There’s a reason why traditional and hardcore race fans always judge 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 race rules and tricky playoff format. Moreover, you had the likes of Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and Terry Labonte battle against each other.

While there have been multiple drivers to have reached the pinnacle of NASCAR racing. Only a handful of names could compete against the might and influence of the King, which wasn’t just restricted to the confines of the stock car racing realm; it spread far and wide. So much so that helped Ronald Reagan retain his presidency in 1984. However, in doing so, Richard Petty took a significant hit, losing his crew chief, Dale Inman.

Why did Richard Petty switch to Curb Racing in 1984?

Dale Inman is regarded as the greatest NASCAR crew chief to have graced the sport. This tag isn’t an exaggeration by any means. Inman led the charge of the No. 43 team in winning seven Cup Series trophies. Moreover, he has 193 wins as the crew chief, most by any, and 188 of those came with Richard Petty. However, the two split at the beginning of the 1984 season as Petty chose to join Curb Racing.

Now why would Richard Petty do such a thing, partying ways with his wingman who helped him conquer the NASCAR circuits? Now Buddy Parrot was roped in as Inman’s replacement at Curb Racing, and going by his words, Petty’s decision to leave his own race team was to help Ronald Reagan win the presidency that year.

“Let’s bring Mike Curb into it, Lieutenant Governor of California. Let’s bring a guy named the President of the United States called Ronald Reagan, politically motivated situation. That was the whole deal. But it was the situation that we were going to get Ronald Reagan elected to the presidency of the United States.” Buddy Parrot shared this via the Dale Jr. Download.

“Richard Petty’s the man. We got to Talladega; we had Gary Nelson in the 22 car with Bobby Allison and Richard Petty with the 43 car. All out on pit road, me holding up the banner “Go Reagan” and who won the election that year?” Parrot added.

While Reagan won the elections that year, Richard Petty lost out on adding an eighth title to his name. His former crew chief, who had joined Hagan Racing, helped Terry Labonte win his first championship.

But, having achieved everything there is to win in NASCAR, the King decided to take the sport to new heights. And next thing you know, a US president was in the stands to watch a NASCAR race that year. This brought more exposure and light to what was considered a niche sport.

The King wins his last NASCAR race in the presence of US President

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The 1984 Firecracker 400 was a big event, as then president of the United States Ronald Reagan was among the spectators. Coming into the race, the King had notched up 199 Cup wins, so the pressure was on him to deliver once again and script history by adding the number 200th victory into the history book. But he was up against the mighty Cale Yarborough, who could have snatched the win away from him if not for his cheeky move at the end of the race.

On Lap 158 of 160, there was a late caution. Now the rules of calling the race official were different back then; they didn’t freeze the drivers to determine their position on the track. Rather, the caution was put into motion only after the race leader had crossed the start-finish line. Therefore, racing for the win, both Yarborough and Petty made haste to reach the finish line to get the yellow.

Petty clinched the 200th as the two came side by side for a photo finish. Although Yarborough led the most (79) laps in the race after starting from the pole, he wasn’t able to keep the King at bay when it mattered the most. Ironically, this was the last time Richard Petty won a Cup Series race, but it remains to be an iconic one.