontiac 95 4,080 rear end 0 82
28 15 24 Glenn Jarrett Thackston Racing (Marvin Thackston) Ford 84 1,480 running 0 79
29 34 33 George Dalton Lowery Chevrolet Pontiac 78 2,255 running 0 76
30 20 72 Tommy Hilbert Lebanon Friends (Tommy Hilbert) Pontiac 74 1,405 vibration 0 73
31 35 62 John Linville Automotive Specialist (John Linville) Pontiac 74 1,380 running 0 70
32 37 8 Mike Riley TGR Enterprises Pontiac 54 1,355 clutch 0 67
33 16 01 Butch Lindley Zervakis Racing Oldsmobile 45 3,630 brakes 0 64
34 24 92 David Rogers Rogers Racing Pontiac 41 1,305 engine 0 61
35 38 50 Larry Hoopaugh Cox Racing Ford 36 1,280 timing chain 0 58
36 31 44 Rick Hanley Britt Racing Pontiac 29 1,370 engine 0 55
37 14 85 Randy Tissot City Salvage Auto Parts Pontiac 23 1,260 engine 0 52
38 12 11 Jack Ingram J.W. Hunt Produce (Jack Ingram) Oldsmobile 7 4,650 dry sump 0 49
39 17 06 Rodney Howard Big Daddy's Pontiac 7 1,315 crash 0 46
40 4 3 Mike Porter Wendy's Pontiac 1 2,455 engine 0 43

Racing Reference

As I mentioned in the post about the 1982 500, I really liked the look of Kyle's 42 car. Richard's also - but liked the 42 better. And the 1984 scheme the 43 sported to win #200 is among my favorites. But I simply didn't like the 1983 look for the 43. Can't quite put my finger on it - I think its the black rims.

Yet I can't reject it completely because I was able to get right up to it at Nashville later that spring. So I have to retain SOME level of favorable bias towards the 83 scheme. - TMC

Great additions to these Minutes, Dave. Thank you for sharing.

Dennis, the man in the background of the Cale 1983 Daytona 500 victory lane photo wearing the Skoal Bandit pit crew shirt with the 7-Eleven patch and holding a can of Pepsi is Jay Wells , who at the time was Marketing Promotions Manager for U.S. Tobacco Motorsports.

Jay was from Bennettsville, SC and had worked for Herman Hickman in the PR Department at Rockingham before being hired by U.S. Tobacco to handle their NASCAR PR for the Skoal program.

When the Skoal program first started in 1981, Jay was living in Dale Earnhardt's basement in Dale's first house on Lake Norman. Jay was very short in stature and our Earnhardt/Wrangler PR guy, Joe Whitlock, nicknamed Jay "The Skoal Troll!" That nickname stuck and everybody in the Winston Cup Garage just referred to Jay as " Troll." He accepted his nickname with pride and good humor.

Jay later went to work for NASCAR as its Sponsor Services Liaison and was replaced at U.S. Tobacco by Brian Buchauer who had been the PR guy at the Dover track. Last I knew, Jay was working for NHRA. He was a truly nice and funny guy who did a great job promoting Skoal and Harry Gant.

wonderful, an outstanding series...thanks guys...