There’s a reason why traditional and diehard racing fans always refer to the current era of NASCAR racing as the good old days. It’s fair to say that people didn’t have to deal with the jargon of racing rules and the tricky playoff format. Plus, people like Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte were competing against each other.
While there have been several drivers who have reached the pinnacle of NASCAR racing, only a handful of names have been able to match the power and influence of the King, who was not limited to the confines of stock car racing but spread far and wide. So much so that he helped Ronald Reagan retain his presidency in 1984. However, Richard Petty suffered a major blow in the process when he lost his crew chief, Dale Inman.
Why did Richard Petty switch to curb racing in 1984?
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Dale Inman is considered the best NASCAR crew chief to ever serve in the sport. And that title is by no means an exaggeration. Inman led the No. 43 team and won seven Cup Series trophies. In addition, he has 193 victories as a crew chief, the most ever, and 188 of those came with Richard Petty. However, the two parted ways at the start of the 1984 season when Petty decided to move to curb racing.
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Why would Richard Petty do such a thing, celebrating with his wingman who had helped him conquer the NASCAR circuits? Now Buddy Parrot was recruited as Inman’s replacement at Curb Racing, and according to him, Petty’s decision to leave his own racing team was to help Ronald Reagan win the presidency that year.
“Let’s bring in Mike Curb, the lieutenant governor of California. Let’s bring in a man named Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, in a politically motivated situation. That was the whole thing. But it was the situation that we were going to elect Ronald Reagan president of the United States.” Buddy Parrot shared this via the Dale Jr. download.
“Richard Petty is the man. We came to Talladega. Gary Nelson was in the number 22 car, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty were in the number 43 car. They all drove to the pit lane, I held up the banner ‘Go Reagan’ and who won the election that year?” Parrot added.
While Reagan won the election that year, Richard Petty was unable to win his eighth championship. His former crew chief, who had moved to Hagan Racing, helped Terry Labonte win his first championship.
But after achieving everything there is to win in NASCAR, the king decided to take the sport to a new level. And before anyone knew it, a US President was sitting in the stands to watch a NASCAR race that year. This brought more attention and awareness to what was considered a niche sport.
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The king wins his last NASCAR race in the presence of the US President
The 1984 Firecracker 400 was a big event, with then-President of the United States Ronald Reagan in attendance. Going into the race, the King had already won 199 Cup races, so the pressure was on to deliver again and make history by recording his 200th win. But he was up against the mighty Cale Yarborough, who could have snatched the win from him had he not reacted so cheekily at the end of the race.
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A late caution occurred on lap 158 of 160. Back then, the rules for calling the race official were different; drivers were not frozen to determine their position on the track. Instead, the caution was only triggered after the leader crossed the start and finish line. Therefore, both Yarborough and Petty, who were racing for the win, rushed to the finish line to get the caution.
Petty took the 200th place finish as the two finished side-by-side in a photo finish. Although Yarborough led the most (79) laps of the race after starting on the pole, he couldn’t keep the King at bay when it mattered most. Ironically, this was the last time Richard Petty won a Cup Series race, but it remains a legendary race.